Cinema review
Directed by Tim Story
Starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon
Release date 15 June 2007

As the Fantastic Four pit their wits against the Silver Surfer, old enemy Victor Von Doom offers a solution – but can he be trusted?

Though superior to the 2005 Fantastic Four movie, this sequel is hardly in the premiere league of Marvel Comics adaptations. There’s barely any sense of spontaneity, many of the effects are weak (a scene in which Reed Richards uses his stretching abilities on the dancefloor looks as if it was achieved using a wobbly mirror, rather than cutting edge CGI), and the climactic battle is a horrendous muddle of shapes flying through the air. Even the new Fanstasticar is a fairly characterless contraption, lacking in cool gadgets. Take another look at the Batmobile for a proper superhero’s mode of transportation.

On the rare occasion that director Tim Story gets it right, the film does spark briefly to life. There’s a thrilling chase between Johnny Storm and the Surfer (even if it’s shown in full in the trailer), and a fight to save the London Eye is well realised, especially as it’s unlikely any of the cast ever set foot in London to film it! However, these are just flickers in a film that has all the right ingredients, but the wrong man at the helm.

It is true that the superhero genre is often only as good as its villain. Dr Doom is thinly sketched at best, with little beyond some fan-pleasing references to his home country of Latveria. Doom’s abandonment of his iconic mask, only for him to put it on later in the film for no particular reason, makes him appear more like a suave yuppie than the deformed, tyrannical despot of the comics.

At 95 minutes, the film is tightly edited, yet many important plot points seem to have been left on the cutting room floor. We may have to wait for the inevitable special edition DVD to discover why a blast from the Surfer takes away Doom’s metallic skin, yet enables him able to shoot electrical blasts from his hands. And it would be nice to find out the meaning behind the holes that burrow into the Earth, or even what Doom’s eventual goal is supposed to be, once he obtains the iconic surfboard.

Rise of the Silver Surfer may enjoy some box office success thanks to its stunning trailer and expertly choreographed hype. But surely this will be the final chapter in what has so far been a mediocre and utterly unsatisfying franchise? Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 5/10
Better than the first film, but still underwhelming.