Story Strikes Silver

When I first got word of the Fantastic Four making the transition from the comic pages to the big screen, I was only somewhat excited. I knew the basic story, but it wasn't something that I was overly anxious to see, despite the recent surge in comic book films. My interest level in the movie was piqued when I found out that the man who would be directing the film, Tim Story, is black. Story is the man behind the lens for both Barbershop movies, as well as the mildly amusing but completely unbelievable Taxi(Jimmy Fallon as a cop? Come on!! Gisele Bundchen as a bank robber? Give me a break!! Queen Latifah with a man??? Get the fuck outta here!!!!!) In this day and age, the revelation of the race of a film's director shouldn't be newsworthy, but we all know better. It's hard out here for a pimp, but it's even harder for black filmmakers to get opportunities to tackle projects outside of the requisite "urban films" which seem to recycle the same actors and plotlines over and over. Just how many black actors have to appear on the call sheet for a movie to be classified as "urban?" And how many times will Morris Chesnut and Gabrielle Union appear in a movie together? The world may never know......

At any rate, Fantastic Four premiered in the summer of 2005 and was received rather harshly. Critics didn't think that it measured up when compared to films with greater emotional depth such as Spider Man and Batman Begins. Fanboys had major issues with some of the casting decisions as well as the creative liberty taken with the origin of the film's chief villan. Nevertheless, FF tallied healthy box office receipts, which meant that a sequel was immiment. On a personal level, the movie wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be, and I was happy that Story was able to achieve a level of success, at least on a financial level, for such a big outing.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer picks up a while after the events of the first film. The first dysfunctional family of superheroes has moved up to a higher tax bracket, and they enjoy A- list celebrity status in the city of New York. The press is buzzing over the upcoming nuptuals between Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic(Ioan Gruffudd) and Sue Storm/Invisible Woman(Jessica Alba). Johnny Storm/The Human Torch(Chris Evans) is still quite the ladies man, and Ben Grimm/The Thing(Michael Chiklis) has found a love of his own in the stunningly beautiful but visually challenged Alica Masters(Kerry Washington). *Side note #1:I know love and Alicia are blind, but at what point do you stop and wonder why the person you love is a hulking mass of rock?* Anyway, I digress. During all of this, there are areas of the world that are experiencing very unusual weather patterns, and General Hager(Andre Braugher) comes to Reed and company to try to get answers. We all find out that this is the result of the Silver Surfer, an intergalactic being who shows up on a cosmic surfboard, disrupts the wedding, and causes all kinds of chaos. As powerful as he is, the Surfer actually serves a higher power by the name of Galactus, who has to sustain his energy levels by destroying entire planets. Take that, global warming!!! The Surfer's job is to prep the planet for Galactus to show up and do his thing, and it's up to the FF to figure out what he's up to and how to stop him.

The trailers and TV spots seemed to indicate that this film would be several notches above the first in terms of plot, action, and character development, and in some ways, it was. The best thing this movie has going for it is the Silver Surfer, who was magically brought to life by Doug Jones, who has done equally good work in Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. There was a last minute change for the Surfer's voice, which was provided by Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne's melodic baritone really helps flesh out quite a bit of depth for the character, and when he glides above the stratosphere on his board, it really is a sight to behold. The rest of the movie, however, doesn't quite live up to the Surfer. Jessica Alba still seems out of her element as Sue Storm, but any excuse to put her in the body hugging blue suit is fine by me. *Side note #2:there's a scene where Alba and Washington share a tender moment, and I wanted to kick Tim Story square in the nuts for not taking advantage of the insane amount of hotness that emits from these two starlets. What I wouldn't give to have been in the director's chair that day* The Thing is played mostly for laughs, which is a shame, because there's a lot more to him that could have been presented to the audience. Julian McMahon returns as Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom, but his inclusion doesn't really add anything extra, and he still seems woefully miscast in the role, unable to really project the megalomaniac persona of the character. Everytime he was on screen, I felt the urge to schedule a rhinoplasty. Story also dropped the ball by choosing not to show Galactus as a physical being, which will send fans of the comic into a tizzy. There's a ton of product placement, one of the major ones being the Fantasticar, which was made by Dodge. I wonder if it's available for a test drive at the local dealership.

Rise of The Silver Surfer doesn't quite raise the bar for this franchise the way that X Men 2 did for that brand, but it doesn't come anywhere close to the levels of futility currently occupied by The Punisher and Daredevil. At it's core, FF is more light hearted than some of the other comic book film offerings. The fact that the heroes don't have to conceal their identities from the public frees them of the pressure and burdens that characters like Spider Man have to deal with. Finally, the 90 minute run time guarantees that it doesn't overstay its welcome. Overall, I give the movie 2 and a half stars.