That Sort of Thing

After work Friday, I caught Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was a light, fun comic book movie and surpassed the first one, and I definitely enjoyed myself. I wouldn't call it a great comic book movie, certainly not on par with movies about teenagers bitten by radioactive spiders or schools full of mutants, but I can easily think of worse comic book movies with blind lawyers or a guy in a skull t-shirt living in a rundown apartment building and occasionally going out to shoot people. I'll break down what I liked and what I didn't, and of course there will be SPOILERS:

The Good:

• No one will win any awards for acting, but the core quartet definitely owned their roles, moreso than the first one. The way each character interacts in their familial unit mirrors their comic book counterparts, and they're a lot more comfortable this time around. There isn't as much focus on Michael Chiklis' Thing as there was in the first movie, but he's still perfect in the role and his banter with Chris Evans' Human Torch is great. Evans has the best lines in the film, especially one “I can't believe they went there" jab at the Thing's relationship with his girlfriend that had me laughing out loud.

• If you've seen the trailers, you already know how spot on the CGI is for Doug Jones' portrayal of The Silver Surfer. Most of the best scenes have been shown, but to see him zipping around on the big screen was truly something. Laurence Fishburne does a good job with the voice, though his contribution to the movie probably took about a day. His origin is true to the comics, and he alludes to his love Shalla-Bal, though not by name. If he spins into a solo feature after this one, I'd definitely see it. We see every manifestation of the Surfer's Power Cosmic, from energy blasts to his connection to the board to one lesser-known power that I won't mention here, as it's used as a catalyst for two major plot developments in the movie. Comic fans will see these developments a mile away, of course.

• The first film was 85% origin and character development, and 15% action. There are a lot more fights in this one, and since the characters really have a handle on their powers, we get to see them using them a lot more and in more creative ways. Jessica Alba's Invisible Woman really pushes herself this time around, using her forcefield to support herself as well as much larger objects. She can also turn other things invisible, with the right level of concentration. When the Torch gains the ability to switch powers with the rest of his team, we get to see how he handles their powers and how they handle his. It's used equally for comic relief and to set up some angst when he realizes he needs to mature or someone will get hurt, and ultimately has a great payoff toward the end of the film that's equal parts homage and ultimate teamwork. The CGI artists worked overtime on this one.

• Clocking in at an hour and a half, the movie was the perfect length. It didn't feel short, and more would have been too much. While the first movie felt like it ended abruptly and not much happened besides a cosmic storm, a bridge disaster, and a brief battle with a super villain, they fit a lot more in less time with the sequel.

• The inclusion of Frankie Raye and hints that the Torch might have feelings for Alicia Masters served equally as a nod to the comic book geeks and seeds should they make a third movie. In the comics, Raye eventually became the fire powered Nova while the Torch ended up marrying the Thing's girlfriend while he was away from Earth. Later writers retconned the latter storyline to say that the real Alicia had been replaced by a shapeshifting alien Skrull, which is a shame since the original storyline created a lot more tension within the team.

• This movie has one of the best Stan Lee cameos yet. It's the role he was born to play. ‘Nuff said.


The Bad:

• I enjoyed the humor. I liked Torch's one-liners and the Thing's predicaments and occasional grumbling. When the Thing has to squeeze between two people on an airplane I laughed; imagine getting stuck next to him in coach. I liked his glee the first time he switched powers with the Torch, and didn't mind him being thrown into a wall like a cartoon character. That being said, while I don't mind sitcom camp and it works for this series, I think the balance was off. The first half hour was almost entirely comedy, and I was starting to get uncomfortable with it, especially during Mister Fantastic's bachelor party. For the most part, they managed from that point on to balance the action and drama with the comic relief, but at times the balance was off.

• I love Jessica Alba, but she's not a great actress and not the best choice for the Invisible Woman. She's a lot better in the role this time around, but the chemistry between her and Ioan Gruffudd is really forced sometimes. In fact, I hate to say this, but there was more chemistry between her and Chris Evans and on two occasions I could swear she and her “brother" were going to kiss. I wonder if there was something going on with those two behind the scenes.

• I'm not going to comment on the form that Galactus takes in the film. See it and judge for yourself. I think it worked, but I did have a problem with how his threat was ultimately dealt with. We glimpse the dark side of the moon in the movie but no Uatu, and having a Watcher intervene to save everyone by telling them about a deus ex machina like The Ultimate Nullifier wouldn't have translated anyway. The way Galactus was turned away in the source material couldn't happen here, but I think they could have found another way. Again, I'm not saying more, so see it and judge for yourself.

• Spider-man 3 had a lot of characters unmask constantly, to give the actors more face time. I've never seen Nip/Tuck; is Julian McMahon really that popular an actor that they found a way to show his normal face this time after he was hideously scarred and fused to a metal mask? Doctor Doom is not only the arch nemesis of the Fantastic Four; he's arguably the number one villain in the Marvel Universe. This is a guy who rose from poverty to rule a nation, a master of sorcery as well as technology. He's ruthless and ambitious, and past accomplishments in the comics include not only stealing the Surfer's Power Cosmic, but on another occasion the power of the godlike Beyonder. McMahon's Doom is ambitious, but rather than a dictator motivated by ego and a tragic childhood, he's just an industrialist jerk. They missed an opportunity to establish him as a dictator in this one, and instead we got even more Darth Trump. After hamming it up as a jerky rich guy, he does at least achieve one of the coups that his comic counterpart did. Still, he's no Ian McKellen. In all three X-men movies, McKellen was solidly and consistently the embodiment of Marvel's other number one bad guy, Magneto.


The Ugly:

• In Spider-man, the hero webs a can of Dr Pepper. In Independence Day, an Apple laptop is compatible with a gargantuan alien mother ship. In the first Fantastic Four movie, the Torch is thrown into a billboard for Burger King and we get a flame-broiled image of a giant burger. The product placement in Rise of the Silver Surfer was on par with all of those, if not worse, and for a few seconds there's actually a car commercial in the movie. It would have been worse for me I think if I hadn't read about it before hand, but it was especially annoying in the context of a movie. Mister Fantastic can invent just about anything, and I don't see him using anything name brand.

• Mister Fantastic makes a long and painful speech about nerds and jocks that's ripped from ‘80s teen movies. The smartest man on the planet, also a super hero, pauses in the midst of the Earth's imminent destruction to tell a general off and say he studied and drank his milk and ended up with the hottest girl on the planet. This ridiculous speech turns on said girl. It's like the writers were waving a sign saying “Hey nerds! We get you!" and instead coming off like a parent awkwardly trying to use teen jargon. It was an awkward moment shoehorned in the middle of one of the better scenes.

• I have to mention the bachelor party again. A lot of people took issue with the dancing in Spider-man 3, but I thought it was funny and seamless. Mister Fantastic dancing in a night club hurt me physically and emotionally, and I was actually relieved by the cliché sitcom resolution to that unfortunate tangent.

* * * * *

I hope there is a third movie. I hope the core cast reprise their roles, and we have even more action. I can easily see a way how Namor could be introduced in the next one, and if they build on the seeds with Alicia and Frankie I think there's enough there for a feature. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer isn't a serious, angst-ridden tale of superhero introspection. It's a popcorn movie with great special effects, a lot of action and a lot of funny parts, and good use of source material for fans and newcomers alike. It examines how public superheroes deal with being celebrities, and it examines how they deal with being a family. These are the two main themes of the comic book. In fact, with some of the dialogue about what it's like for people with powers to raise a family, I couldn't help wondering if a third seed was there for an appearance by Franklin Richards next time.

Overall, I had fun with this installment of the science fiction super hero sitcom action drama, and you will too, if you like that sort of thing.