FANTASTIC FOUR
RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

 

 

"Everything you know is about to end"

As Reed Richards (Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Alba), Johnny Storm (Evans) and Ben Grimm (Chiklis) gets used to their powers and celebrity status as superheroes. Trying to keep their lives as normal as possible, Reed and Sue plan their wedding but just as they head to the alter, the herald of Galactus, the Silver Surfer (Fishburne) arrives to announce that the earth has been chosen for destruction. Now the Fantastic Four have to join forces with an old enemy to save the planet from destruction.

After an average introduction to the big screen, one of Marvel's biggest comic book franchises gets another chance but this time they get a little help from another fan favourite.

Tim Story's adaptation of 'Fantastic Four' was greeted with a mixed reception from fans and critics like. While the look and feel captured the essence of the characters that have been firm favourites since their Marvel comics debut in 1961 but it problem that all comic book movies have, telling the origin story that made the Fantastic Four suffer. 'Spider-Man', 'Batman Begins' and 'Superman' have tackled this with great success but other adaptations like 'The Punisher', 'Catwoman' and 'Hulk' failed miserably. The Fantastic Four wasn't awful but with the lack of a real pay off during the finale and Doctor Doom never really fulfilling his evil potential, fans were left a little disappointed. The film still went on to make splash at the box office so now Tim Story and his creative team have the chance to address some of the first film's shortcomings.

After Doctor Doom failed to live up to fan's expectations, director Tim Story and writers Don Payne, John Turman and Mark Frost returned to the comic book archives and based their new screenplay on a firm favourite, the Galactus trilogy. The series of books introduced the world to the planet eating, god-like entity Galactus but was probably best known for introducing Norrin Radd, the herald of Galactus who became known as the Silver Surfer. With the Four and Surfer together on the silver screen, they couldn't go wrong, right?

Seeing the Silver Surfer fly through the air, been chased by the Human Torch and having missiles fired at him is edge of seat exciting. The visual effects are exceptional good, as you'd expect with a modern, big budget movie. The problem with the movie is that this is where most of the concentration has gone, creating the visual effects and for the second time the story has taken a backward step. While it serves as a way of connecting one action scene to another, don't expect the same about of character development that you get in the 'X-Men' or 'Spider-Man' franchises. What little we have revolves around how Reed and Sue are coping with getting married in the media spotlight and the realisation of how they are going to have a family with all the attention and their superpowers. We also have Johnny feeling a little lonely now that Sue and Reed are together and Ben has found love with Alicia. That is all the character development we get for the Fantastic Four, so fans hoping for a little big more will be disappointed.

The central cast return with all for them looking a lot more comfortable in their roles. Ioan Gruffudd is still a little too geeky as Reed Richards, still not really leadership material but he looks a lot more at ease. Jessica Alba has donned some new blue contacts and is now even blonder than before but she still looks amazing in her fantastic suit. Chris Evans is just as cocky as ever but finally starts to connect with someone. That someone is Ben Grimm, played again with great gusto by Michael Chiklis. He is the one who gets the character exactly right but we still need to see more clobbering time. The rest of the cast also have fun. Julian McMahon is back as the still underdeveloped Victor Von Doom. Andre Braugher is good as General Hager and Kerry Washington and Beau Garrett provide the love interests for Ben and Johnny as Alicia and Captain Frankie Raye. Stealing the show however is the performance of Doug Jones and the vocal talents of Laurence Fishburne as the Silver Surfer. The pair combines to make the character truly come to life with Jones in the silver suite and Fishburne providing the voice. This is a brilliant realisation of a character. The real disappointment comes from the portrayal of Galactus, which has been the speculation of many an internet story and the rumours are true, which will come as a major disappointment to fans of the character.

'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' is an improvement on the first film, but not by much. It is still an enjoyable, action packed romp but it just doesn't have the same impact as a 'Spider-Man', 'Batman', 'X-Men' or 'Superman' movie. What it needs is a better quality writing team on their next adventure and maybe we will get a movie that is fantastic.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Disc 1

Commentary by director Tim Story
The man at the helm provides a good single person commentary for his second trip into the universe of the Fantastic Four. He talks passionately about the movie, revealing how the film came to include Galactus and the Silver Surfer and the change of approach from the previous film. This is a good commentary track from a filmmaker who clearly enjoys working with these characters and in the Marvel Universe.

Commentary by producer Avi Arad, writer Don Payne and film editors Peter Elliot and William Hay
With individual contributions from the producer, writer and editors, they talk about key elements of the film during the duration of the movie. The commentary covers the set up of the story, the recreation of Galactus/Silver Surfer/Doctor Doom/Fantastic Four storylines and the development of the film and story throughout pre-production, production and postproduction. While it would have been better if this had been a collaborative effort, the commentary is still informative and a decent listen.

Trailers
Previews of 'The Simpsons Movie' and 'Live Free or Die Hard'

Disc 2

Extended and Deleted Scenes (9.45 mins)
Entitled 'Full main titles', 'Fantastic store', 'Wedding montage', 'Reed gets crushed ring' and 'Doom builds arm band and covers up his mask', these deleted or extended scenes have optional commentary from director Tim Story.

Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (46.18 mins)
Director Tim Story and stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, are joined by the cast and crew to take you behind the scenes of the second Fantastic Four movie. With B-Roll or behind the scenes footage from both the pre-production and production of the movie, here we discover how the film was designed, from script to location scouting and set design through to the filming of the movie. The featurette also looks at the Fantasticar, how they swapped powers and the creation of some of the major sets of the shoot. This is a good behind the scenes featurette that isn't the typical promotional material as it gives a more honest look at the production of a big budget blockbuster.

Interactive Fantasticar
View all of the concept and design drawings of the car from every angle.

The Fantasticar: State of the Art (10.37 mins)
Concept artist Tim Flattery takes you through the construction of the Fantasticar, from the concept designs through to the completed, fill size model.

The Power Cosmic (15.03 mins)
Senior VP of Visual Effects for 20th Century Fox talks about the creation of the Silver Surfer and the involvement of WETA Digital in bringing the classic comic book creation to life. His look and the creation of classic poses on his board, are discussed and revealed in this interesting look at the creation of the visual effects.

Sentinel of the Space Ways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer (38.37 mins)
Co-creator and legend Stan Lee, writers Ron Marz, Steve Englehart and J.M. DeMattes and artist Jim Starlin take you through the origins of the Silver Surfer. From his first appearance in 1965 and his design by the immortal Jack Kirby, this fascinating featurette talks about the impact of the character and how, as an alien, Stan Lee made him comment on world events and the consequences of human actions.

Character Design: With Spectral Motion (11.32 mins)
The Thing Makeup Prosthetic Supervisor Mike Elizalde and star Michael Chiklis talk about the development and application of the new Thing suit and we set the star having the suit and mask fitted.

Scoring the Fantastic (4.37 mins)
Composer John Ottman talks about the score for the second film and the creation of new themes for the Silver Surfer and Galactus

Still Galleries
View a collection of 'Behind the Scenes', 'Characters' and 'Concept Art' images

Trailers
View the theatrical trailers for 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer', 'X-Men', 'X-Men: United', 'X-Men: The Last Stand', 'Dark Angel', 'Deck the Halls' and 'Futurama: Bender's Big Score - Sneak Peek'

OVERALL

The DVD package for 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' is exceptionally good, as you'd expect from a 20th Century Fox release. The commentary tracks are very good but it the featurettes and documentaries that make this a great release for fans of the film. 'Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'Sentinel of the Space Ways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer' are a really good what and fans will revel in everything that is revealed in these documentaries. This is a must by for all Fantastic Four fans.

DVD

Fantastic Four

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2007