Review Me: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

It was Wednesday, June 20, 2007. Fairly boring Wednesday and I opted not to spend the whole rest day from work just by sitting in front of the PC just to bloghop or browse the web. I had to get out and fast. Good thing, I sent an invite to Tiss for an afternoon at the Mall. Eat and Shop was in in mind and seeing a Movie was really out of the list. After 2 hours of moving from one store to another, we've decided why not try to watch a movie. And the first on the list was : Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Here comes…

The Marvel universe is an awfully complicated universe. Heroes and villains are constantly appearing, disappearing, having arrived from another planet and or universe, or even another timeline. Wah! They die and are often resurrected, sometimes better than ever, and sometimes just the plain old self. The resulting chronology for some of Marvel's stories became so convoluted that they created a second, alternate timeline called "Ultimate Marvel", which effectively rebooted their creations (though without abolishing the old ones). In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Marvel takes one of the first steps in this cyclical process by introducing a new character into the second installment of their Fantastic Four franchise. This character, of course, is the Silver Surfer, an alien being of seemingly limitless power and mysterious motives. Wah! As the film opens, his presence at various locations across the Earth is triggering bizarre environmental events. The Fantastic Four themselves are preoccupied with various frivolities, such as endorsement deals and the impending marriage of Reed Richards and Susan Storm (AKA Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Girl). The first half of the film is very well-constructed and seemingly flawless, as it creates a strong contrast between the gravity of the impending threat which the Surfer represents, and the often petty concerns of the Four. But even as they begin to discover what it is they're up against, the wisecracks and carefree attitudes continue largely unabated. Unlike the X-Men films, the Fantastic Four films make no attempt at realism or social relevance. As a result, the films are fun and entertaining, but largely robbed of genuine tension. This is unfortunate, as the Silver Surfer is among the more creative and somber characters in the Marvel universe, and feels out of place in this more playful franchise. He is as stoic as a statue, and often comes off as the straight man to the Fantastic Four's more comic leads. The only flaw in his realization is the decision to cast Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Surfer. Fresh off his prologue in TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hollywood has apparently decided that Fishburne has supplanted James Earl Jones as the guy to call when you need distinguished, authoritative voice work. The film gets bogged down in the second half as an old foil from the first film becomes embroiled in the conflict with the Surfer. It then devolves into a number of cliches. I don't know how many times moviegoers have been treated to the stereotypical trigger-happy caricature of the American military, but it's employed once again here in a manner that's even less believable than usual. Military Official that seems to control the entire country better than the President. Wah! There's also a development regarding the exchange of powers between our heroes that comes off as gimmicky, but is utilized to great effect for both comedy and action sequences. Really comical. Potentially asburd in most other superhero films, it feels right at home in this more carefree, pseudo-scientific environment. In the end, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a comic book adaptation that is proud of its origins, and would rather entertain the audience than try to make them believe anything on screen could actually happen. The degree to which you are willing to suspend your disbelief will be the degree to which you enjoy the movie. It is unfortunate that such a deathly serious character as the Silver Surfer was not introduced to moviegoers in a more similarly serious film, but he steals the show whenever he's on screen here, and at least makes Rise of the Silver Surfer a more interesting film than its predecessor.

Too bad – Silver Surfer died and made his choice! As for my Star Rating 9.4 Stars. Visit this site an
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you'll be amazed (amazing Flash Effects!) : http://www.fantasticfourmovie.com/ Photos Courtesy of : http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/blfantasticfour2picsa.htm Photos © 20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.