Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (4 Stars)

I was disappointed with the first Fantastic Four film, considering it a total flop when I saw it in the cinema, but it's growing on me. The second film is the exact opposite; I loved it at first, but repeated viewing is showing me its flaws.

The story of the coming of Galactus, originally told in Fantastic Four #48 to #50, is one of the greatest stories ever told. It's Stan Lee at the heights of his creative brilliance. But the four-part story of Doctor Doom stealing the Silver Surfer's powers, told in Fantastic Four #57 to #60, surpasses it. This is the problem with the film. The two stories, told in a collection of seven comics, have been squashed into one story. It would have been more effective to make two films as the second and third part of a Fantastic Four trilogy. In the film I'm reviewing we barely get to know the Silver Surfer. In the comics he's a beautifully tragic character who soon became a favorite of fans who were begging him to be given his own comic. It's also a shame that the possibility of a love triangle wasn't explored. In Fantastic Four #49 the Silver Surfer grew close to the Thing's blind girlfriend Alicia, not the Invisible Woman as in the film. This exploded into a full out conflict in Fantastic Four #55, but it could have been integrated into the second film of a Fantastic Four trilogy. A longer second film would have given a chance to introduce the Watcher, who stood with Galactus in Manhattan in Fantastic Four #49 and #50 pleading for the Earth to be spared. The character of Galactus could have been developed, showing him not as an impersonal force but as a sad being who isn't really bad, he's just driven by hunger to do desperate things... like eating planets.

The third film would have had a chance to show prolonged fights between Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four. Group battles, of course. I didn't like that the film combined all of the Fantastic Four's powers in one person. This weakened their credibility as a team, in my eyes.

I think that Marvel missed a chance with this film. If the Silver Surfer had been portrayed differently fans would be clamouring for a Silver Surfer film now. As it is, there's no interest, apart from hardcore 1960's comic fans like me. It could have been much, much better. Let's hope that some day in the not too far future there will be a reboot.

Click here to view the trailer. Sigh.....