Horror Movie Reviews
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Title: Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) |
Review of Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Catch a wave of "terrific adventure" and "non-stop action" (CBS-TV) in this fun and fantastically entertaining smash-hit! "Invisible Woman: Sue Storm and "Mr. Fantastic" Dr. Reed Richards are about to be married when a mysterious alien... the Silver Surfer... crashes the proceedings and heralds Earth's impending destruction. With time running out, the Fantastic Four reluctantly teams up with the nefarious Dr. Doom in a thrilling effort to save our planet!
Description
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is another entertaining romp for the Marvel-superhero franchise. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), is treading on thin ice when his fiancée, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), thinks he's more interested in a series of cosmic phenomena occurring around the earth than in the preparations for their upcoming wedding. Sorry, ladies, but Reed is right. The disturbances are caused by a surge of cosmic power from a mysterious being called the Silver Surfer (an all-CGI creation, modeled by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne), who not only zooms around the skies on his board, but also has enough power to fight the FF, sometimes by turning their own power against them, not only mixing up Sue and Reed, but also Johnny Storm, the Human Torch (Chris Evans), and Ben Grimm, the Thing (Michael Chiklis). But that's not the worst of it. The Surfer is only an opening act, a herald looking for planets! that his master, Galactus, can consume for his sustenance.
With its initial installment, Fantastic Four established itself as the superhero franchise that didn't take itself too seriously, and that continues here. There are numerous moments of laugh-out-loud humor, and the most angst they suffer is whether Sue and Reed will ever be able to live a normal family life. (That, and whether they'll ever really get married, of course.) If Fantastic Four were a normal superhero franchise, the ending would be a knock-down drag-out war with Galactus, featuring the FF in a colossal battle for the planet Earth and the lives of everyone on it. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer just doesn't do that, and we don't quite get the payoff we expected. Effects are dazzling, but the Surfer looks too metallic, more like a skyriding T-1000 robot. --David Horiuchi
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Extras
View exclusive clips (including interviews with Fantastic Four Creator Stan Lee and Screenwriter Don Payne), download AIM icons and wallpapers and browse the extensive photo gallery at our Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer minisite.
Beyond Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Fantastic Four Toys & Games
Fantastic Four Paperback Series
Fantastic Four Comics & Graphic Novels
Fantastic Four Video Games
Fantastic Four Posters, Stickers and More
Fantastic Four ApparelMore of the Four on DVD
Fantastic Four Extended Cut
The Fantastic Four Animated Series
Fantastic Four on Blu-Ray
Stills from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
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Comments for Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Posted on 2008-11-13
If you like the comic you'll hate this
First off, any one who read FF#48-50 where the Silver Surfer and Galactus first appeared will hate this. I realize as movie makers they can't do the comic adaption word for word but if anything was ever begging to go directly from comics to movies it was those three classic issues.
I enjoyed most of the Marvel based movies even though they stray far from the comic but, FF's strength is its' early issues and though you couldn't have corny sixties dialog like "Now it's time for me, Mr. Fantastic, to handle things for a stretch!" or "Hey gang it's Johnny with the Ultimate Nullifier!" where is the Watcher? Why is Galactus a cloud? Oh yes, he, the ultimate 400 story tall baddie in the Marvel Universe is like a big Sauronesque fume in this movie. To make it worse they have the shadow of his head fly past a planet having fanboys like me salivating.
I hope this spoils things for fans like me who were hoping to see at least a halfway decent adaption of the comic, maybe they won't buy this garbage. This way maybe they'll lose so much money they'll have to do it over like they did with the Hulk.
Score: 1
- Posted on 2008-10-31
Your Herald Summons You
"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is the second Fantastic Four movie, and first hit the big screens in 2007.
Two years have passed since the Fantastic Four - Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm - gained their powers. Following a trip into space and a blast of cosmic rays, Reed became able to bend and stretch like rubber, Susan had the ability to become invisible while Johnny could transform into a human of living fire. However, where Reed, Sue and Johnny could switch their powers on and off, Ben couldn't : he was permanently stuck as a creature made of living rock. Despite the superhuman strength, it was something he wasn't - initially - terribly pleased about...although now, he's a little more comfortable with things.
Reed and Sue's wedding is now approaching and - with the team's fame - it's going to be a big media event. However, it's not about to pass off smoothly; thanks to a mysterious visitor from space, very strange things are happening to the Earth's climate - snow in Egypt, frozen seas in Japan, even power outages in western USA. There are even mysterious craters appearing at certain points around the Earth and- thanks to the film's opening sequence - you know the Earth's in an awful lot of danger.
It isn't long before the team get called in by the military. A certain General Hager stops by the Baxter Building looking for Reed - although he isn't too happy about sharing any classified information with a civilian scientist. (He particularly dislikes Reed - the pair have something of a history). Unfortunately, he arrives while the boys at enjoying Reed's stag-night...so Sue takes the General and his goons along. (Naturally, events only confirm the General's bad opinion, and land Reed in quite some bother with Sue). The General's looking for some help with explaining the meteorological anomalies and the strange craters. In an effort to impress Sue, Reed officially passes on the assignment - claiming that he wants to focus solely on his forthcoming wedding. Naturally, he works on the project in secret and finishes things up just before the wedding.
Naturally, things go drastically wrong. The mysterious visitor from space - the Silver Surfer - arrives in New York just before the wedding and knocks out power all over the city. Johnny goes after him, and is the first person to get a really good look at the Surfer...without realising the extent of the Surfer's powers. Johnny very much comes of second-best, and the encounter also leaves Johnny's powers on the blink - when he touches one of his colleagues, their powers (briefly) switch. (It's something that Ben has a bit of fun with, and gives us another chance to see a scantily-clad Jessica Alba). Even worse, the Surfer's arrival has Dr Doom come back to life...and it isn't long before he starts adding to the planet's woes.
"Rise of the Silver Surfer" is a great deal better than the first Fantastic Four movie, and some of the effects are excellent. The fact that there's a half-decent storyline - unlike the first movie - helps a great deal, and Johnny Storm isn't quite the nuisance he was first time around. There are a few flaws - Reed Richards still has the worst superpower ever dreamt up and there was the occasional bout of cheesy dialogue. However, Stan Lee's cameo was the only irritating thing about the movie - as with the first movie, there was just no need for him to be there. A largely fun way to pass a free couple of hours.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-10-27
Shiny and bright
Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman want to get married, but their wedding plans are ruined when the Silver Surfer arrives. The only way to stop the Silver Surfer from ruining everything is to separate him from his surf-board, which they do. However, that is not enough, as the Silver Surfer's master still wants to destroy Earth for its own survival. The Silver Surfer is persuaded from being bad to being good, and is re-united with his surf-board so that his master's intentions fail.
The movie is shiny and bright like the Spider-Man movies, as opposed to being dark like the Batman movies. I prefer the former type of movies, so I liked Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer too.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2008-10-16
SILVER ON THE RISE
Let me state straight away, I much prefered this movie to the original film, this one is better paced and with a more creative story. The Dr. Doom character is the best thing about these films, he looks great and he is brutal menace just like in the comics. The Silver Surfer character is somewhat of an enigma, but I liked the CGI, and to honest he looked really HOT, but i digess..overall, a much improved sequel, but honestly, get Ms. Alba an acting coach, she is up there with Josh Hartlet as the worst actors in Hollywood, she is hot, yes for sure, but her character is important to the flow of the film and she's asked to do some emoting and she is just painful to watch..here's hoping the next film in even better and that Ms. Alba takes me advice.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2008-10-11
Not exactly the comic...but close.
We all remember the Fantastic Four from reading comic books during our childhood. The Silver Surfer was introduced early in the series as the mighty Galactus' (the devourer of worlds) herald. This mighty duo is brought to the big screen for the first time in Fantastic Four 2. This was a film I couldn't wait to see, and after several months of anticipation, we finally get to see it....so it disappoints me to say the movie was boring.
First: The movie takes almost thirty minutes to really get going....and considering the movie is only an hour and a half long, this is bad. The movie begins with the attempted wedding of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Susan Storm (Invisible Woman) but shortly after the comedy-filled bachelor party the couple is made aware of an event that has global implications. During the wedding a silver blur soars past the ceremony forcing Johnny Storm (Human Torch) to give chase. This is my favorite scene in the movie and soon after it ends the film slows back down.
The film tries to remain faithful to the golden age comic: The Silver Surfer, on a mission to locate subsistence, discovers earth and signals his master, Galactus. The only real important differences from the comic are the Surfer's powers...the form of Galactus...the individual that shows the Surfer humanity....Victor Von Doom...and the means in which to stop Galactus. Yet, while these are some major differences, they don't distract from the film all that much. The main problem with thefilm is that the only decent scenes involve the Silver Surfer and he really only has a bit part. However, the movie is left opened for a Silver Surfer spin-off.
Score: 3
