Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Staring Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd & Michael Chiklis

It is quite possible and very probable that "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is one of those rare sequels that can be claimed "better than the original." However, to say that this is a good claim is another story.

In the second (and hopefully last) installment, the Fantastic Four team, consisting of Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), the Thing (Michael Chiklis) and the Human Torch (Chris Evans), must rid the world of cataclysmal havoc brought by the mysterious Silver Surfer. All Susan (Invisible Woman) wants is to marry Fantastic, but of course, it must come second, for love always is second in the life of a super hero. Here's what the Surfer does: he rides his board at warp speed across the globe, sucking the life out of everything and building huge chasms that reach the earth's core. Later, this big giant blob of cloud called Galactus sucks the planet's life and causes it to blow up. Well, it's no match for the F4, that's for sure. Through gruelling twists (that are totally expected) and intense battles (that a very lackluster), the four mates prevail without needing to call on local Spiderman or the X-Men for help. They had better things to do when the world is ready to end.

The plot wasn't the chief issue of cinematic disaster, however. Once again, as in the original "Fantastic Four," acting becomes a sort of needle in your spine, more like a teacher scraping her nails against the chalk board until she reaches the bottom or discovers that her nails snapped off. Alba is bad, but she's beautiful. She's horrible only because the script is an explosion of Cheez Whiz. Then there's Chiklis who is totally badass in "The Shield" but completely off-queue here. He tries to be humorous, but the joke's on him - and he's stuck in that ridiculous "rock" suit. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes of the 80's were way more realistic. Finally, to round up the suckfest of actors, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon) comes back from the dead - which is an unknown feat to both the Fantastic Four and the audience - and proves that if you look like a Sith Lord, you better freaking talk like one.

There were some good points in this film that bring it slightly above its loser predecessor. Chris Evans, once again, captures and completely enjoys his role as Johnny Storm. Evans is hilarious, egotistical, and a highlight of the film. He's believable 100%. The Silver Surfer, voice by Laurence Fishburne, was a pretty cool asset to the movie, bringing at first an evil-doer and revealing his battle against his lord, Galactus, a.k.a. a giant space cloud.

"Rise of the Silver Surfer" is much better than the first "Fantastic Four," but that's only due to the Surfer and some crazy special effects of the gigantic Galactus cloud in the end.

Grade: D+