Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis Dir: Tim Story Rating: 3/5The Fantastic Four, in particular Reed Richards (Gruffudd) and Susan Storm (Alba) are having problems balancing their professional and personal lives. Reed and Sue can’t get married without causing a media circus or a global crisis arising.On the day that they plan to tie the proverbial knot the ceremony is interrupted by an unwelcome visitor in the form of the Silver Surfer, who is riding around the planet causing a wave of chaos making water solidify in Japan an snow fall in Egypt.But the surfer is the least of the team’s problems as Galactus, The Devourer of Worlds is heading straight for earth with only destruction in mind.As the help of the Fantastic Four is enlisted to capture the Silver Surfer the team come face to face with an old foe – Victor Von Doom.The problem with the first Fantastic Four movie was it spent so long explaining how these four normal people became extraordinary that it left little time for the action movie that everyone may have expected.
But Ioan Gruffudd, the bendy stretchy Mr Fantastic, Jessica Alba, the Invisible Girl, Chris Evans, The Human Torch, and Michael Chiklis, The Thing, are all back for another crack at the Marvel comic book franchise.
But the Rise of the Silver Surfer is a vast improvement on it’s predecessor it delivers great special effects, humour and a whole host of likeable characters.
The film sets a humours tone early on and once the audience accepts that The Fantastic Four is just a popcorn munching romp and nothing deeper the ride becomes much more enjoyable.
But without doubt the Silver Surfer steals the show as one of comic books most intriguing characters who is brought to life by the physicality of Doug Jones and the voice of Laurence Fishbourne and is visually stunning.
The Silver Surfer is a tortured sole who travels the galaxy looking for planets for Galactus to consume to keep his planet, and the one he loves, safe.
The relationships between the four lead characters are the core of the movie as the script aims to deepen, strengthen and put to the test these relationships in an attempt to be a little more grown up.
Gruffudd, Alba, Evans and Chiklis have a good rapport interacting well together but none of them venture far from their comfort zone, leaving the characters a little one dimensional. However this film franchise was never going to deliver some profound message and should be accepted as a light hearted bit of fun and escapism. It’s a family friendly film with some good performances and slick special effects but it by no means matches the crown jewels in Marvel comic movies like Spiderman and X-men.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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To celebrate the released of the DVD a lifesize model of the Silver Surfer was built and launched at The British Open Surf Championships in Newquay