The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (20th Century Fox)
Not So Fantastic
Even bringing back Jessica Alba as super hero Sue Storm cannot elevate Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to fantastic levels. This second installment of the four crime fighters adventures is just a movie of average entertainment value. It has some good special effects, a cool new villain, and retention of all the people we enjoyed in the first movie but somehow it all falls short of being a smash hit.
The movie starts with Sue Storm (Alba) planning her wedding to Dr Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd). They have been trying to get to the altar for some time now but something always interferes. This time out they are determined it is going to happen.
Then comes word there are some unusual disturbances occurring all over the world. Army General Hager (Andre Braugher) demands that Reed drop everything and work on solving the problem. Eventually he does and tries to capture the silver surfer (Doug Jones/Laurence Fishburne). This man on a surfboard glides through space and everywhere he goes, the planet dies eight days later.
It is up to Reed, Sue, her brother Johnny (Chris Evans), and Ben (Michael Chiklis) to save the day. They use Reeds elasticity, Sues invisibility, Johnnys human torch, and Bens body of granite to put together a plan to separate the surfer from his board, which is the source of his power.
All is going good until Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) somehow rises from the dead and comes back to thwart their efforts. He says he is trying to help but the fantastic four know better than to trust him but Hager does.
The movie comes to a climax as the earth gets ready to explode and all of mankind is in jeopardy. Can the Fantastic Four save the day Well you will have to see the movie to find out.
The problem with the entertainment value of the film is that the actors just appear to be walking through their roles. There is no real spark and not even any solid interaction between them. Reed and Sue dont appear to be that much in love and the sparring between Ben and Johnny seems to be at a much lower level this time out.
The silver surfer is a cool creation of a villain but he looks too much like the metallic man in the second Terminator movie to be an awesome creature. Plus he doesnt do much other than glide around through space. He needs to have some special abilities that we didnt see in this film. And he needs to decide if he is good or if he is bad. We dont need a conflicted villain.
The film is rated PG for mild violence.
There ought to have been more snap to this film. It should have taken four exciting characters and thrust them into a harrowing adventure that would have audiences sitting on the edge of their seats. What we get instead is a slow paced story that never challenges the minds or the eyes of the audience. It is okay, ho-hum entertainment but certainly nothing fantastic. Heres hoping they get a third shot and come roaring back with something new and super exciting.
I scored Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer a fallen 4 out of 10.
