Silver Surfer Can't Save Sequel
Fantastic Four Flounders

With all the comic book film adaptations being made nowadays, it begs the question if they really differ at all. Isn't a movie about Spider-Man pretty much the same as a movie about Batman? Well, no. Aside from the difference in storylines, the biggest difference is one of scope. Some films tend to be epic in scope while others are less so. Nothing illustrates the lack of grandeur in comic book movies better than Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
It's about to be "flame OUT" for Johnny Storm (Chris Evans, left) as he encounters the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. (20th Century Fox, 2007)
Directed by: Tim Story
Written by: Don Payne and Mark Frost, based on the Marvel characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, and Doug Jones

Rated PG (for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo)
Running time: 92 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 4 out of 10.

Director Tim Story once again helms a film about the first family of comic books, The Fantastic Four. This time, they face a threat from outer space that may be the source of their own cosmic powers.

The entire cast has returned, but it appears that nothing has changed since the last movie. Johnny "Human Torch" Storm (Chris Evans) is still trying to brand the Fantastic Four as a marketing gimmick and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) is still the loveable rock-visaged Thing. Only Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Sue "Invisible Woman" Storm (Jessica Alba) have moved forward in their relationship. They are planning their wedding.

The real story begins when General Hager (Andre Braugher) tracks down Richards in an attempt to get some advice about a strange object hurtling toward Earth. They soon discover that the object is a silver alien (Doug Jones, voiced by Laurence Fishburne) on a "surfboard." Reed traces the being's path through space and discovers that wherever it goes, planets die. This "Silver Surfer" begins making holes all over the world, and it becomes apparent that the Earth is next.

Later the Fantastic Four discover that their old nemesis Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) has made his own contact with the Surfer and discovered a weakness in the enemy. With Richards's help, Von Doom plans to devise a way to separate the alien from his surfboard (the source of his cosmic power).

The best word to describe the film is "underwhelming." Rather than a grand epic of adventure, the story plays like an episode of a television show. (In truth, I've seen TV shows more awe-inspiring than this movie.) At barely 90 minutes, the film is too brief to sustain an action story. It plays more like a dull romantic comedy.

The director chose to focus so much on the personal lives of the heroes that their adventures are more like a side note. If a wedding seems like a strange way to begin a comic book action film, you're right. It starts with all the excitement of a bad soap opera. The best action scenes in the movie (and there are a couple of nice ones) were overused in promoting the film.

Gone is the thrill of encountering new villains. Missing is the mystery of the unknown. The Silver Surfer was once the coolest dude in comicdom, with a far-out cosmic awareness of the inter-connectivity of all things (a real California guy). Unfortunately, that kind of epic grandeur has no place in this film. Even the Surfer's origin is told, rather than shown, giving the distinct impression that director Story doesn't have a clue about comic books.

The biggest disappointment in this film, however, is the failure to show the planet devourer Galactus. As a fan, it bothers me that the decision was made to replace Galactus's familiar gigantic figure with a space cloud. What should have been a jaw-dropping climactic scene turned into a puzzling and uninteresting denouement.