In following its predecessor, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has one very big challenge to overcome – the first Fantastic Four movie was total rubbish. Sure, there were moments of enjoyment to be had, but the lack of plot, script and even common sense left it bereft. Can the addition of the androgynous Silver Surfer make the difference?
That Susan Storm is reduced to such a pathetic character is a shame, as there isn’t much else in the field of character development to go on with. Johnny must learn to be a team player, and Reed must learn what, exactly? To listen to his nagging wife? When so much has been achieved in other recent comic book adaptations – particularly in the struggling with the work/life balance question in Spider-Man 2, or in the ‘roots’ story of Batman Begins – the vague and meaningless fluff that is offered here is just embarrassing.
Which would be fine if the action itself were enjoyable, and occasionally it is. The chase scene between the Silver Surfer and Human Torch is the best of the film, but is spoilt by its use in the trailer. Otherwise, fights come and go, and leaps of logic allowing the success of the heroes are taken such that one can never be sure just how or why they have won. There is no internal science at play… pseudoscientific gobbledegook is spat out (by Richards usually) in an attempt to pretend at some sort of sensible progression, but these jumps are often ridiculous and usually without basis in any available evidence.
The film generally looks ok, but has frequent moments of horrible CGI that take one out of the experience with a shudder. Lacking any coherence in plot and filled with banality in script, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer should only be seen by the very desperate.