Average comic book superhero film.

Rating: 5/10 (12 May 2010)

4: Rise of the Silver Surfer starts as scientists Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffud) & Susand Storm (Jessica Alba) prepare to marry, however Reed is contacted by General Hager (Andre Braugher) of the US military for help in tracking a strange meteorite that has caused several large scale environmental phenomena. Reed builds a sensor to track the strange meteor which in fact turns out to be a silver humanoid alien riding a powerful surfboard, this 'silver surfer' has been sent by a huge alien space cloud named Galactus that devours entire worlds & leaves them lifeless before moving on the the next & Earth is it's next target. The Fantastic Four seem powerless to stop Galactus but the alien silver surfer may hold the key to defeating Galactus & saving Earth but trying to convince him to help isn't going to be easy...
This American, German, English & Canadian co-production was directed by Tim Story & while not the worst Marvel comic books superhero film out there it's not the best either & is a distinctly average entry that I found watchable enough I suppose but nothing amazing. While I have seen the original Fantastic Four (2005) I can't really remember it which says it all & in a week or two I doubt I will remember much, if anything, about 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Here the Fantastic Four return while the Silver Surfer turns up for the first time & Victor Von Doom also makes a reappearance from the original in a rather small & pointless role, the focus of the film is definitely the Silver Surfer & the evil Galactus who wants to eat the Earth. The Silver Surfer who is used by Galactus is touched by our humanity & decides to save Earth after the Fantastic Four at first try to stop him which leads to your CGI effects heavy set-pieces which are alright but not that exciting to be honest. The comics gave the Silver Surfer & Galactus much more background & while here there's not much mention of why the Silver Surfer helps Galactus it was probably deliberate, the problem with that it is it doesn't really satisfy anyone does it? The comic book fans are disappointed since the Silver Surfer is presented as rather shallow & non comic book fans will be just confused & unsure of whats going on. At a little over 90 minutes at least it's short & it moves along at a fast pace but Reed & Susan feel like an old married couple already, the Thing comes off like a comedy relief brick-house & the Human Torch is just annoying with his attitude while Dr. Doom is wasted in a nothing role. There are a few broadly painted sentiments here like just accepting who you are, believing in humanity, self sacrifice, making the right choice & trusting each other but they aren't exactly life changing & the sub-plot about the Fantastic Four swapping powers feels like a gimmick rather than anything else.
One of the reasons I am not a huge fan of the whole superhero film is that comic book character's were designed to look good as a 2-D drawing on a blank piece of paper rather than in a live action film & again here some of the set-pieces & powers displayed are just silly. The part when Reed dances with two girls using his long twisting arms is daft & some of the CGI effects aren't that good either. The action scenes are alright, there are crashing helicopters, exploding planets, flying rockets, an alien silver surfer, explosions & in a scene set in London the London Eye comes crashing down. Keep watching as the end credits roll since there's an extra minute or so that hints that the Silver Surfer is not dead & why would he be when there's money to be made by film studios?
With a supposed budget of about $130,000,000 this had a lot spent on it & it looks good, sure of the CGI looks like CGI but overall this has a slick Hollywood look about it. Filmed in various locations such as Shanghai, Canada, New York, England, Russia, Japan, Egypt & Germany. The acting is alright but no-one seems that interested, Alba is poor as a scientist while the Silver Surfer is voiced by Laurence Fishburne.
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a watchable family orientated Marvel comic book superhero film that doesn't have the dark edge that many do & isn't anything that memorable even though there's plenty of CGI action scenes in it. Apparently Silver Surfer (2012) is currently in production but no word of a third outing for the Fantastic Four themselves.