Film Review:Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer

The long-awaited Silver Surfer vs. Galactus movie has finally been released. Oh yeah, and there are some other super heroes too. But Norrin Radd (the Surfer’s real name) really makes the movie “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer” great.

The movie begins just before the fifth attempt at a wedding between Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and the Invisible Woman, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba). The public and media, as well as random disasters, have stopped it so many times before that Sue wonders if she will ever get married. And how will they raise a family in the chaos of saving the world?

On the eve of their wedding attempt, a silver blur rushes across the globe solidifying a bay and blasting holes in the Earth’s surface. Reed tracks him to New York, just next to where he was to be married but realizes too late and the Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne; body acting by Doug Jones) destroys the whole wedding, ruining attempt number five.

So the team heads out to stop the Silver Surfer from destroying the planet. But they come to learn he is only a herald working for the destroyer, the planet eater Galactus.

The last Fantastic 4 movie was less than, well, fantastic. This

sequel lives up to the name a little better. The Surfer, an entirely chrome silver man flying on a chrome surfboard, was a great effect. Not all of the effects were digital, as evident by some later scenes in the film, but those that were digital were nothing less than spectacular. It doesn’t just depend on special effects, though, as the acting was good. Alba’s BRIGHT blue contacts were a bit distracting, though.

The Surfer’s battle with Galactus could have been longer and done better if it were a movie specifically about him, but for this film, it was apropos. We will have to wait till 2009 for a Surfer spin-off movie where they can really get into Norin Radd’s character and cool super hero fame. But I’m sure it will be well worth the wait.

If this film is any indicator of what that will be like, that will definitely not be one to be missed. Neither is this one. Rated PG and running at a meager 92 minutes, I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.