Has its problems, but does a much better job than the first film

Rating: 6/10 (7 July 2007)

I was never a big fan of the first Fantastic Four movie. Despite my limited knowledge of the mythos of that comic franchise, I could still tell how sloppily made the film was. It had a few good areas, but not enough to make it pass being merely watchable. After watching it, I held hopes for the obvious sequel, and whether or not it would be able to truly make the franchise fall in line with other superhero films. But while Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer does improve a few of the errors of the first film, it still is plagued with a lot of the same problems.
Picking up some time after the events of the first film, the sequel finds the team still trying to wrestle between leading their lives, and the media circus that follows their every move (even down to the point where Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) and Sue Storm/Invincible Woman's (Jessica Alba) wedding is the celebrity event of the year). But when a strange force begins to cause unnatural phenomena, as well as bizarrely gigantic pot holes around the world, the team is thrust into trying to stop it before it does any devastating harm to the planet.
While the origin story in the first film was quite sketchy and dare I say stretched a bit too far in the literal and emotional senses, this second story is a bit of a mixed bag. It is definitely a lot more concrete and straight-forward, but there are plenty of moments where I sat wondering why it was being so jumpy with what was going on. The opening seconds of the film even has a bit of an integral plot device going on. It was surprising and a bit jarring, and became even more so when I realized just how quickly it ended. There was plenty of exposition, but there was just something missing from the overall storyline with it being so short and fast-paced.
What also did not help was the juggling act the film did with its themes and its tones. At the drop of a hat, it jumped from slapstick comedy to a drama, to just bizarre science fiction. I know that the comics were known for their humour, but much like the first movie, a little bit of it feels a little ill placed. I did indeed get plenty of laughs from the odd pairing of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Chris Evans) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis), but much of the other humour seemed a little weary and flat in some cases. The shaky tone of the film probably did not help this (as even the music became quite whimsical when even confronting what should be an intense action sequence). The themes were also a bit of an issue, as they did not stay as straight and narrow as anyone could have hoped. They too jumped around, focusing a little too much in some places that did not matter as much as the places they did not focus on.
The special effects on the other hand, have greatly improved since the last go around. No longer does Mr. Fantastic look completely computer generated. He actually looks like a living entity this time (even during his hokey dance sequence which was nowhere near as effective as the one in Spider-Man 3), and actually moves a lot more gracefully. Same goes for the Human Torch and the Invincible Woman, whose powers now look a lot more life-like, and a lot more natural than they did before. The star of the show, the Silver Surfer (acted by the impeccable Doug Jones and voiced by Lawrence Fishbourne), may not get a lot of real backstory, but he looks absolutely amazing. It is immensely hard to even realize that the character is not totally computer animated, and in fact, looks even more realistic than the powers the superheroes are wielding. Kudos to the filmmakers for putting some extra money into one of the key areas that needed help (although I think Galactus probably could have done with an extra touch of work).
Sadly, two years has done nothing for Gruffudd and Alba. They still do not work well as their characters, and they work even less as a believable couple. A key plot element within the film is about their wedding that keeps getting postponed. But when you see these two interacting with each other, you will be hard set even trying to imagine how they co-exist. There is not even an ounce of chemistry between them, and the film suffers as a result of it. Gruffudd is just too lifeless in his role as Mr. Fantastic, and Alba is too classless for Invincible Woman. She plays the character more like a narcissist waiting for the right moment to run to the bathroom to throw on some more makeup than she does as a strong willed scientist who just happens to be a superhero.
Evans on the other hand, is pitch perfect as Human Torch. He has the egotistical mannerisms down solid, and is just enough of a wise ass to truly feel authentically created by the comics. Chiklis is a lot stronger this time round, but is sadly, the most underused of the four. I would have liked a little more sinister villainy from Julian McMahon, who returns as Dr. Doom and has a lot more screen time than I ever would have imagined. A little more dialogue from Fishbourne would not have been a bad idea either.
On the whole, the sequel does a better job than the original, and seems to be headed into the right direction if they make a third film. While it does have a lot of the same problems as the first movie, it does an adequate job making up for a lot of them. I just wish everyone in the main cast was as perfect as Evans.
6.5/10.