The Fantastic Four somehow manage to drain out the glamor and the pomposity - sometimes even the fantasy out of the Superhero World.
*Rise of the Silver Surfer** seems to suffer from sequel-itis - the narrative isn’t as exciting, the story isn’t impressive. There’s practically no humor left. Cannot believe it? Picture this -
Reed Richards(Ioan Gruffudd) uses his limb-stretching plasticity to perform super moves on the dance floor. Sue Storm(Jessica Alba) resolves a zit "crisis" through a localised application of her powers of invisibilty. Johnny Storm(Chris Evans) accidentally sets a dartboard on fire in jolly old England. As stone man the Thing, Ben Grimm(Michael Chiklis) is the group’s fast-quipping heart and soul. Even mad, bad Dr Victor von Doom(Julian McMahon) mocks, preens and sneers like a pantomime villain.
As we start, the dogs are baying at the news of Rubber Guy’s upcoming nuptials to Invisible Girl. But, oops, damned if the wedding isn’t interrupted by that “whole end of the world thing.”
Yup, it’s the Silver Surfer, "attached" to a lethal silver board with a penchant for “radically altering matter.” In other words - "whole end of the world thing".
The rivers are drying up, snow is falling on the Pyramids, glaciers in Greenland have sprouted crater-sized holes, and a power outage has shut down the bright lights of Hollywood(hey, every surfed-over cloud has a silver lining).
Problem is, US General Hager(Andre Braugher) insists that the Four work in collaboration with their old foe Dr Doom, who will of course turn out to be far more malevolent than the sleek-skinned dude from outer space.
2005’s Fantastic Four was just so execrably godawful, that even if this sequel is no The Godfather: Part II, it still manages to be a considerable improvement upon its original.
Unfortunately, though, like the original, this Fantastic Four is all CGI fireworks and surface noise with very little substance. Our familiarity with the Four hardly adds to their depth, and nor does their constant banter, too superficial even to hint at much else going on below. They are, in a word, cartoonish, breezily sketched rather than meticulously detailed, with their outlandish powers a poor substitute for real character.
Adults, at least, will notice, and will be thankful for the film’s short duration. Watch it with your kids - The movie is packed to the brim with child-friendly messages about cooperation, responsibility, moral choice, sacrifice; and skincare!