Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (8/10)
posted in Movie Reviews |
While still feeling a little bit like X-Men Lite, this second film of the franchise is a major improvement over the lackluster first entry. Like most films of the genre, one must check their rational brain at the door. After the first film, which I gave a thumb down to, this follow-up corrects many of the mistakes the first film made, for me anyway. First, Michael Chiklis’ character no longer has the whiny, self-pity nature that was insufferable in the first. Second, there’s less of Julian McMahon’s flat Victor Von Doom character, and this time out he may still be fairly useless but is a bit more interesting on screen. Third, the script and pacing is tighter with more action and entertainment all around. Fourth, we are introduced to a pretty good new element - Silver Surfer. That character works well enough, but to be honest I found some of the menacing work of Galactus to be more interesting.
Writing: As I said, the script is pretty well put together, with quick pacing and good character interaction. While not the type of script that is going to win any screenplay awards, it holds things together well enough to stage the entertainment around. Dialog is decent, but most of it isn’t all too sharp. The major weak point is the character of General Hager, which is so flat and horribly stereotyped, it makes me flinch every time the character is on screen.
Production: Most of the visual effects are quite well done. The material involving Galactus is particularly cool. Some of the Surfer stuff is cool, some of it isn’t. None of it sticks out as bad, though. Cinematography is dynamic, but again not quite anything to make your jaw drop. Sound design is pretty much the same. Frankly, I think the one department that should get the most praise is the set/production design teams. From buildings to the cool Fantasticar, everything has a nice, sleek vibe.
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd continues to imbue his Mr. Fantastic character with an almost wooden mannerism, which I think is intentional. He definitely lays on the Dudley Do-Right good guy persona, which has an appropriate fit for the role. Jessica Alba gets a chance to show some marked improvement in her role as Susan Storm, and their wedding plans make for a good foil in the story. As I already mentioned, Michael Chicklis’ character of Ben Grimm is vastly improved in this second film. In fact, most of his material is quite good. In particular, his scenes with Johnny Storm are all excellent and entertaining. Speaking of which, Chris Evans gets to have some more fun with the most entertaining character of the franchise. He was one of the only highlights of the first film and he gets to expand on that again. Julian McMahon is still no acting genius as Victor Von Doom, but he’s given a moderate amount of workable material and is kept at arms length for much of the movie so as to not hurt it all too much. Laurence Fishburne and Doug Jones do a good job as the voice and physical performers (respectively) of Silver Surfer. Then there’s poor Andre Braugher, who really needs to fire his agent. In recent years, he’s landed some seriously bad roles in big budget movies. The last role I remember seeing him in was as the captain of the Poseidon, which may have been a small role, but was truly awful. He doesn’t fare much better this time. Seriously dude, fire your agent.
Music: Here’s another franchise highlight, composer John Ottman. Amusingly, Ottman is rapidly joining the ranks of the most prolific composers for high profile superhero films. This is his fourth said genre film, preceded by X-Men 2, Superman Returns and, of course, the first Fantastic 4. He turned in a first rate score to the original Fantastic 4 entry, and his score to this sequel is also up to the task. While neither are as good as his work on Superman Returns, they are quite good. And, should it finally get off the ground, he’ll surely score the next Superman film. And who knows, perhaps another Fantastic 4 as well.
