I Fantastici 4 e Silver Surfer

The Fantastic Four are back in action, trying to save the world once more, this time from mysterious alien 'The Silver Surfer' whose creating havoc by inflicting blackouts and huge craters throughout the World,

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) & Susan Storm (The rather tasty Jessica Alba) are due to get married, but their nuptials are disrupted by the arrival of the Silver Surfer, and so along with Johnny Storm & Ben Grimm (Hunky Chris Evans & Michael Chiklis respectively) go into battle.

A lot of money was spent on this sequel ($130M +) and it shows with amazing special FX, The story being a PG rated film is family friendly and doesn't require a PHD in comic books to follow, and also being PG rated the violence is pretty much non-existent so anybody expecting something in the vein of 'The Punisher' this isn't for you... but. everybody else - young or old should find a lot of light hearted enjoyment from the Fantastic Quartet... which is FAR better than the original.

Highly Recommended.

Laughably awful and downright boring cinematic canine has the titled characters (led by Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd) attempting to save the world from a mysterious alien being who literally glides around causing destruction on a surfboard and foretelling the doom of the entire planet. Never making much sense, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" tries to get all cutesy by trying to cater to 10-year-old boys with low brow humor and then never creating much suspense or coherency with a screenplay that feels like it was thrown together a few minutes before the cast showed up to start shooting. Even Julian McMahon, who actually carried the first one to its mediocre standing, succumbs to the sheer idiocy of this entire venture. Hopeless. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).

In all its silliness and tongue-in-cheek disposition, the first "Fantastic Four" movie wasn't really a landmark as far as comic book films go. But it wasn't so bad either; it's just that after Marvel Comics' recent domination of the film genre, it's natural for one to expect that each of its characters having a shot at the big screen would present something legitimately entertaining to the audience. Something the first installment failed and the second struggled to achieve.

In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," the four superheroes are back once again to help everyone solve their gamut of problems. Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) is about to wed Susan Storm aka Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba). However, an unknown cosmic entity is causing a screw-up in earth's natural phenomena, prompting the couple to postpone the wedding, and work with Johnny Storm aka Human Torch (Chris Evans) and Ben Grimm aka The thing (Michael Chiklis) to find out the cause of the mysterious occurrence. They soon come face to face with the Silver Surfer (Doug Jones, voiced by Laurence Fishburne) and realize that the world's survival is hanging on the balance. In addition to this, Victor Von Doom aka Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) returns and is intent on destroying the Fantastic Four.

Granted, "Rise of the Silver Surfer" has a greater scale than its predecessor. But for all this, it's still very... middling. The title and the trailers suggest something of a grand battle between the eponymous characters but aside from the chase sequence involving the Human Torch and the Silver Surfer (which, by the way, has been shown numerous times in the teaser trailer), nothing much exciting still happens. Not even the team's rescue attempt in London. The quality of the special effects are inconsistent and all the visual polish expectedly goes to the Silver Surfer. (And while I personally don't think it's an issue, I imagine how some fans of the comic book might sneer at how the characters of Silver Surfer and Galactus were handled.) Instead, director Tim Story and screenwriters Don Payne and Mark Frost opt to flesh out the characters more but the end result feels less natural and more repetitive. Gruffudd does an okay job with Mr. Fantastic but there's really no feeling of chemistry between him and Alba, who manages to adequately portray a tough yet vulnerable character. In contrast, Evans and Chiklis continue to generate an easy rapport between them and the two get majority of the film's most amusing moments.

"Rise of the Silver Surfer" barely does what it sets out to do. It fares a little better than its predecessor with a more serviceable story and a little more enjoyable action sequences. But taken on its own terms, the film doesn't present anything to its characters that has been done much better with other characters of their ilk. The movie is entertaining to some extent but in the end, it doesn't really rise to something special.

I don't know what it is about this movie that keeps me watching it every few months. It almost as if I need to watch it on occasion to remind myself how mediocre it is. It was hard to believe that a Marvel film utilizing one of the most interesting characters from the comic universe, Galactus, could be so bland. I suppose one of the reasons I keep returning to this film is that I want so badly to see the Fantastic Four franchise survive. I know it has potential; I love the characters, it has an interesting collection of villains to select from, and the comic series provides some great stories as starting material. It just isn't happening, thanks to poor writing and a little too much creative license at the hands of director Tim Story and writers Don Payne and Mark Frost.

The second installment in the F4 franchise suffers from the some of the same problems as the first film, while adding some new issues on top. The story potential is high: Reed Richards and Susan Storm's wedding is postponed (again) when the Earth receives a visit from the Silver Surfer, herald of Galactus. Further complications arise when Victor von Doom returns with plans of his own. Just writing that synopsis made me want to watch the film again; it sounds like the foundation for a great F4 film. My issues began with the fact that we wasted the first 30 minutes of the film preparing for Reed and Sue's wedding instead of getting to the meat of the Silver Surfer plot. Then, once the plot kicks into gear, we're rushed through the next hour to a deus ex machina ending that fails to satisfy (and may even aggravate some of the comic series' fans). When the film was over, I felt as if the Surfer was never given the opportunity to reach his full on-screen potential and I've been left hoping he's given another shot.

Just as in the first film, this movie is plagued with some cringe-worthy one-liners (once again, Doom is given some of the worst). I know the F4 was a bit goofier than some of the other Marvel properties but the filmmakers need to tone it down a bit. Though, I can deal with corny dialogue; what I can't abide is blatant slap-in-the-face product placement. I loved that the filmmakers were able to work the Fantasticar into the script (especially since I'd considered it a bit too cartoonish to work in a film) but the shout-out for Dodge when Johnny first sees it and excitedly exclaims "A hemi!" went a bit too far.

All of the original cast from the first film return, which is both good and bad. Just as before, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis are perfect choices for their characters and do a (no pun intended) fantastic job bringing their characters to life. Also, just as in the first film, I was unimpressed with the performances of Jessica Alba and Julian McMahon. Alba is a beautiful woman and fits the image of Susan Storm, but I've never felt her to be too talented an actress and she remains the weak point of the series. McMahon, again, does not feel right in the role of Dr. Doom; he has a hard time doing insidiously evil without coming across as a hammed performance and I just can't take him seriously. These are not traits I want in the man given the role as one of the best Marvel villains.

For what time we're given with him, the Surfer is the most impressive aspect of this film. The visual effects team did a great job with creating the iconic character and Laurence Fishburne was an inspired casting choice for his voice. Galactus, unfortunately, does not receive the same treatment and we are never given a real glimpse at the demigod through his surrounding cloud. In my opinion, it was a waste but the director Tim Story clarified in the film's supplemental material that he chose to keep Galactus vague so that future filmmakers could do him justice. After two average films, now we need to hope someone is even given the chance.

Honestly, this film will only appeal to fans of the series and, even then, don't expect to be wow'd. The second F4 film isn't a bad movie, but it never rises above mediocre. The impressive special effects and production design fall victim to plot holes, poor writing, and under-use of the film's assets. It's a quick, mildly entertaining means of spending 90 minutes but, if you're anything like me, you'll walk away from this film wondering what could have been if the epic introduction of the Silver Surfer and Galactus had been put in better hands.

Potential for a great movie, the Surfer is a great character and has underrated and amazing abilities. I'd say he's one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The chase scene between the Human Torch and Surfer was amazing.

Overall, the movie touched a bit on that greatness but fell short. My personal rating is probably leaning more towards a 6.5 than a 7.5 but obviously we cannot include decimals in our rating so the movie earns a solid 7. Perhaps production costs prevented what could have been an amazing movie.

Anyone saying, "it sucked" are exaggerating but those saying it was amazing have probably not seen many films to judge appropriately.