Fantastic 4 Rise of the Silver Surfer 2007 Film

The Planet Eater Galactus has set his Sights on his Next Meal: Earth

Sep 6, 2009

The Silver Surfer arrives on Earth, to prepare the planet for consumption by Galactus. The only ones that can stop the destruction of the planet are the Fantastic 4

Set two years after the original, Fantastic 4 Rise of the Silver Surfer follows the four superheroes as a mysterious ‘silver surfer’ appears on Earth and his appearance on other worlds coincides with the destruction of the planet. The main cast from the previous film all return to reprise their roles. Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm-Richards, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm are the Fantastic 4, with Julian McMahon returning as Dr Victor von Doom and Kerry Washington playing Ben’s blind girlfriend Alicia Masters. Tim Story also returns to direct. The cast are joined by Doug Jones as the Silver Surfer with Laurence Fishburne providing the Surfer's voice.

Reed Richards and Susan Storm are attempting to tie the knot yet again after several unsuccessful attempts. Unfortunately their wedding day is a media circus, and Susan is starting to wonder about her future as a member of the Fantastic 4. She doesn’t believe that she and Reed can ever settle down and have a family if their lives are constantly under the watchful eyes of the media. Their big day is interrupted by the arrival of a silver comet and Johnny gives chase catching up to what appears to a silver man riding a surfboard. After dragging Johnny into orbit the Surfer lets him go, and he plunges back to Earth only to discover that his molecules are unstable meaning that he will swap powers with any of the others if he touches them.

The unusual cosmic disturbances that follow in the wake of the Surfer are similar to the effects of the storm from the first film that gave the four their powers. It is the effect of this radiation that is able to revive Dr Doom, still trapped after his attack on the Fantastic 4 at the end of the previous film.

Initially Doom approaches the Surfer to offer a truce, but the Surfer refuses and Doom attacks him. The Surfer retaliates by drawing energy from his board and his powers reverse the mutations that happened to Doom’s flesh during the first film. He still has his powers but looks normal again.

The military ask the Fantastic 4 for help to capture the Surfer, and they are asked to work with Doom who knows that if they separate the Surfer from his board then they should be able to capture him. The Surfer eventually reveals that he is simply the herald for the planet eating monstrosity known as Galactus.

The Sequel Outdoes the Original

Rise of the Silver Surfer doesn’t get bogged down with the origin story, and unlike the Spider-Man films which portray a hero struggling with duel identities, the Fantastic 4 have the opposite problem of being constantly in the public eye.

The military seem to be completely stupid, and don’t realise that torturing the Surfer may not be the best way to learn what it is they want to know. It is equally puzzling why the military treat the Fantastic 4 like they are freaks but seem to trust Dr Doom after he offers them valuable information about the Surfer.

Why exactly anyone in authority would trust a man with the name Doom is a mystery.

As before the chemistry between Chiklis and Evans is the highlight with the pair bouncing off one another nicely, the scene in which Ben swaps powers with Johnny, and the audeince sees Johnny as the Thing is hughely enjoyable.

The film also benefits from that fact that this time the enemy they face is more than capable of matching their powers, and Johnny’s power swapping leads to an impressive battle between him and the diabolical Dr Doom.

Unfortunately, Galactus, who was a large human-shaped figure in the comics, appears as a huge cloud in the film. This does rob the character of much of his menace as at one point it does appear as though the planet will be swallowed by a nasty looking thunder storm. Fans of the comic books will be outraged by the appearance of Galactus. However, non-comic book fans will be quivering in fear at the sight of the enormous cloud about to swallow the world with the Fantastic 4 powerless to stop it.

Much better than the original and makes the audience wonder if the Fantastic 4 will be enough to save the world.

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