4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Director:

Tim Story

Writers (WGA):

Don Payne (screenplay) and
Mark Frost (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 kesäkuu 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Rise

Plot:

The Fantastic Four learn that they aren't the only super-powered beings in the universe when they square off against the powerful Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus.

Plot Keywords:

Fantastic Four | Silver | Space | Elasticity | Flying

Awards:

2 wins & 13 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Jan. 3

9:00 PM

Telemundo

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	Mr. Fantastic / Reed Richards
Jessica Alba	...	Invisible Woman / Susan Storm
Chris Evans	...	Human Torch / Johnny Storm
Michael Chiklis	...	The Thing / Ben Grimm
Julian McMahon	...	Dr. Doom / Victor Von Doom
Kerry Washington	...	Alicia Masters
Andre Braugher	...	General Hager
Laurence Fishburne	...	The Silver Surfer (voice)
Doug Jones	...	The Silver Surfer
Beau Garrett	...	Captain Raye
Brian Posehn	...	Wedding Minister
Zach Grenier	...	Mr. Sherman / Rafke
Dawn Chubai	...	Anchorwoman
Chris Gailus	...	Anchorman
Kevin McNulty	...	Baxter Building Doorman

Also Known As:

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Germany) (USA) (promotional title)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (UK) (DVD title)
Fantastic Four 2 (USA) (working title)
Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer (USA) (working title)
Fantastic Four: The Next Chapter (USA) (working title)
Les 4 Fantastiques et le Surfer d'Argent (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA | Germany | UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (uncredited)

Certification:

UK:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:6 | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Norway:7 | Malaysia:U | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Denmark:11 | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | USA:PG (Approved No. 43383) | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Brazil:10 | Sweden:7 | France:U | Norway:10 (TV rating) | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The facility where the Silver Surfer is taken after being captured is named "Inyeptuk" - a nod to the FX show "Nip/Tuck" (2003), starring Julian McMahon, who plays Victor Von Doom.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first film established that only the F4's suits (having been exposed to the space-cloud's radiation) can accommodate their abilities. However, in this movie, the animators mistakenly elongated Mr. Fantastic's clothes with his body in every scene in which he stretches, even when he's wearing every-day attire.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Anchorwoman: Last night the F.A.A. was forced to ground all aircraft, leaving thousands stranded, when electronic failures and mysterious power outages crippled the western United States. But the big story today, the much anticipated wedding of fantastic couple Reed Richards and Susan Storm will take place this Saturday.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tavis Smiley: (2007-01-23)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Physical

Nothing here has risen folks.

After the critics and comic-book aficionados gave the first Fantastic Four film a "bitchslap" of bad reviews, it became a surprise hit nonetheless. But some of you already knew there was going to be a sequel on the way. And since there were a lot of mistakes made, there must've been some lessons learnt from everyone involved—not that they could care less about "negative reception", since the movie has made 330 million worldwide. 2 years later, the promise that the sequel will be darker (so they say), and more serious (so they say), have been hype to death, though this is the same hype that has damaged both Spider-Man 3 and X3. Then, there's the publicity stills of the Silver Surfer as the next FF baddie, helping me leave my lowered expectations behind. I decided to give this one another shot, and that's because the Silver Surfer—who is one of the coolest Marvel creations ever.

Rise of the Silver Surfer is an improvement over the first film (And that's saying a lot for those of you who have ever seen the first film), since its source material is a reasonable one. The Fantastic Four must save Earth after the Silver Surfer, who is the herald of the planet eating being Galactus, signals it's destruction—while Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman prepare for their upcoming nuptials. Seems fair doesn't it? This could've worked, but the problem is that a brief 96 minutes running-time isn't enough to pull it all off. How are you going to pull off an "Independence Day" under 96 minutes? Not only is the running-time a huge problem, but the film is just too lackluster for me to fancy. And because of everything being so brief, arbitrary and perfunctory, there's wasn't enough action, fighting, or confrontational battles between the heroes & their foe(s). This is a film about an extraterrestrial being coming to destroy Earth, but you don't see too many things being blown up; devastation of landscapes or set pieces with an atmosphere filled with intensity, peril or panic: all of the things that can give this film a dramatic affect. Like the first FF film, FF2's suffers from a limited imagination, and I honestly think that Tim Story lacks the vision that it takes to handle such material that's supposed to be filled with thrills, excitement, darkness, drama, and for the faithfulness to the FF camp—light-hearted "fun". The "over-hyped" nuptials of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman turned out to be a disappointing subplot, due to the fact that it's just a set-up for the Surfer to have his first encounter with the heroes by intruding on the ceremony. Though I was hoping they could get it over with—since it has taken up most of the film's time; they have been yapping about it throughout the entire film. But thank god Stan Lee came to make his usual cameo appearance. Was it light-hearted? Yes. Seeing as how there's a goofy dance number with Reed Richards, and the typical slapstick moments—which one scene includes Sue's body helplessly rendered in flames because of Johnny's molecules being unstable after his encounter with the Surfer, causing him to switch powers with anyone he touches. Was it funny? Nope. Chris Evans (Human Torch/Johnny Storm) is typically "comedic relief" with all the dull-witted jokes he can carry, but tries to make it work with decent delivery. Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing) isn't given much to do here but stand behind and be the goofball.

The attempt at tenderness between Sue Storm/Invisible and Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic is unrealistic, with both the film's hackneyed script and the lack of chemistry between Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd. Whenever these folks are supposed to kiss and show affection, it seems rather forced then natural. Alba (now looking like Lil' Kim with her blonde-hooker wig and scary-looking blue contact lenses), is just cold and uninteresting for me to stomach. It seems that she is always in this emotionless state. It's like she's this walking mannequin: she does nothing, but stand around, look hot, and wear tight-fitting outfits—while wearing eye-glasses to give off the effect that she has some sort of intellect—without the intellectual babble (doh!). The script does nothing to help her express her words, but she doesn't have the altitude to express emotion either. Gruffudd seems to always be in this state of lost. It's quite difficult to understand why such an amazingly gifted actor can be so boring in this film. Were any of the heroes fantastic this time? Not a chance. The Fantastic Four are treated are bland super-dummies, while their nemesis, the Silver Surfer, upstages all them in terms of awesomeness and coolness. Too bad this isn't his movie. The Silver Surfer rocked, no doubt about it, and brought to life by amazing special effects, he's even more fantastic then the four who carry the moniker. Do we really need Julian McMahon returning as Dr. Doom? People have truly underestimated him in the first film, but here, he doesn't provide much for the story, while the idea of the big bad-ass Galactus turning into a dust storm doesn't work.

My advice for the next installment……

1.) Let see these guy do more fighting

2.) Let these characters show their full potential when they perform their super-powers.

3.) Never let the next FF baddie cramp the heroes' style

4.) Enough with Doom 5.) And please upgrade on the special effects, they still look cheap—even for a big-budget film.

Of course, this is supposed to be a "light-hearted" family film, and like a Diet Coke it's "Half" the calories (PG folks)—while the hardcore comic-book fans with avoid it like the plaque. They deserve better. And by the title being Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, it's really more about the Silver Surfer. In the good words of wisdom from Flava Flav: "Don't believe the hype."