Fantastic Four 2: Rise of The Silver Surfer
Directed By: Tim Story
Twentieth Century Fox Pictures, 2007
By Caesar Martini
In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (FFRSS), a silver man on a surfboard arrives on Earth, and following him is a galactic entity that will eat the planet. The Fantastic Four, the first family superteam of comic books (I’m not counting the Captain Marvel family, so shut up, geeks) must stop him.
This is the FF’s second attempt at comic film greatness, seeking to improve on the first Fantastic Four from 2005. Unfortunately, it misses the gold medal and has to settle for – wait for it – SILVER!! Ha! I’m so hilarious, I can barely stand it.
Actually, this is more of a bronze medal movie. Among comic book nerds like me, it was generally accepted that the first FF film missed the mark on a number of important factors. The special effects were ‘meh’, the story could have been more gripping, and most importantly, the villain of the movie (Dr. Doom) was the biggest waste of a kick ass character since Darth Maul got cut in half.
Wow, that might have been the geekiest thing I’ve ever said. But I stand by it!
For those of you not ‘in the know’ (read: those of you with lives), Dr. Doom is largely thought of as the best villain in comic books. Ever. He’s a monarch of his own country, he’s brilliant, powerful, regal, dangerous, complex, arrogant, and badass. He’s such a good villain that you want to cheer for him. And in the first FF movie, he was played as a whiny lovestruck corporate schmuck. Think of a pouty Donald Trump with better hair and no business sense. THAT was what they turned the greatest comic villain of all time into. Then they melted him into an iron statue or something. Such a waste.
But! Early in FFRSS, it appears that the filmmakers wanted to correct that mistake by reviving Doom and bringing him back better than ever! Sure, they explain his recovery from being melted with a pretty weak cop out (the Silver Surfer flies by and Doom gets better), but I can totally live with that if it means giving this adversary the proper treatment.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. Doom is just restored to being exactly what he was in the first movie. Then he does like, one naughty thing. And that’s pretty much it for him. Whoopee. It was a mistake to even have him in the movie – his character ends up being nearly pointless.
The film also misfires when it comes to handling the Fantastic Four themselves. They devote very little time to the character development. Ben Grimm is reduced to kiddie comic relief, Sue Storm is kind of bitchy, and Johnny Storm is just a jackass. Reed Richards is much improved, but it’s not enough to save it. There needed to be more effort put into showing that the FF are first and foremost a family of real people, instead of one dimensional character sheets.
Oh, and what is the point of arranging an elaborate scene where Jessica Alba loses all her clothes, and then not showing anything other than her bare arm? That’s just mean!
FFRSS is not without its charm, however—the Silver Surfer looks awesome, and there are some cool comic-book scenes. This sequel improves on the original movie in some ways and worsens in others. If you enjoyed the first movie you’ll likely enjoy this one, but it’s no great improvement and squanders a lot of potential.
