Flame out!
Ioan Grufford, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, and (ugh) Jessica Alba return as the Fantastic Four, celebrity do-gooders. Mr. Fantastic (Grufford) and Sue Storm (an even more plastic-looking Alba) are trying to tie the knot, but their day job always seems to be getting in the way of the nuptials. This time, a mysterious alien drops down to Earth causing weird things to happen, and it's up to our heroes to investigate. And Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) is back, too
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, released in the summer of 2007, would have been a pretty good movie. No longer bogged down by the origin story, this film gets right into it, with the superheroes in their element. Plus, there is an ample about of comedy this time around, usually revolved around either our heroes trying to maintain some sense of normalcy or when they-thanks to the mysterious alien- suddenly swap abilities back and forth. Plus, the visual effects are a vast improvement over the first picture.
I did say would have, right? So what's wrong this time? Rise of the Silver Surfer is awfully short, and in more ways than one. The movie doesn't have the time to be bothered with too much depth. Things are said, but I don't find a lot being felt. And just as things really start to ramp up, that's when things start to wrap up. Rather conveniently. Like in a we-ran-out-of-money kind of way.
Which leads us to this: this is a FF movie made by wimps. The more cosmic elements of the comic book have been translated very poorly, no doubt in an effort to keep things- and I'm shuttering as I'm saying this- "grounded". As an VFX, the Silver Surfer is looks great. As a character, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, he's just Morpheus from The Matrix spouting off doomsday prophecies. But that's nothing compared to the trashing the villians get. Instead of the classic Doctor Doom of the comics, we get a boring, barely frightening billionaire played by a TV actor who doesn't want his face behind a mask for too long. And Galactus, one of the most powerful enemies in the Marvel Universe, the devourer of worlds, is reduced to a fucking cloud. A cloud! In space, no less!
Yes, that was a fanboy rant there, but it's also the most obvious indicator to the movie's larger issue. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer seems to be conceived and executed with the most cut-rate of manner. This movie feels more like a Police Academy 3 than a second installment of a superhero franchise. 20th Century Fox were burned-out on the Fantastic Four brand before the audience got a chance to be.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
1 1/2 out of 5 Cap shields
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