A forgettable but fun sugar rush movie

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2007)

Okay, before we get into the meat of this analysis, let's get one thing perfectly clear: the Fantastic Four are NOT cool. They're too wholesome. Their teeth are too shiny and white. They look utterly ridiculous in those stupid blue jumpsuits they wear. Batman is cool. Spiderman is cool. The Fantastic Four, are not. But in some respects, this actually works in their favour.
No no, hear me out, the reason why Rise of the Silver Surfer does a good job is because it does exactly what it says on the tin. You go in expecting frivolous nonsense that's cornier than a weekend in Kansas and that's precisely what you get. Unlike the bloated, over-complicated and over-ambitious Spiderman 3, it manages to deliver an energetic and fast paced storyline, decent special effects, eye-popping action sequences and all in a succinct hour and thirty three minutes. There's none of the "let's cram as many villains in as possible" approach that the web crawler had earlier this summer and while it's undeniable that this is definitely a superhero film with a kids market in mind, it still makes for an entertaining jolt of fun and a decent alternative if you get the family to the local multiplex only to find that Pirates 3 has sold out.
Of course, it's not perfect by a long shot. Galactus for instance makes an eagerly anticipated screen appearance...for about thirty seconds, then vanishes. And if that wasn't bad enough fanboys, he's no longer a giant Roman Centurion wearing an over-sized purple helmet but an ominous looking cloud of dust, rock and magma that's come to eat your babies. Plus, there's a wealth of glaring plot holes that even the kids will be able to pick up on, like the American military letting a man who calls himself Doctor Doom into the middle of a top secret research facility. Perfect fodder indeed for anyone who may be getting a bit fed up with the continuing cycle of movies populated by photogenic spandex models and wants to have a good moan.
This doesn't count for anything though so long as when you order apple pie, you want to receive apple pie. Rise of the Silver Surfer has flimsy characterisations, cheesy smiles and unnecessary romances aplenty, not to mention a couple of incredibly silly set pieces to get stuck into. The Human Torch's collision with Doom for instance is an absolute riot, as is the high speed mid air chase over the Great Wall of China, while the Silver Surfer unleashing his fury on the army is liable to make jaws drop. Older, cynical audiences may want to stay away but provided you haven't spent all your cash on the previous summer blockbusters, the continuing adventures of Rubber Man (Ioan Gruffudd), Orange Woman (Jessica Alba), Hulk 2 (Michael Chiklis) and Southern Fried (Chris Evans) are still an enjoyable sugar-rush for everyone that's still a kid at heart. Throwaway guff, but arguably better than Spiderman 3.
And oh yeah, the Silver Surfer is totally, totally awesome.