Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Note: This review contains spoilers for Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Early 2000s Marvel films have an interesting place in superhero film history. For every cultural phenomenon like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy or the original X-Men film trilogy, we also received middling releases like the original 2005 Fantastic Four, which still proved profitable enough to receive a 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer (Silver Surfer), from the same director, Tim Story. Silver Surfer itself represents an interesting point in the cinematic landscape of the time: It released one year before Iron Man forever changed the approach to superhero films, one month before Transformers revived a dying brand (for better or worse) and four years before Chris Evans joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Captain America. Although Silver Surfer itself did receive slightly better praise than the first film and did make a profit, it still earned less than its predecessor, which led to Fox axing plans for a third film.

Rewatching the film now, it’s not hard to see why the franchise wouldn’t have continued and why it didn’t leave much of a lasting impact. However, I don’t feel quite as negative towards it as I did when I saw it in the theater as a young and impressionable teenager. After all, the 2015 reboot proved that the quality could, indeed, get worse.

Sometime after the events of the original Fantastic Four, a mysterious object enters Earth’s atmosphere, causing strange phenomena and creating mysterious craters. While preparing for his wedding with Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), which has become a national event, Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) secretly tracks the object for the government. When it appears, Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Chris Evans) gives chase and comes in contact with the Silver Surfer (performed by Doug Jones, voiced by Laurence Fishburne), who defeats him and destabilizes his molecular structure, causing him to temporarily swap powers when touching another teammate, with a notable effect on Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis). While dealing with both this issue and the Silver Surfer, the team must also deal with the return of their archenemy, Victor Von Doom, inadvertently freed from his metallic prison in Latveria by the Surfer’s power.

The Silver Surfer (Performed by Doug Jones, Voiced by Laurence Fishburne)
proves himself a formidable foe.

Compared with the original film, Silver Surfer attempts a more complex story with multiple plot threads. You not only have the threat of the Silver Surfer, who we later learn works for someone else, but also Reed and Susan’s wedding, Doom’s return and Johnny’s unstable power swapping. On paper, this would prove complex enough for a compelling sequel if handled with care. Unfortunately, it still stumbles in its execution. Doom’s subplot works well, as his ulterior motives fit his character as presented in this interpretation and suitably derail the plan for saving the world in favor of his own personal gain, though you may wonder what he planned to do afterwards. As for the wedding, the team at first seem more concerned with Reed’s commitment rather than the literal end of the world, though they do eventually get their priorities straight. Johnny’s power switching provides some interesting dramatic moments, especially accidentally swapping at the wrong times, but a climactic battle against Doom, despite providing good character development, relies on him temporarily absorbing everyone else’s powers, which the film didn’t establish beforehand as a possibility.

Then you have the Silver Surfer himself, who we learn is really a herald for Galactus, a world-ending threat. The Silver Surfer is written well, aided by Laurence Fishburne’s voice acting, but Galactus himself feels underwhelming, but not in terms of his power. Rather, the being that they hype up in the second half more resembles a cloud than he does his original comic book counterpart, even if that might have looked rather silly at the time. The execution of the fight against him also leaves something to be desired, as it doesn’t carry as much of the emotional impact as the film clearly wanted.

While the story itself is forgettable with time, the one thing that really stands out, both then and now, is a blatant product placement for major automotive brand Dodge, which feels forced and out of place compared with the product placement in the original film. Reed Richards has a top-secret project throughout the film, which culminates in the appearance of a vehicle that lets them make an escape from imprisonment. When the vehicle shows up, the camera makes sure to highlight the Dodge branding on the front, as well as the presence of the Dodge ram on the seats. As if that wasn’t enough, Johnny Storm declares the vehicle “the coolest thing [he’s] ever done” and asks “Hemi?” in reference to the engine. “Of course,” says Reed.

I wonder who made this.

If there’s one thing the film has going for it, the acting is decent, particularly from Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans and Laurence Fishburne. By that same token, the effects look good, though more noticeable due to the increased reliance on them, with special mention to the Silver Surfer’s design (though that’s harder to mess up compared with Galactus). At least with Galactus, a couple shots implied his original design, so credit where it’s due.

While perhaps not as enjoyable and more forgettable than its predecessor, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer isn’t the worst superhero film out there, nor is it the worst Fantastic Four adaptation. As such, I wouldn’t completely dissuade someone from watching it if they wanted more of Tim Story’s interpretation, though it wouldn’t highly recommend it either.