Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
It’s the faintest of praise to say that “Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer” is better than its’ limp 2005 predecessor. It’s a lot like saying that “Batman Begins” is better than “Batman & Robin,” or that “Spider-Man 3” is worse than “Spider-Man 2”- just about anything is in comparison. But faint praise is better than no praise at all, but let’s face it, it’s not enough for a movie that should be so much more.
I suppose the approach director Tim Story (who directed “Barbershop” and “Taxi” pre-“Four,” not exactly the type of resume that screams superhero director) is taking with the material is valid. With both films, he’s aiming more for the family-friendly audience that some might compare to the “Planet of the Apes” series of the ’60s and ’70s than the geek set that flocked to “X-Men.” And on that front, I guess the film is a success. But why is it Story and his writers (joining original “Four” writer- and co-creator of “Twin Peaks,” for cryin’ out loud- Mark Frost- are co-story writer John Turman and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend’s” scribe Don Payne) have made Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s popular dysfunctional psuedo-family of superheroes more for the pre-teen audience while all but ignoring everyone else? (Except for some rogue “hot shots” of Chris Evans for the ladies and Jessica Alba for the guys- more on that later.) The result is as bland and generic a product as most other “family films” out there, and not much of an improvement in quality over the original film, which was PG-13 to this film’s PG. Don’t expect much of a difference; both films are pretty toothless in terms of anything resembling, say, drama. On that front, I’ve seen more intensity in Pixar’s largely G-rated entertainments than in these films; hasn’t the success of “Harry Potter” and even “E.T.”- family hits that pushed their PG ratings, safely, into pretty heavy drama- taught Hollywood anything about what kids are capable of accepting?
The Silver Surfer helps out a lot in softening the blow of mediocrity (which again extends to gifted composer John Ottman, whose score this time around is as unmemorable as it was the first time). The main draw in this film for most people who’ll see it, the Surfer’s origins are delineated just enough to give us the necessary exposition for the story (thankfully told in short time at roughly 90 minutes) at hand while leaving us wanting more in the future (don’t worry folks, a Silver Surfer spin-off film is already down the pipeline, promising a darker tone than we get here). But the character is primarily a triumph of visual representation onscreen, with the gifted Doug Jones (who’s brought to life “Hellboy’s” Abe Sapien and “Pan’s Labyrinth’s” faun and Pale Man for Guillermo Del Toro) supplying the movements for WETA Digital to work their motion-capture magic in bringing the character to life. And the ever-recognizable voice of Laurence Fishburne puts the finishing touches on the character, and make him compelling enough to want to see him again in a more compelling story. (As for his “boss” Galactus, all I’ll say- as a non-comic reader- is that the effect of this “eater of worlds” as a giant cloud is impressive, even if it isn’t terribly intimidating storywise. This is an area I hope to see explored if a spin-off does happen.)
The Surfer doesn’t make sitting through the rest of the film any better, though. The familial bickering between Mr. Fantastic (aka Reed Richards, still played by “Amazing Grace’s” talented Ioan Gruffudd as a humorless nerd), his bride-to-be the Invisible Woman (aka Susan Storm, still played by “Sin City’s” beautiful Jessica Alba as a smart-looking hottie- the scenes of her strutting around in the lab with her glasses on are personal highlights- but barely charismatic woman), her self-absorbed brother the Human Torch (aka Johnny Storm, played by female eye candy Chris Evans as a less toolish one-man show in a mildly intriguing character arc), and their pilot-turned-rock man the Thing (aka Ben Grimm, played by “The Shield’s” Michael Chiklis is an unfortunately underwritten role this time around) is more polished, but still not the least bit funny or entertaining. Their attempts to maintain a personal life while in the spotlight are mildly enjoyable, even if they reek of cheese as storytelling. Their continued rivalry with archnemesis Dr. Victor von Doom (“Nip/Tuck’s” Julian McMahon, still cribbing too much from the Kevin Spacey book of cinematic villainy to be terribly convincing, much less compelling as an antagonist) still falls flat compared to the great comic book rivalries of old (namely, Superman vs. Lex Luthor, old or new version). And in general, you just don’t feel much of a genuine camradarie between these actors- you don’t believe the relationships, making it difficult to accept the performances, and thus making it near-impossible to truly get on board with the story. Maybe a change of director and writers would help, but one can’t help but think that after two films, maybe it’d be best to start from scratch with a new cast and crew. I wouldn’t count on it, though, so long as the cash registers are ringing.
