After the 2005 version of Fantastic Four Made enough revenue at the box office, Fox immediately began development on a follow up. Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba & Michael Chiklis reprise their roles as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, & Ben Grimm/The Thing, in Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer was released in 2007. (same year as both Ghost Rider & Spider-Man 3 came out) Like its predecessor, it received negative reviews from critics, viewers & fans alike. Despite negative reactions, the film earned enough money at the box office.
This review contains a lot of SPOILERS. If you’ve never seen this both movies minus the reboot, read at your own risk.
Positive: The Main Cast including Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis & Julian McMahon reprise their roles and did a good job on their performances.
Producers at Fox took some feedback from on the first film lacking Action Sequences, this time the second entry has a few scenes such as Torch’s chasing Silver Surfer, The Team saving a bunch of people from a collapsing Ferris Wheel located in London, & The Climatic Battle.
Laurence Fishburne did a decent job on his portrayal as Norrin Radd/Silver Surfer.
Fun Fact: Laurence went on to co-star as Perry White, in Man Of Steel & Batman Vs. Superman. He’s also gonna appear as Bill Foster/Goliath in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (MCU for short)
Silver Surfer’s visual design is looked spot on accurate to his appearance from the comics.
Visual Effects (except Mr. Fantastic’s stretching abilities) look decently normal.
Cinematogrpahy didn’t have any issues.
Similar to its predecessor, The Thing’s appearance is constructed as a bodysuit for Michael Chiklis.
Only two funny part that made me laugh. First part is when Johnny switches powers with Ben. Ben turns back into Vic Mackey from The Shield and I gotta love Johnny’s horrified reaction to his rocky appearance. Second part is when Ben roars at a bear.
The Human Torch said his catchphrase, “Flame On” and borrowed The Thing’s “It’s Clobberin’ Time!”
The Team’s vehicle called, “The Fantasticar” makes its big screen debut.
In almost every Marvel related movie, Stan Lee makes a cameo as guest at Reed & Sue’s wedding. Stan exclaimed, “I’m Stan Lee” in front of security. If I were a bouncer, I would definitely let Stan as a best man to Reed. I’m giving his cameo Bonus Points for saying his name out loud and one his best cameo appearances next to Deadpool & Big Hero 6!
Stand-Up Comedian, Brian Posehn, makes a brief appearance as a wedding minister.
Before The End Credits Sequence properly commences, Silver Surfer survives as his board approaches him.
Negative: Just like in the first film, Jessica Alba’s performance as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, felt underwhelming, lacking emotional investment to display a notable personality.
Once again, Marvel’s first female superhero, is completely naked after acquiring Johnny’s fire form in the most insulting way as a metaphor on setting a bag full of dog poop on fire. Even her “assets” bounce while Susan is hovering uncontrollably. I’m Doubling Down this scene, because it looks like something Michael Bay would do if he made a Fantastic Four picture!
Mr. Fantastic’s stretching abilities resemble an episode of Jimmy Neutron.
Members of The Army are depicted as complete idiots for hiring Dr. Doom to capture Silver Surfer. I thought they learned about Doom’s villainous scheme from the first movie. Did everybody end up like Dory (from Finding Nemo) suffering from a case of Short Term Memory Loss?!
Galactus’s appearance is literally a gigantic smog cloud. He’s suppose to be a man bigger than planet Earth, wearing a big helmet. OH MY GOD! Galactus’s cloud form went on to inspire The Climatic Battle from Ryan’s Reynolds’ Green Lantern movie! That does it, I’m so gonna Triple Down Points, for Fox butchering one of Marvel’s powerful supervillains of all time as a cloud, right next to Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine & Dr. Doom’s face in the 2015 reboot known as Fan4Stic!
I swear to god I’m totally not making this up, there’s a Dance Scene outta nowhere with Mr. Fantastic showing off his moves at a bachelor party. WAIT A MINUTE! Spider-Man 3 also had a cringeworthy Dance Scene with Peter Parker acting like John Travolta! I’m Doubling Down this flaw as on both films. A Dance Scene has to make sense for the audience. In Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star-Lord danced in The Opening Credits, because he treasures a Walkman from his deceased mother as it establishes who he is & why he wanted to dance. Both Spider-Man 3 & Rise Of The Silver Surfer’s use of Dance Scenes felt outta place in terms of character and nature.
After Dr. Doom is hit by a crane, causing him to drown into an ocean. Nobody brings up his current whereabouts after The Climatic Battle.
Product Placement is all over the place, most notably Johnny’s uniform (in one scene only) covered in brands to resemble a NASCAR Driver’s uniform filled with countless brands.
The Final Verdict: D-
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer barley improved from the original film. However, it is another cluster fudge towards critics and longtime Marvel fans, until Fox put the final nail in the coffin covered in diarrhea by releasing the 2015 reboot as The Razzie Winner for “Worst Picture Of 2015.” The Council Of Reeds are extremely dissatisfied that they’ll never get a chance to appear on the big screen.
If Disney/Marvel Studios might someday develop a proper reboot of Fantastic Four, I want to see Galactus the way he’s portrayed in the comics played by an actor, not terrible looking smog cloud from Al Gore’s future “third installment” called “The Inconvenient Truth 3.” All we can do is cross our fingers and hope that Disney has what it takes to resurrect Marvel’s first superhero team alongside two spin-offs based on Silver Surfer & Dr. Doom.
If I made a film adaptation about Silver Surfer in three conditions. First, I want Jason Statham for the role. Second, I want Galactus to resemble his appearance from the comics. Third, I want Galactus & Silver Surfer to be a part of the MCU.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 