Film styles and plots seem to run in cycles in Hollywood. If some studio is producing an underwater monster adventure, you can bet at least five other studios will follow suit, even to the point of trying to get their movie out before the original. Lately, we’ve been running through the ‘Superhero’ cycle, which has been spurred by a handful that has successfully captured the genre. In the past, most superhero movies lacked the special effects, and in many cases, the screenplay to deliver a believable superhero adventure. With the exception of the first two “Superman” films with the late Christopher Reeve, I really can’t think of a one that really did it for me. Of late, successful movies like “X-Men 1&2”, “Spider-man 1&2” and “Batman Begins” have helped greenlight dozens of other superhero movies. Unfortunately, some have been so rushed that they have mostly failed.

But, unlike the past there are quite a few more that hit the middle ground in terms of quality, and in doing so still offer a fairly fun ride. The main problem that still seems to plague these films is their faithfulness to the original materials. Just like most books have to be adapted and changed in order to create them on the big screen, this is easily as necessary, if not more so, with comic book heroes. Even one the best of the recent bunch, "Spider-man”, almost succumbed to fans who were incensed about Spidey being blessed with organic web-shooters as opposed to building them. Or “X-Men’s" decision to use black leather uniforms instead of the more familiar spandex versions (which is even alluded to in one of the film’s funniest lines).

The “Fantastic Four” have long been considered to be one of the hardest of the comic book teams to bring to the screen, the only time it had been tried before was in a never officially released, rarely seen version from Roger Corman’s studios. When comic fans heard that Fox was going to tackle it, there was great fear that it would get screwed up.

For the few of you who might not have ever read a comic, the “Fantastic Four” are made up of scientist Reed Richards, his (then) fiancé Sue Storm, her brother Johnny and pilot Ben Grimm. During a mission in space, the four were bombarded with deadly cosmic rays and upon returning to Earth learn that there their genetic makeup has been mutated and they now possess great powers. Reed has the ability to stretch his body, Sue can turn invisible and create force fields, and Johnny can engulf his body in flames, becoming a ‘Human Torch’, and fly. But they were the lucky ones. They still look normal. Ben was turned into ‘The Thing.” He’s large, orange and looks like he is made of rocks. In the comics, one of their main arch-villains is Dr. Doom. Originally, he was Victor von Doom, a rather vain and arrogant Latvarian scientist who shared a room with Reed in college. During an experiment gone wrong, Reed barely saved Victor from dying. But Victor was horribly scarred, and blaming Reed for his failure, donned a metal mask and became his worst enemy.

The rumors started flying as soon as the movie was announced, and I remember that the first one that hacked off fans was that Victor’s name was going to be changed to von Dam (sp?), not von Doom and there would be no mention of his Latvarian heritage. As it turned out, it was later changed back to the right name. But this isn’t to say the film did not have major changes. In the film, von Doom is a billionaire industrialist, who puts up the money and the use if his space station for Reed’s cosmic ray experiment and in doing so tags along for the ride. He is, in turn, blasted by the same rays which wreak havoc with his DNA. Sue also happens to be dating him, having split up with Reed years before. These are major changes from the original story, which I was able to forgive, but I know hardcore fans could not.

The “Fantastic Four” film had a fairly tongue-in-cheek attitude to it, and there were a lot of little corny scenes and silly dialogue. Still, the film was still extremely enjoyable thanks to the terrific (though not perfect) special effects and some of the performances by the cast. The effects were pretty well-done, especially those that involved Ben Grimm. Through a combination of make-up, an awesomely designed costume and a little CGI here and there, the Thing was about as realistic as I think is possible to create in live action. Not so much that you could totally buy his existence, but enough to make him look like a comic book character come to life.

In terms of casting, I thought almost everyone did as fine job. Ioan Gruffudd (minus his British accent) made a pretty good Reed Richards, though he was written to be a little bit more if a nebbish than his comic book counterpart. Chris Evans was perfect as Johnny Storm, and he filled the character with the death defying nature inherent to most extreme sport enthusiasts and as such gave the Human Torch that little bit of an extra edge the character demanded. Michael Chiklis who, as an actor, is more a force of nature (just watch him as Vic Mackey in TV’s “The Shield”) delivered Ben Grimm as both a tough guy and a compassionate soul. He is a true friend to his friends, but don’t ever get on his bad side. You really felt for him as the one member of the group who has come closest to losing his humanity.

The weakest link in the “Fantastic Four” came in the form (lovely though it may be) of Jessica Alba. She played Sue Storm, which right off the bat doesn’t work because her comic book counterpart is a woman, not a young girl. This isn’t to say Alba is a child, but she is simply too young to believably portray the character. The one saving grace might have been her acting chops, but her one-dimensional line delivery did little to help her case. I know she is a much better actress, but it just isn’t evident in her performance here. As for appearance, the blond hair and blue contacts only served to make her look odd, not beautiful.

I mentioned that I didn’t have that many problems with the changes to the origins, but I did have a problem with the overall tone of the film. It was very entertaining, but in its attempt to update the story, there are just too many one-liners and tongue-in-cheek moments. There were times it felt like a comedy, and I really think it should have been much more serious. I could have handled a little, but it just seemed like the balance was off.

And so we come to the sequel, which admittedly I was surprised was made. "Fantastic Four" did not have a box office bonanza and it ended pretty much up in the air as to how actual comic fans reacted to it. Yet, a sequel there is. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" brought with it a whole new slew of rumors, but it also caused a stir n the fact that the studio was actually going to tackle the Silver Surfer, who is one of the most popular of the lesser known heroes. His past and fate alone were so well written in the comics that the character really resonated with fans. The question remained as to how he would be presented, some of the rumors stating that he would actually be at the forefront of the movie with the Fantastic Four taking a back seat.

The film came and went in theatres, not really making a huge splash. But the reviews were touting that it was better than the first film, so it got my curiosity going. Still I waited until the DVD release to check it out for myself. It came a little late so I didn't watch in until last night. My first impression (other than James Cagney…) was that it wasn't all that different from the first film, with the possible exception that there were a lot more jokes and one-liners. Again, the producers opted to go with a comedy of sorts and again the balance was all wrong. Not that the overall film wasn't enjoyable, but it still seemed off.

I was also a little disappointed to see that some of the special effects took a step backwards when it came to the Fab Four. Well, at least for Reed Richards. His stretching and flattening out just didn’t look as good as it did in the first film. It looked too fake and just didn't work for me. Everyone else still looked fine and their powers were well crafted…. with the possible exception of Sue's wig and contacts again. Where the film did work was in the realization of the Silver Surfer.

When we first see the Surfer he looks a bit like the original form of the T-1000 in "Terminator 2." Initially I felt it looked a little too CGI, but it grew on me and I felt that he looked exactly as he should. The moves he made on the board were very fluid and looked, in a word… beautiful. Later in the film, he is separated from his board and loses his 'shine.' At this point we bring in Doug Jones ("Hellboy", "Pan's Labyrinth") in a dull grey body suit, and again he looks just perfect. The only thing that was a little odd was hearing Laurence Fishburne's voice coming out of the Surfer, it was just a little too recognizable. I would have preferred a less recognizable voice to keep the character at alien's length.

The story, as such, is culled from years of comic book stories and introduces us to the Silver Surfer as a herald for Galactus, the devourer of planets. We get a little bit of his background as Norrin Radd, but not enough if you ask me. There is the possibility of a full fledged Surfer movie in the future, so perhaps we'll get it there. As for Galactus, most fans were very disappointed that he was presented as an ominous storm cloud as opposed to a giant guy in purple. I kind of road the fence thinking that it would have been hard to create that kind of figure and make it look… right. There was one moment however that was a little cool when Galactus' shadow passes over the moon. At first the shape looks a lot like the comic version of Galactus' helmet.

"Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer" also brings Dr. Doom back from the dead to wreak havoc on the world. As much as I like Julian McMahon as an actor, I still am not sold on him as Doom. He has the looks as far as Doom's appearance before his accident, but McMahon just doesn't have the presence of being powerful.

The Fox DVD offers up an awesome transfer, and when we watched it the other night, we made sure to turn up the surround sound in order to experience it right. You can choose to watch it in widescreen or full (but why would anyone do that?). Once we were finished with the film, we dove into the special features. First up there are three commentaries, one by director Tim Story another by producer Avi Arad, writer Don Payne, and editors Peter S. Elliott and William Hoy and a third by Tim Story, Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Doug Jones and Julian McMahon . Admittedly the first two aren't all that interesting, definitely a step back from the commentaries for the first film. The third, which features the cast is definitely the best of the three.

The second disc delivers a 'making of' documentary, which is broken up into two parts. Both show a lot of behind the scenes footage with the best bits dealing with Chiklis. There are also several separate features focusing on particular effects in the film and how they were achieved, as well as the music. But the absolute best of the features deals with the history of the Silver Surfer where Stan 'The Man' Lee pops up to fill us in. Lee is always fun to listen to as his eccentricities and joy of storytelling hit with full force. You'll also find some deleted scenes, still galleries and a multi angle feature on the Fantasticar rounding out the disc. I'd say of the two releases available for this movie, the 2-disc is worth the extra cash. Plus, the cover is much, much better.

“Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” turned out to be a bit of an improvement over the first movie, but still I thought it was too uneven to be considered a great superhero film. Thanks to the addition of more action sequences and better special effects (except for Reed) it manages to deliver an entertaining ride, so while it doesn’t get my highest recommendation; it still gets a big ‘okay.’

Directed by: Tim Story
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, Julian McMahon, Doug Jones
Extras: Commentary by Tim Story, Commentary by Tim Story, Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Doug Jones and Julian McMahon, Commentary by Kevin Feige, Michael France, Ralph Winter, Mark Frost, and Don Payne, Extended & Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Tim Story, Family Bonds: Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer, The Fantasticar: State of the Art - (Multi-angle VFX featurette), The Power of Cosmic, Character Design with Spectral Motion, Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origin of the Silver Surfer, The Four Elements, Still Gallery
Specifications: Widescreen and Full Screen, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 10/2/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website

We'll give Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer a B-.