Fantastic Four: The Rise of The Silver Surfer Movie Review (Switchblade)

Movie: Fantastic Four: The Rise of The Silver Surfer
Directed: Tim Storey
*ing: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon




Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.


When I first heard that a part 2 of the Fantastic Four was in the making I nearly soiled myself with excitement...coz not only were they bringing back the family of cosmically empowered superheroes, they were going to face off against one of the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe...The Silver Surfer.

So what we have is The Silver Surfer aka 'Norrin Radd', a humanoid alien from the planet Zenn-La. When the peace-loving folk of Zenn-La were faced with extinction at the hands of the planet-devouring Galactus, Norrin traded in his freedom for the safety of his homeworld becoming the herald of Galactus. When Galactus needed to feed, Norrin as the Silver Surfer would scout the universe looking for planets to be devoured by the insatiable Galactus. Able to travel the vast interstellar distances with his silver surfboard and armed with the Power Cosmic (the same power that made our four heroes fantastic) the Surfer spent several decades serving his new master...until he came to Earth!

The movie kicks off with the wedding of Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) and Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba). However the arrival of the Surfer puts a monkey wrench in the marriage machinery and the Four are off to kick Silver butt and drive away the intruder.




As with most of the super-hero movies that come out these days...the special effects in this installment are absolutely brilliant but sadly the story line is a bit too weak. From one fight scene to the next, the story flows quite smoothly but it lacks depth. At times it feels like there's just too much talk and not enough fighting.

Carried over from the first movie are the playful fights between the Thing and The Human Torch, The Invisible Girl's public wardrobe malfunctions and Mr. Fantastic’s inability to control his stretching powers making you feel like the director is at his wits-end trying to come up with new gags to keep the audience entertained.

The Silver Surfer, portrayed by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus from the Matrix trilogy), is one enigmatic character. In a struggle between saving the Earth and doing his master's bidding, he is the only character in the movie that the audience can really relate to. Good news for the villain lovers...the handsome Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) is back! And he's badder, meaner and more powerful than ever before!!

Overall it is a good movie and a decent entertainer but it lacks the 'oomph' that the first movie had. This one had the potential of being a true summer blockbuster but sadly wont make too much of an impact at the box office.

Pros
Amazing special effects and fight sequences.
Julian McMahon is a really good actor and truly brings out the character of Victor von Doom.
Few elements of humor courtesy the Thing and the Human Torch.
The Silver Surfer...need I say more??

Cons
Once again...Shallow character development.
Jessica Alba looks fake! Too much make-up and very bad acting...IMO Charlize Theron would have made the perfect Invisible Girl.
Stan Lee (creator of the Fantastic Four) and his cameo appearances that are kinda getting on my nerves!
Why do they insist on making super-heroes dance?? Didn’t we have enough of Spidey doing the Salsa?? Now we have Mr. Fantastic shaking his elastic booty!!

Overall Rating: 7/10

PS - For those of you who are interested in getting to know the finer details of the movie, check out the Silver Surfer cartoon uploaded on youtube. The first and second parts of the first episode detail the transition from Norrin Radd to the Silver Surfer.

Cheers!!