"Well, you got me, pal"

Rating: 6/10 (10 August 2007)

Having just seen this at the Garland Theatre,a second-run discount theater in my neighborhood,I'm glad I didn't pay for a full price cineplex ticket. Not that it's a stinker, but it just doesn't qualify as a very good film in the superhero genre. There's a telling bit in the wedding scene where Marvel honcho Stan Lee is refused entry to the event. Stan and Marvel have not had a lot going their way this year. SPIDERMAN 3 is doing just OK at the box office, but, worse, it's collecting less than stellar reviews from some quarters who say it's the worst of the trilogy.The X-MEN franchise is going downhill also and there don't seem to be any comic superheroes waiting in the wings for Marvel to take Hollywood by storm as Spidey and X-Men did. If it's any consolation, Superman and Batman are not doing much better on the big screen. These things go in cycles, though, and I'm sure the comic book superhero will rebound again. It will take some new faces and characters to do it probably, but the superhero is not dead, it's just like a sleeping volcano that's bound to erupt again. Getting back to this movie, I give it good marks for some clever plot devices. The wedding was played way too straight, though, and the director should have either given it more humor or more suspense. The switching of super powers was another thing that should have been given more play, and the possible breakup of the team should also have been emphasized more than with just a few lines like my summary quote by Thing to Johnny. At just 91 minutes, this film was just way too short to develop much of the storyline better. Sometimes, more is not better, but in this case, what I saw on the screen just left me wanting more. It was mildly entertaining, but SILVER SURFER never got me, pal. Dale Roloff