Complete mutilation of a cherished story (***Spoilers Herein***)

Rating: 4/10 (16 June 2007)

Wow. Where to begin. Let's start with the positives: The Surfer looked excellent. He really did. I was impressed and excited when he first appeared.
Now, the negatives: Apparently Tim Story decided Stan Lee's work, which has lasted for years because it was a great story that stood the test of time, wasn't good enough for his motion picture. Apparently the Hollywood big wigs sat in a big executive board room around a large table and decided that they could come up with a better storyline along with changing the powers/abilities of various characters and basically murdering a storyline that was near perfect.
***SPOILERS*** Let's get a few things straight, people. I'm not one to hate on a movie because of a few nitpicky things. There were MAJOR plot flaws in this movie that were completely different from the original adaption. To begin with, and I want to be sure everyone understands this, The Silver Surfer DOES NOT get his powers from his board. There is no other way to say this other than "um, no, that's incorrect." About halfway through the flick Dr. Doom "discovers" that the Surfer gets his powers from his board, and you can obviously infer that at some point he is going to try and take it for himself.
In the comics, the Surfer is able to fly and use his powers all on his own; he only uses the board so that he doesn't expend the extra energy that flight requires (and very rapid flight at that - faster than the speed of light).
It's kind of like doing a Superman movie and saying that he gets his powers from his cape - Everyone would stare with a confused face and say, "Wha?" Once "de-boarded" The Surfer takes on an almost human-like existence (e.g. breathing heavily, fatigued, etc). Again, this is - what's the word? Oh yes - RIDICULOUS. I'm not trying to sound like some fan-boy, but it's just simply incorrect. Doing a Batman movie and making him a chimpanzee would irritate many who read the comics. The Surfer does not breath, eat, drink, etc. If you want an in-depth look at his abilities, use a search engine on the web and use a nice wik* site to explore.
Aside from these obvious blunders, at the end the Surfer apparently "kills" or at least "deters" Galactus from doing his work. This is kind of like saying that an ant got the best of Rambo in field combat. I can't stress this enough - it was storyline murder.
What made the Surfer stories so great is that they weren't just wham, bam thank you ma'am comics. They were very philosophical and contained a heavy amount of dialogue. In today's silver screen, most of the actors complain that they can't "act" enough in superhero movies. The unfortunate thing is, the creators of this movie had a great chance to appease both the fans and the actors by just simply FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL STORYLINE.
I'm not going to bore you any further complaining about this catasrophe. If you are still reading to this point, you obviously get what I'm trying to explain here. I'll sum it up like this: This movie, although visually appealing (while the Surfer is fully powered), is a complete nightmare.
If you want to read a very entertaining, thoughtful, and insightful story about a man who gave up his life in order to save others and his incredible journeys after this event, go to an online search engine and type up the word "parable" after the words "silver surfer." And a few last mathematics for you, according to the comics: 1. Galactus created the Surfer 2. The Surfer, in the comics, was far too powerful for the Fantastic Four (The Surfer alone is capable of destroying planets and stars, and has done so before), board or no board. The only reason he decided to help the Four was because he was touched by humanity and the goodness of the people on Earth (specifically the Fantastic Four). 3. In the Comics, when the Surfer tried to stop Galactus, he attacked him with enough force to destroy the solar system, and Galactus didn't even budge.
Now, hopefully you go and read the Parable story, so I won't ruin what happens for you. But using those guidelines, as for the movie...
How in the heck is the Surfer supposed to, if you are using the least possible scenario, DETER GALACTUS?!?!?! Give me a break. I know Stan Lee was a part of this movie, but it's widely known that the Surfer is perhaps his most favorite creation, along with most comic book fans loving this specific character. So why would he go and let Tim Story literally murder this character on the big screen? Well I have the answer, folks.
When you start getting old and senile, and someone hands you a big wad of cash, you pretty much stop caring about what's going on and what someone is doing with your most famous storyline.
Congratulations, Avi Arad and Tim Story. Thank you for nothing.