Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

• Directed by Tim Story
• June 13, 2007 (Premiere) / June 15, 2007 (UK and US) / August 14, 2007 (Germany)
• Based on Fantastic Four created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

The Fantastic Four along with Doctor Doom confront the Silver Surfer to save Earth from Galactus.

The elephant in the room when it comes to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the iconic comic book villain called Galactus. Director Tim Story rather than choose something vaguely similar or even identical to what the comics have done (which appears to be the route that the newest release has taken), he chose a generic cloud. If the characters were facing some mindless space monster coming towards Earth that would be acceptable but this is an intelligent being given what it did for/to the Silver Surfer (Laurence Fishburne voice / Doug Jones physical) and generic cloud does not communicate that.

You definitely needed the definitely in the character in the purple helmet or something. Maybe hint at it or do some kind of test before going with a generic cloud. He’s just a space monster here. It makes events feel too silly and in a movie like this that is saying something.

The design of the Silver Surfer is spot on. For a movie that’s on the lower cost side even by the standards of the time he is fantastic. The performance of Doug Jones combined with the voice of Laurence Fishburne was perfect. I can’t complain about this iteration of the character. He has the otherworldly feel and attitude like the character should have despite flying around on the surfboard.

Marvel is known for its humor these days and this movie contains plenty of it. The humor used here is unlike the current MCU. It’s not a joke when there hasn’t been one for a little bit but its humor derived from the situation of the characters. It does necessarily undermine the action or the tension. It highlights the awkward nature or the strangeness of what’s going on.

At 90 minutes Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is shorter than its predecessor and shorter than many superhero films today. There is not much in the way of character development. There is a little bit on the relationships but it’s much more focused on the threat as well as building up the Silver Surfer character.

There is not much meat to the story. Between reminding the audience that the heroes hate the villain because of the last movie and stupid decisions be characters that should know better like General Hager (Andre Braugher) trusting Doom (Julian McMahon), things move quickly with little being crafted making it all a touch mindless. And how did the US military get access to a Russian facility in Siberia? Nobody really tells the audience.

A big chunk of Rise of the Silver Surfer revolves around power switching amongst the cast. I’m just having a little trouble following the rules as they apply here. The switching is caused by the presence of the Silver Surfer and his ‘cosmic radiation.’ That much I get but the hows and whys and whens make no sense. Then it just kinda fades into the background after it is used to beat the crap outta Doom after he stole the Surfer’s board which is a very Doctor Doom plot. Points for getting that right.

My biggest issue is that the Fantastic Four doesn’t ultimately save the day. As I recall this was intended to be to begin a spinoff movie for Silver Surfer and his actions here are what save the day. The Fantastic Four exists in the story to give you a reason to see him.

A real treat for me was the Fantasticar. I think Tim Story made something as silly as that work. By the time it finally showed up in the movie you were down for almost anything. They even made it look cool.  That little bit of coolness does not make a movie. This is watchable but that the heroes did not save the day is a big negative.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer isn’t great but it’s not a travesty. It needed a little more story but overall just fun. Not a bad choice.