Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
DIR: Tim Story • WRI: Don Payne, Mark Frost • PROD: Avi Arad, Bernd Eichinger, Ralph Winter • DOP: Larry Blanford • ED: Peter S. Elliot, William Hoy, Michael McCusker • DES: Kirk M. Petruccelli • CAST: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon

Rise of the Silver Surfer opens dramatically with a scene showing a planet being destroyed by a nebulous entity, which the comic book fans will already know is named Galactus. As the planet gasps its last, a comet-like object flies away and in the direction of our own beloved Earth. This UFO turns out to be the herald of the planet-slayer, a silver humanoid flying through space who can manipulate energy to devastating effect, and his coming paves the way for the destruction of our home planet. So the stage is set for people who have never read the comics, just in case they thought the fate of the world would not hang by a thread during the following 91 minutes.

The sequel to the Fantastic Four's first big screen outing, like the X-Men sequel, sees our protagonists much more comfortable with their less than ordinary abilities. Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic and Sue Storm/the Invisible Girl played by Ioan Gruffudd and Jessica Alba, are about to attempt another wedding ceremony, the previous endeavours being thwarted at the last minute by superhero duties. The Thing (Michael Chiklis), cranky as ever, is still romantically involved with Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington), the beautiful, blind, barfly from the first movie. Chris Evans, last seen playing a straight role as Mace in Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, is Johnny Storm, cocky as ever and reaping the economic benefits of being a superhero in the form of product endorsements. So all is more or less well and good as the quartet have settled into crime-fighting and have come to terms with their celebrity.

With the feted wedding between Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Girl only days away, reports of strange goings on (the Pyramids covered in snow and so forth) are reported in the media. The Silver Surfer is photographed as a white blur at various points around the globe and Mr Fantastic, the World's Smartest Man, is called upon by General Hager (Andre Braugher) to track the object. True to form he cobbles together a tracking device in two shakes of a lamb's tail (he is also the world's best funded scientist), and tries to get on with what should be the happiest day of his life. Of course the wedding (a positively low-key affair compared to the media circus weddings in real life) is doomed, destroyed by the Silver Surfer who has homed in on the tracking device. So the Four become embroiled in a struggle to save life on Earth, and forced into an unlikely partnership along the way.

The second instalment in the Fantastic Four saga is better than the first. It has more laughs, more action and some excellent special effects. Rise of the Silver Surfer has the same teasing banter between the Thing and the Human Torch, and there is light humour sprinkled throughout the film. Weta Digital, the team behind the effects in The Lord of the Rings, did an excellent job. There are some nice scenes featuring the London Eye and the Great Wall of China which look very believable; nothing is too OTT visually, perhaps with the exception of Jessica Alba doing the doe-eyed female act a little too often.

I will not complain about plot holes or the improbability of occurrences, this is a superhero movie after all. However I must protest about the bachelor party dancing scene, where Reed Richards shakes his booty on the floor. We had to suffer a dance scene in Spider-Man 3, and now this? Will an embarrassing dance in a bar or club become a prerequisite for all superhero movies? Will Transformers feature a robot-dancing scene? One hopes not.

Caitriona Creely

Rated PG (see IFCO website for details)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is released on 15th June 2007.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Official website