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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
A Critique by Zeeks

Well, you know the story of how sequels usually never equal the power or stamina of the original? Tim Story not only proved that was true, but he added insult to injury in his latest FF sequel.

Very few films have sequels that either match or exceed the debut film. The X-Men and Spiderman franchises come to mind, but the fact of the matter is this: Story started out on a rocky road to begin with and it pretty much ended up in a downhill rockslide that would even make Ben Grimm’s “skin” crawl. Without going into the good, bad, and definitely ugly points of the 2005 FF film, Story presents us with the introduction of the Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer. Back are the core team members plus Victor Von Doom in a highly unimaginative retelling of the Surfer’s introduction to the Marvel Universe. One would think that Story would have learned from his mistakes from the first flick, but nope, he just makes things worse with few redeeming factors.

For anyone who actually knows the story of the Silver Surfer, he is one of the ultimate tragic figures, not only in the comics world, but in the entire fictional world as well. He is a being of sadness and deep regret over his actions of helping his master, Galactus, destroy entire worlds. Why does he do this? It is the price he pays for saving the one he loves, and his entire planet. In exchange for his role as herald of Galactus, his world was spared. Only problem is- he never gets to go back. He travels the universe in search of worlds for Galactus to feed on in order to survive.

To Story’s credit, his specific interpretation of the Surfer himself is not without merit- Story took the risk of using CGI, which proved utterly dismal in The Hulk, and combined it with a live action actor, Doug Jones, to create the visage brought to screen. His risk in this arena actually came off quite nicely. You can tell that it makes a lot of difference when actors get to “interact” with other actors vs. using their imagination and iffy directing of responding to ghost images. When looking at the behind the scenes documentary on disc 2 of the special edition DVD release of the film, it is quite amazing how the creative team brought the Surfer to life. The globular machine that assisted in the movement and action of the Surfer is truly amazing. Of course, it was also this specific rendering that helped kill the film as well- you take an enormously popular figure and put him in as the spotlight, it is destined to kill the thesis of the film, which theoretically is the Fantastic Four. Many fans quip at the idea of re-titling the Film “The Silver Surfer; with appearances by the Fantastic Four”.

Story’s other notable triumph was with the design of the Fantasticar. Originally envisioned at a basic flying bathtub by Lee and Kirby, he made his interpretation quite the spectacular table piece of the film, even if it was only seen for a total of 10 minutes out of the 92 minute film. Of particular note was the adage of the Dodge Ram insignia, which makes you wonder how much of a kickback Dodge is getting from 20th Century Fox.

Onwards to the meat and potatoes of the film. The first thing that struck me was Ioan Gruffudd’s terrible portrayal of Reed Richards, but you can’t hold him entirely responsible- most of it has to do with Story’s horrendous direction. Gruffudd’s Reed basically came off as a parody of a parody. His verbiage, execution of script, and over exaggerated sense of character killed off any notion of taking Reed seriously, and it really is too bad because Gruffudd’s acting is usually quite good. He’s amassed quite an impressive resume, but when it comes to the comic book hero, the poor guy just doesn’t have it. Reed’s basic conflict has always been this: work vs. family. The scientific mind vs. the emotional heart. It is a very subtle thing that few actors can successfully bring to the silver screen. Gruffudd is taking the basic statement he made as Reed Richards in the first film, which was standard to begin with, and coming off with the feeling of “I’m being held by puppet strings while holding my own strings as well”. Poor, poor Reed. If only Gruffudd could be as flexible in his rigid over-achieving acting as Reed’s limbs.

And what of Ms. Jessica Alba? Well, when a super model is the star of a film, and like Gruffudd, faced with bad directing, you can’t expect much. She’s beautiful, gorgeous, strong, and has a good sense of self, but is she really bringing that to the role of Susan Storm? She was another iffy choice going back to the first film to begin with, and fanboys the world over cried out in rage. Can you blame them? Again, Alba is a good actress in her own right. Her work such as Sin City and the romantic comedies she has stared in have gained her some cred in the industry, but there is just something about Jessica Alba and Susan Storm that does not mix. However, she did the best she could with what she had to work with. During the whole emotional bonding scene with Norrin Radd, it was a little too “Lucasian” in direction and execution. Cardboard characterization creates cardboard emotions, and I had a tough time trying to sympathize with the situation.

This time around, Michael Chiklis was definitely more comfortable with the role of Ben Grimm. He did a good job in the first flick as well, but he is now more relaxed, more “in tune” with the role, and he didn’t fall prey to the trappings of overacting as Alba and Gruffudd did. A large part of this new relaxation probably has to do with the make-up process, which was quite refined the second time around (Chiklis had no problem publicly stating that the make up process in the first film was a nightmare for himself). Due to the fact that he had successfully rendered the “This Man, This Monster” feeling in the first film, we do not need to be reminded in the second film, and Chiklis was aware of that. He can still trade quips with Johnny Storm quite nicely while pulling off a believable attraction with Alicia Masters. He is also quite capable of handling the small moments on his own as well- the scene with the bear was extremely humorous, given how scared Chiklis was with having a real life wild bear 10 feet away from him to begin with.

Of course, Chris Evans remains the focal point of the Four, and was equally successful in bringing his command of the role over to the second film. Still the braggart younger brother with dreams of flash and style, Johnny Storm is a bit more mature now, but the audience never forgets where he came from. Unlike the over-acting disaster Sue and Reed, Johnny successfully interprets the alienation and separation he feels from his family without saying a word. You can see it on his face and in his movement. Also, he still carries the role of jester quite well, too. The bit where he is flying outside the plane was hilarious. It was quite nice to see that he ended up in the savior role as well, mimicking the “super skrull” blend of powers to defeat Doom. Cocky, impulsive, and reckless, Evan’s role as Johnny Storm is a highlight of the movie.

Alas, we come down to Dr. Doom. See, the problem here is not that Julian McMahon can’t kick it off- it’s that the role is so one-dimensional, which goes back directly to Tim Story’s rendering of who is perhaps the most notable villain in the entire Marvel Universe. McMahon keeps it real, and with his experience from Nip/Tuck, he has obviously learned how to make believable drama, whether on the small screen or big screen. Victor Von Doom was never a one-dimensional character- he is a multi-faceted being worthy of both compassion and disgust. Story recklessly jettisoned these qualities away in the first movie, putting the character of Doom down to a 3rd tier villain like Spiderman’s Scorpion. Now, Doom is just a power-hungry guy bent on the FF’s destruction. How droll. The two upshots of Doom in the second film were the inclusion of his homeland, Latveria, and the upgrade to his armor. The armor in itself was a cross between the latter interpretations of Ultimate Universe Doom with the House of M styling. It was also a very “back to roots” visage as well, which pleased this Doom fan. McMahon’s acting as a scorned business tycoon in the first flick was an insult to fans everywhere; at least we got a more classic Doom this time around. Of course, again, how much can you do when you are given a bad job to begin with in terms of acting? Look at how Singer made Magneto a believable, multi-dimensional Magneto. We got a history lesson and a genuine impression of a character that garnered both our disgust at his evil and our sympathy as a Nazi victim. If only Story gave McMahon something like that to work with, there would have been less complaints.

Some of the better highlights (and I use that term generously) of the film lay solely in the action sequences, such as the air chase between Johnny and Norrin. It was like hyperdrive in a subway. Doom’s take over of the surfer board was also quite nice- you could sense the power and majesty of the figure reaching his ultimate goal; however, I had a hard time accepting Doom as just saying “nice” once he had the power cosmic. Where’s the “referring to myself in third person that this is rightfully mine” speech that is so common when Doom finally grasps what he is intent on acquiring?

Although the action sequences provide the viewer with actual enjoyment, the second to last scene in which Doom loses the board was dismal, and what is worse is that it could have been great. Story worked up the scene by pulling the Super Skrull thing with Johnny, and it was great once he was let out of the barn, but when we get to the crux of the fight between him and Doom, there is only a couple of punches and boom! Doom is knocked off the board. All of 2 minutes at best. Where is the intensity of the fight ala Spiderman vs. Doctor Octopus? Where are the highs and lows that each side must face? There are none, and that’s the problem. At least Doom survived it pretty much intact by landing in the ocean (could we see a possible match up with Prince Namor in the next sequel? Can Story let someone else direct it?).

As the final insult, we meet Galactus. Rather, a giant fart cloud that Story wants us to believe is Galactus. Story, what were you thinking? The fans wanted something tangible. At the very least, the Ultimate version of Galactus could have been used, if not the big purple guy in the pointy helmet. How can one take a cloud seriously as a planet devourer? We even got a tease of something more as the cloud was nearing earth and we saw a shadow of the cloud in the pointed visage of the trademark Galactus helmet, and then the confrontation between the Surfer and his master ends up being a total let-down. And basically, that is the summation of Story’s entire treatment of the Fantastic Four mythos- work the fan up and then let him/her down.