Fantastic Four: Yet Another Bland Comic Book Sequel
Written: Jun 26 '07 (Updated Jun 26 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Silver Surfer is cool for the moments he gets screen time
Cons: bad acting, poor script, lack of action scenes, tries to be funny
The Bottom Line: I hope there's no sequel.
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| t13monkeys's Full Review: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer |
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (FF: RotSS) is yet another volley by Hollywood into the overkill of comic-book based films for this decade. With the hit and misses Marvel has managed with X-Men and Spiderman, to the more hated Ghost Rider and Elektra, unfortunately FF: RotSS falls into the hated category. If you’ve seen the trailer, I’m sad to say that not only have you seen the best scenes of the film as you’ve also seen a pretty good summary of the first 30 minutes of the movie. Chockfull of painfully cheesy lines and badly scripted dialog plentiful with awkward pauses, FF- RotSS is a 92 minute adventure that will make you cringe, laugh and cry in ways unintended.
Silver Surfer is at the main thrust of the marketing gimmick that FF: RotSS plays on. Marvel was definitely banking on the idea that folks will see the trailer that reeks of the also silver and cool T2000 and feel inclined to give it a shot. However Silver Surfer’s appearance in the movie is short-lived and he plays a minimal role and also does little fighting.
When a movie’s best scenes seem to come solely from the trailer, you’ve got to wonder, what else does it have to offer? FF: RotSS, like many other comic book films, has a weird mix of quirky humor that it tries to steal from Spiderman 3. Starting the film with an incredibly awkward dance scene with Richard Reed using his powers with two girls at his bachelor party, to the strange power-swapping antics that goes on in between Sue and Johnny resulting in Sue naked in public when she “flames out”, the film tries its best to be funny but ends up failing at it.
After Silver Surfer makes his appearance and breaks up Sue and Richard’s wedding for the first third of the movie, the plot takes off, and it’s all about how a resurrected Dr. Doom turns up again to “save the world” from the Silver Surfer, resulting in an uneasy partnership between two rivals. Unfortunately, blatantly poor acting (thanks to an equally poor script) from Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) won’t redeem what sex appeal she holds, and Julian McMahon’s role (Nip Tuck) as Dr. Doom is one of the biggest miscasts in comic book history next to Nicholas Cage’s appearance as Ghost Rider.
FF: RotSS uses an excessive abuse of super powers to entertain, from Johnny’s strange quips about how the Thing does his thing in the bedroom, to blatant overuse of Mr. Fantastic’s stretch powers onscreen whenever possible, to the plainly awkward use of Silver Surfer’s stomach as a video screen (I kid you not), this movie comes across as far too gimmicky to be given an iota of serious appreciation.
But that’s the thing, unlike Spiderman 3, which at times is aware that it’s being blatantly wacky, FF: RotSS has oddly staid moments where it tries to play itself as a legitimate superhero film. Dramatic and overused circular sweeps of the camera combined with blatant “for the trailer shots” make FF: RotSS a sickening movie to watch for film appreciators, and to be brutally honest, Tom Story should not be directing movies anymore.
I cannot recommend FF: RotSS to anyone. For a film to be only 92 minutes and still be a waste of time to me is as bad as things get. Bottom line, save your money, there are other worthwhile options to look forward to this summer.
Recommended:
No
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t13monkeys
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