Fantastic? By no means! Better than the first? Indeed it is!

Rating: 5/10 (8 July 2007)

Just like the first movie in the series this one had problems but somehow it just seems a lot more polished. The dialog is better, the story seems less like a pilot episode for a TV-series and the villain actually seems like a threat to the Fantastic Four this time around. So while your money might be better spent going with Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is by no means a bad choice either. The entire cast from the first movie returns (always a plus, I hate it when there are changes in the cast in sequels) and rehashes their characters and in some cases improves on them.
Acting wise the movie is not far removed from its predecessor. Which is both good and bad. Ioan Gruffudd returns as Reed Richards and does pretty much exactly what he did in the first movie. He does, however, have a little more to work with and while his motivations seem a little vague he does do a decent job of it. Jessica Alba is once again smoking hot and just like in the first movie her performance is a little dodgy. She is not always completely believable but it can be forgiven. Michael Chiklis has a lot less to work with this time around and has been reduced to serving almost entirely as comic relief which he is great at but given his emotional range is a shame. We saw in the first movie that he was capable of portraying the emotions of the character through all the prosthetics (which must have been hard) and therefore we/I would have liked to see more from him. On the other hand Chris Evans gets a chance to show a little more of the character in this installment and it works great. Its fantastic to see cracks in the armor of a character who has previously seemed so unshakable. Evans is completely believable and once again 100% lovable. We expect great things from him in the future. Julian McMahon returns as well and he ups the stakes for Dr. Doom who becomes more menacing that he ever was in the first movie. Nice to see. The major draw in this movie is of course the emergence of the Silver Surfer one of the most beloved characters from the comics and he looks great and with the majestic vocals of Laurence Fishbourne he truly comes alive on the screen and his first appearance is nothing short of spectacular.
Effects wise the movie has taken a great step in the right direction. The effects seem to have matured greatly from the first movie and this makes the film so much more interesting to watch. The Human Torch still looks fantastic on the screen and Mr. Fantastic's stretching powers seem much more credible this time around. The real money shots, however, are of course of the Silver Surfer who looks nothing short of spectacular. As previously stated his first real on screen appearance is one of the most entertaining sequences I have seen this summer. His powers look great as well and every scene with him has a spectacular effect of some sort. Galactus also makes a very brief appearance and he looks nothing like in the comics and for what its worth I think he looked great with some nods to his comic book appearance. All in all I think the movie looks great and this has to be a kudos to Tim Story who received a lot of bashing for the first movie.
In terms of the writing the film still has a few issues but is indeed a definite improvement on the first film in the series. The villain has true menace this time around and a lot more is at stake. Both personally for the characters but also globally. The exchanges between Chiklis and Evans are still filled with humor and charm. Their scenes also seem to have a profound sense of warmth and despite their differences their friendship is indisputable. The scenes with the Silver Surfer are the most dramatic and in my opinion they work great and the Surfer has great authority (helped greatly by Fishbourne's vocals). The scenes between Gruffudd and Alba are sadly still a weak point. They seem forced and not always believable.
All in all Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is an entertaining summer movie that takes the franchise it builds upon to new and exciting levels and is a clear improvement on the first film in the series. However, it is still not without its problems but works on the basis that you don't expect it to be a revelation.
7/10