Just as angsty and action-packed as SPIDER-MAN 3. But, in only half the time.

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2007)

I was half-expecting another over-hyped, big-budget disappointment. Yet, to my surprise, I actually and thoroughly enjoyed myself!
The same group dynamic that made these four so believable in the first movie is back. As is--and I was even more surprised, by this (despite his name being present in the opening credits)--Victor Von Doom!!
The movie starts out with suitable eeriness, as the Surfer arrives on Earth, causing several weather anomalies reminiscent of that Demi Moore cult-classic, THE SEVENTH SEAL. With one of them occurring over a certain castle in Latveria.
Reed Richards, multi-tasker that he is, has been analyzing these phenomena while pretending to be focused solely on his upcoming wedding to Sue Storm (their fourth attempt, as it turns out). Basically, he builds a miniature radio telescope that's capable of tracking the Surfer's cosmic energy signature. Which, in turn, leads to the Surfer crashing the wedding party and, thereby, ruining it.
On top of all that, the now-famous chase scene--with the Surfer and Jonny Storm--makes the Human Torch's atomic structure unstable. Allowing him to switch super-powers with any or all of his teammates!
Of course, that was really just the script writers' way of allowing Jonny to literally walk in the shoes of the other three. Because, he is, as Capt. Frankie Raye so accurately points out, "...self-obsessed to the point of narcissism." Thus, giving him a much-needed (and, perhaps, long-overdue) lesson in humility and unselfishness.
If only SPIDER-MAN 3 could have gotten that point across a little bit sooner, it might not have tanked so badly at the box office.
In any event, I loved this movie, immensely. I especially loved the tweaking of Galactus' appearance. Instead of a flesh-and-blood giant in purple armor, we get some kind of sentient energy being who camouflages himself in a giant cloud of interstellar smog!
The only reason I don't give it a perfect ten? It's plausible that Reed could extrapolate, via computerized backtracking of the Surfer's energy trail, what other star systems the latter had visited. Yet, how could he know what planets in those systems had been drained of all life? And, how could he figure out the length of time it took?
If anybody can think of a plausible answer, feel free to post it on the gray message boards. Seriously!