Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Movie Review

Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing are back. This time they need to fight an all(most) powerful entity that is about to destroy Earth.

Genre: Action / Fantasy / Sci-Fi

Director: Tim Story

Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Doug Jones, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher, Beau Garrett & Laurence Fishburne

Run Time: 92 min.

US Release: 15 June 2007

UK Release: 15 June 2007

German Release: 14 August 2007

Welcome back to my series of reviews concerning the FF movie franchise. If you read my previous two posts on these Marvel superheroes, you will know that I am currently analysing every Fantastic Four film out there, leading up to the new Fant4stic, which will be released in Germany, August 14.

This movie review focuses on the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the sequel to the horrible 2005 adaptation. Is this second part an improvement on the childish first film? No, it is not, and I will go into detail about why. So if you saw this movie and are interested in knowing my thoughts on it, read on.

— WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! —

While Reed Richards and Susan Storm plan their wedding, a mysterious visitor from outer space starts causing environmental havoc on the planet. The Fantastic Four are hired by the military to find the visitor, dubbed “Silver Surfer”, and figure out what it wants. At the same time, Victor Von Doom reawakens and starts his own plans on harnessing the Silver Surfer’s power. But they are all unaware that this humanoid from outer space is just a servant to a greater threat: The world-devouring Galactus.

Since the previous movie was a box office success, Fox must have mistaken money for quality and kept the campy, goofy and shallow tone for Rise of the Silver Surfer. Tim Story was hired again to direct this sequel, and he still didn’t care for the source material. Mark Frost was hired to write a crap script again and so we obtained a second watered down superhero blockbuster.

The studio and director decided it was time to add more action and managed to create a story with four different plots, meaning that this time the plot doesn't only feel convoluted, but actually is too cramped to follow! We obtain two main plots that clash with each other during the beginning of the first act; The Silver Surfer appears on Earth and is about to destroy it. The mysterious visitor from outer space interferes with the wedding of Susan Storm and Reed Richards, thus kicking off the second plot.

Susan is not sure anymore about raising a family as long as they are fighting crime and are a media sensation. Gruffudd and Alba’s on-screen romance is as gooey and PG as it can get; on top of that, the two have no screen chemistry at all. By the end of the movie, this issue is resolved easily, even though Susan dies for a short time, saving the Surfer.

While the Surfer prepares for the arrival of Galactus, he accidentally re-awakens Doom when flying over Latveria. The main villain from the first film returns in the second act, leaving the viewer guessing who the actual villain is in this movie. McMahon’s acting got worse, and his portrayal of the evil Dr. Doom is simply laughable.

Managing to steal the Surfers board (his source of power) Doom should have at least given it back as soon as the Devourer of Worlds arrived on Earth, but instead he picks a fight with the Richards/Storm family putting in peril the world he tries to conquer (at least that is what I think he is aiming for as it isn't made clear).

The fourth plot concerns Johnny Storm (Evans). The hothead fire-starter loses control over his power when he comes in contact with the Surfer, and as he puts his family and friends in danger with his selfish attitude, his moment of crisis begins. Evans gave a better performance this time round, giving his character a little more depth. We saw a different side to him, other than the careless playboy, that is, until the last scene when he reverts to who he was.

If there were any characters worth mentioning, it would be the Surfer himself. He is a mysterious badass, and the not-so-Fantastic team is left wondering if he is an enemy or simply a misguided soul, until he has one of the cheesiest dialogues with the Invisible Woman.

What really made the story suffer is the fact that we never really get an explanation of how much of a threat Galactus is; his whole design is just stupid. He looks like a space hurricane more than a threatening galactic entity that eats planets to survive. And so the threat is not perceived as a real danger, especially because by the end the Surfer flies up into the cloud and uses his power to destroy it. Why did he not do so earlier if he had the means to defeat Galactus?

Like the previous movie, Story managed to shoot a beautiful-looking film. That is when the special effects are not on display, because they still look terrible. The Silver Surfer is the best-looking part from the effects team, and he looks like the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Although I need to confess that once he steps off the board and the shiny metallic alloy covering his body disappears, the Surfer actually looks amazing.

The real CGI abomination, though, comes at the end. When Johnny absorbs all the powers from the others to fight Doom. It looks as if the effects crew took the designs of the cheapest, idiotic-looking TV cartoon to make Evans look like a stretchy rock fist that spouts flames for the entertainment of 5-year-olds. What the hell was that?

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Verdict: Rise of the Silver Surfer shows no improvement over the previous Fantastic Four film. In fact, I consider it to be worse, simply because Fox did not try to straighten out the errors made in the first part. So I give this atrocious sequel a 3.5 out of 10.

If you are interested in reading my other Fantastic Four reviews, below are the related posts. I will write my review for the new Fantastic Four film tomorrow, and it will be an interesting post at that. So keep your eyes open.