Movie Review: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Starring Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans & Michael Chiklis

Movie: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (PG)
Released: June 15th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 29 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Starburst
Starring: Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon & Laurence Fishburne
Director: Tim Story

Rating: Worth a Matinee –

Synopsis: The Fantastic Four are back with a new enemy. The Silver Surfer has come to Earth to prepare it for destruction. While the team tries to figure out how to stop the shiny board flyer, an old nemesis, Dr. Doom, starts preparing to wreak a little havoc of his own. Can the four of them figure out the mysteries behind the Surfer and also stop Doom in his tracks?

Review: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a really fun movie. The mood of the theater as the credits rolled was really upbeat, as a few even broke out into light applause and sounds of enjoyment. People really seemed to like it, including me.

Yet, as with the first Fantastic Four movie, most critics don’t seem to like it very much. I try not to read other reviews before writing my own, but the prevailing wisdom seems to be less than stellar.

Given that prevailing wisdom, I found it hard to believe that a second film was even made. I never saw the first one in the theater. In fact, I just watched it a few weeks ago, knowing I was probably going to see this one. Yet, the first one made a fantastic amount of money, which is why a second one got made.

I actually liked the first film. It was funny, had some action and most of all, showed us how they became the Fantastic Four. They didn’t just jump into the action. They followed in the mold of Spider-Man and made a movie that gave you the origin story, as well as some comic action. While Fantastic Four takes a different tone in telling their story than was done with Spidey, it is still very good.

But, as with the first movie, I couldn’t disagree more with the prevailing wisdom. I guess most seem to want some kind of serious sci-fi take on the story, I guess, but I like the light and fun way these movies play out. They are based on comic books after all. This one gives you a few sight gags and plenty of funny moments to go along with the action sequences.

The acting is really good, if a little goofy. But, that is the tone they are going for and it works. The interaction between the four is the best part of the movie, especially after Johnny’s confrontation with the surfer and his power being able to be switched with the others. This leads to some of the funniest moments in the movie.

If you were one of the few, like me, who liked the first one, then you will definitely like this one. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is worth rising up and surfing on down to your local theater to shell out a little silver and green for a matinee. What did you think of the second Fantastic Four movie?