Marvel May - Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. For this Marvel May review, we'll be taking a quick look at the 2007 film Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, directed once again by Tim Story, and once again starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Kerry Washington, and Julian McMahon, who are joined this time by Andre Braugher, Doug Jones, and Beau Garrett, with Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. 

      Okay, so while the world is getting ready for the upcoming wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm, an unknown cosmic anomaly is causing meteorological havoc across the globe, and also leaving massive holes around the world. General Hager of the U.S. military seeks Reed's assistance in tracking and identifying the anomaly, which later arrives in New York on the day of the big wedding, ruins the big day, and forces Sue's brother Johnny to go after it, and upon getting a close look sees what looks like a silver man on a flying silver surfboard. 

       Unfortunately, Johnny's encounter with the Silver Surfer causes a power fluctuation, where in he can exchange powers with any one of Reed, Sue, or Ben just by touching them. After a failed attempt to capture the Silver Surfer in London, General Hager recruits the assistance of Victor Von Doom, who ahs been restored to his human form because of the Surfer and his powers, which he gets from his board. Reed and Victor work together, and design a tachyon pulse emitter to separate the Surfer from his board, which allows the military to capture him. 

         Sue eventually meets with the imprisoned Surfer, who reveals that he is the herald of a greater threat to the cosmos, an entity known as Galactus, which devours any world of its energy. In addition, the Surfer, who later reveals his identity as Norrin Radd, reveals that it is his board that draws Galactus to Earth. Unfortunately, Victor has taken the board for himself, leaving it up to the Fantastic Four to stop him...with help from Reed's new invention: the Fantasticar. Yeah, the Fantasticar shows up in this movie, and its a Dodge, and it runs on a Hemi. 

       Anyway, using the powers of all four of the Fantastic Four, Johnny single handedly kicks the crap out of Victor, sending him to the bottom of the ocean, and restores everyone's powers. Norrin restores a dying Susan, who Victor had impaled earlier, and goes off to sacrifice himself to get rid of Galactus. The world is saved once again, and Reed and Susan get married in Japan. 

       Okay, so there's definitely a few things I liked in this movie. First, I definitely enjoyed the performances of the Fantastic Four once again, and all of them were better here than in the first movie. I also enjoyed the dual performance of Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne as the Silver Surfer. Now, while the Surfer is completely chromed out and on his board, he's digitally enhanced, but when he isn't, it's actor Doug Jones in a suit and makeup. On top of that, Laurence Fishburne's voice definitely has a deep feeling that works for the character. 

       Andre Braugher and Beau Garrett are definitely decent new additions, and I'm glad that they created the character of General Hager, as the original idea was that Braugher's character was intended to be Nick Fury. The idea of that would have been like when Angela Bassett portrayed Amanda Waller as a scientist in the 2011 film Green Lantern. It would have been a different take on a familiar character from the comics. But, I'm glad that Braugher's character wasn't Nick Fury, as just one year later, Samuel L. Jackson would portray Nick Fury in a post-credits scene in the 2008 film Iron Man, and would continue in the role in subsequent appearances throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Had Braugher done so in Rise of the Silver Surfer? That probably wouldn't have happened. 

        Unfortunately, the weakest points were with Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom, as his role really sucked, and the design of Galactus. Honestly, what the hell? This thing looks nothing like Galactus in the comics. Galactus is a gigantic man who is a planet eater, not an effing space cloud, damnit. Whoever signed off on this is clearly an idiot. Honestly, this really sucked. 

        The story was a slight improvement over the first one, and the banter between the Fantastic Four definitely felt more believe this time around. I should also mention that this movie got a PG rating as opposed to a PG-13 rating. While that wasn't intentional, I do commend Tim Story for just running with the rating and making the movie as is. Unfortunately, the weak-ass villains really bring the movie down for me. So, I'm giving Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer a rating of 3.8/5. 

        Now, there was one OTHER Fantastic Four movie with the 2015 Josh Trank film Fant4stic. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox, who also produced the two Tim Story Fantastic 4 movies, royally cut into Trank's vision for the movie, and the end result was easily the biggest piece of shit in the history of superhero cinema. I'm glad that Marvel Studios has the rights to the Fantastic Four back, as I'm eagerly awaiting the Four's introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

       Anyway, I'm taking a break from Marvel May for the weekend. I'll be wrapping up Marvel May on Monday with my review of the Disney+ series Moon Knight. However, I'll be back tomorrow with my review of the new movie Top Gun: Maverick. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys tomorrow.