Rise of the Silver Surfer, Fall of the comic book movie (Fantastic Four - Rise Of The Silver Surfer (DVD))

Member Name: Wolfzilla

Product:	Fantastic Four - Rise Of The Silver Surfer (DVD)
Date:	22/01/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Surfer is cool, it is still clean family entertainment

Disadvantages: Quite a lot to be honest

Given that I wasn't exactly enamoured with the original Fantastic 4 movie, it goes without saying I didn't exactly rush to see it's 2007 follow up 'Rise of the Silver Surfer'. I thought the first movie was fairly harmless fluff, clean fun for kids who like superheroes and aren't into the drama of Spiderman's lovelife or the dark side of Batman, maybe because I'd never read the Fantastic 4 comic, or even particularly liked the cartoon, I didn't go into it with overly high expectations. One thing that really did rub me the wrong way about the film was it's handling of Dr. Victor von Doom. Now I've long given up buying comics, this recent boom in superhero movies has been great for me because it lets me relive my childhood somewhat, and I'm not the type of person who throws a fit over the slightest change made to characters - Spiderman having the ability to produce web and no have to build web shooters didn't fuss me, nor did the fact Wolverine didn't wear yellow lycra, but what writer Mark Frost and director Tim Story did to one of the most iconic villains in all of comics was actually terrible. Given this had taken place, and knowing that the film, by definition of having the Silver Surfer in the title, would involve Galactus, one of the few other Fantastic 4 characters I actually enjoy, but also one of the more far fetched ones, I really wasn't sure I wanted to see the sequel. However it was going for £3 in Asda when I was doing my shopping and it was a Monday night so I thought "to hell with it" and bought it.

The film picks up pretty much where the first left off as the Fantastic 4 - Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffud), The Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), The Human Torch (Chris Evans) and The Thing (Michael Chiklis) are living it up as New York's media darling super group. Mr. Fantastic aka Reed Richards and Invisible Woman aka Sue Storm are about to have a Posh & Becks style wedding, the torch aka Johnny Storm is living carefree and womanising and the Thing aka Ben Grimm has come to terms somewhat with his rocky demeanor and enjoying life with his blind girlfriend Alicia (Kerry Washington) .

However, during his bachelor party Reed is approached by General Hager (Andre Braugher) about a series of bizarre phenomena taking place across the globe. It turns out cosmic energy, the likes of which gave the FF their powers, is going haywire and there are spikes of it all over the world, with the only clue being blurred photos of a some form of silver object.

Hager wants Reed to build some form of device to track the energy, but publicly declines to focus on his wedding, all the while planning to do so anyway. The big day gets spoiled as one of these cosmic power anomalies hits New York, almost causing a helicopter filming the ceremony to crash into the middle of it. The silver entity is seen flying by and the Human Torch takes off in pursuit, only to finally confront the being and discovering a silver humanoid being on what appears to be a flying surfboard. Quickly dispatched by the being, the Torch returns to the FF's home in the Baxter building to be met witch scepticism by teammates and the military alike.

It also transpires that the FF aren't the only ones tracking the being, it's presence and cosmic energy managed to free the evil Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) from his solidified state and after an encounter with it showcased it's awesome power, he claims to be fighting on the same side as the military and heroes, and, against the team's wishes, he is brought on board by Hager, but are his intentions true? Can the combined forces of Doom, the Fantastic Four and the army stop the Silver Surfer? Is he even the one behind the impending threat to the Earth?

If there is one thing that Rise of the Silver Surfer can't be accused of letting slip is that it does maintain the same cartoon, family friendly appeal of the first movie, which I suppose is to it's credit considering it is set against the backdrop of impending Armageddon. There are no serious moral issues or angst afoot in the movie, it plays it's characters at a "what you see is what you get" style and this can be seen as one of it's biggest pros and also it's biggest detractions.

You see, it's very simple to compare this to the Silver Surfer's first appearance in the 2-episode arc of the 1994 Fantastic Four animated series, because the characters are given roughly about the same amount of depth, arguably moreso in some cases in the cartoon. We know that within seconds of Doom's arrival he's up to no good, upon his second appearance it's clear the Surfer really isn't the evil being the characters thought him to be at first and we all know Johnny will learn a cringe worthy moral lesson and win over the girl who spurns him for his immature nature. In a sense it's refreshing to not be weighed down by characters in constant monologue, dripping in angst and questioning their place. The film really is like a live action cartoon, complete with entertaining but 'safe' action sequences and humour that doesn't always work.

It's also a bad thing in that it offers absolutely no surprises or development. You could argue Johnny undergoes a bit of a change, but at the end of the day when the inevitable third movie/Human Torch spinoff comes out you know he'll still be the same carefree hero. Even the Surfer, whose predicament, if not character, changes in the viewers eyes can be seen coming from a mile off, and not just for those of us familiar with his story.

Now this wouldn't be a major disaster if the movie stuck to it's guns as what it is - a comic book adventure, but far too much of the movie, especially at the beginning, is devoted to Reed and Sue's wedding, thus almost every other character in the movie is relegated to that of a supporting role. Johnny gets a bit of screen time to cause Reed stress but The Thing is criminally underused. Likewise there is little to no point in Doom's resurrection. He gets a minor influx of power based loosely on a story from the comics and is really no more than a minor irritation. Infuriatingly, and pointlessly, he's also cured of his scarring so we're really just seeing Julian McMahon mincing about like a prat. Couldn't they have written in some other evil scientist for this role? The Wizard or something? Doom was already a bumbling idiot in the first film, couldn't they have saved him to be utilised properly in a third movie? If a third film is released I can't help but think they'll bring Doom back again, only this time he'll just be Julian McMahon in a Dr. Doom t-shirt, probably throwing stones at the Baxter Building windows as Earth is invaded by Skrulls or something.

The worst treatment is reserved for the film's 2 new main characters. The Silver Surfer lights up the screen whenever he appears, not through good writing mind you, but because he looks cool, yet he is used hilariously sparsely, and is almost mute throughout. Little to no display of his power is shown, and to be blunt he doesn't really do a great deal. If 'The Rise of the Silver Surfer' is to play a supporting role in a film like this I'd hate to see what his fall is. Now for the other main character I'll put this in a spoiler. It's not really necessary I spoil it, but this really annoyed me

SPOILER

As expected, with the introduction of The Silver Surfer comes the introduction of Galactus. Only if you thought the complete under-use of the Silver Surfer's character was bad...well at least he got to be a character. As I said in the opening, I was sceptical about Galactus appearance. Why? Well he's a 50 foot tall alien being in a suit of purple and blue armour who rams a giant drill into planets and drains them of life. While I think it would be possible to portray him and do it justice, with a big redesign, apparently director Tim Story swore he'd never make a film with giant robots in it, and Galactus cut too close to the bone so he becomes...a giant dust cloud. Seriously "screw superpowers Sue, get the dyson" that and he...or it, only actually appears for about 2 minutes onscreen, so this ancient universal force that destroys planets isn't actually deemed as important to the movie as Sue Storm's acne or Julian McMahon's pearly whites.

SPOILER OVER

It's not even a particularly badly made picture. The acting may not be anything to write home about but in general it's passable. Evans is again probably the best performer, actually striving to bring something close to character to a role underwritten. The banter between he and Chiklis is, like the latter actor, criminally underused and once again a high point of the film, and Laurence Fishbourne's voice is perfect for the Surfer, exuding that wonderful air of authority and charisma...but these are the supporting players. Alba and Gruffud aren't bad as such, they just really don't seem interested. McMahon's abhorrent portrayal of Doom carries on, made all the worse by the fact they wrote in an absurd means of undoing the damage done to his skin by the cosmic radiation so he can freely swan about in designer clothes and cut a figure not even remotely menacing.

The special effects are probably generally a step-up from the first movie, the Surfer looks and moves fantastic, and arguably the best scene in the movie is where Johnny, also now actually being clearly seen as the Human Torch, have their chase throughout Manhattan. Given that the Thing is now a minor character, his suit actually looks significantly worse than in the first movie, lacking the necessary physical presence and the ability to showcase any sort of real character from the actor. The effects used for Mr. Fantastic's stretching and Invisible Woman's disappearing both do their job well enough without inspiring awe. The worst effect in the movie is Alba's terrible blonde wig.

At the end of the day, Rise of the Silver Surfer isn't a complete disaster. It is pretty bad though, and when a 2-episode mid-1990s cartoon can portray the same story arc better, perhaps it is time the writers and director take a long, hard look at themselves. I mean it's not the worst movie ever, and those under the age of 14 who enjoyed the first film will probably be entertained for it's duration, but it's a real wasted opportunity, and I doubt it will find much resonance in those above the aforementioned age, especially those with an affinity for the comics. There has been talk of a Silver Surfer movie, which may prove to the be the best thing that comes out of this, but I find it hard to see a third movie in this franchise making money, and having seen what has been done to 2 of the Fantastic Four's iconic villains already, I shudder to think who would get butchered next.

Summary: Not the worst comic-movie ever, but still pretty grim