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| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer |
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| POSTED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 01:59:50 PM |
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The full Empire review will be up online as soon as possible, but with the release of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer only days away, we thought we'd bring you a first reaction in the meantime to keep you going:
When put alongside the big budget sequels weve already seen this year, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (which is, according to its title sequence, actually called merely 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, having apparently lost conviction in its own fantasticness) has one major advantage: it makes sense. It might be entirely lacking in ambition, originality and dialogue that doesnt feebly punch the nose, but its content to get in, throw a few million dollars worth of effects around, wrap up a happy(ish) ending and get the hell out again.
Theres refreshingly little effort to go darker, possibly the most foreboding words that can be used to describe a franchise, now that it means making Spideys web impenetrably tangled and sucking all the fun out of Pirates. What we have here is a film that represents the term comic book movie in its truest form. Thats comic book, not graphic novel. It has all the depth of a Sunday morning cartoon strip. Its brightly coloured, faintly amusing, plotted on rails, brief and consistently 2-dimensional. But, since that seems to be everything its aiming for, it could be said that, on its own shallow level, it works.
One thing that sadly does not work is the Silver Surfer. It should be impossible to make Norrin Radd anything other than cool, but Tim Story has managed it with aplomb. Anything interesting that the Surfer has to do has already been revealed in the trailer. His further contribution to the film consists of intermittently drifting onto screen in expensive slo-mo, making big holes in the ground, saying something nonsensical and depressingly earnest to Sue Storm (Jessica Alba, to paraphrase Pauline Kael, running the gamut of emotions from A towell, lets try and nail A first, shall we?) and then titting off again. He doesnt soar; hes a big old drag.
As for Galactus: what youve heard about him being a giant cloud is only semi-true. Theres a brief suggestion of the big pointy hat, so he may simply be inside the swirling mass of planet-devouring stratus, embarrassed by his daft costume and ungainly size. Who can tell? The return of Victor Von Doom is pleasingly pantomimic. If you thought Julian McMahon couldnt get any more camp than he was in the first film, boy, are you in for a surprise. The guy should be wearing rhinestones and twirling a handlebar moustache.
Story may have taken the sheen off his new guy and screwed up the villains, but he has managed to inject some more life into his lead quartet. Where the first movie seemed almost embarrassed by their powers, the sequel revels in the pointless, but nonetheless fun, things their screwed up atoms can do. Every possible way The Thing can squash something, Johnny burn something and Mr Fantastic contort his unpleasant limbs for comedic value is exhausted.
So this is better than the first woeful movie. It moves quicker, looks better and generally enjoys itself more. Youll never forget youre viewing a heavily researched studio product multiple references to focus groups and endorsements are either incredibly sly or deeply shameless but if youve seen the first installment then thats what youre coming back for and youre getting a mildy new and improved version. Its still bubblegum, but keeps its flavour a little longer.
R.I.P HEATH LEDGER 1979-2008 YOU WHERE MY FIRST JOKER YOU WHERE MY HERO AND I HOPE YOUR IN A BETTER PLACE |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 03:56:09 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 07:03:37 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 07:19:57 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 08:53:39 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 09:39:55 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:48:41 PM |
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| REPLIED Tuesday, June 12, 2007 11:41:40 PM |
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| Actually an 1 hr and a half, which is one of the major gripes about the film. A lot of people don't want to put down full price of admission for a movie that short anymore, and with a movie that's supposedly so much more 'epic' than the original, making it shorter than the first seems like a bad way to start things off. I, myself, am not a huge Fantastic Four comic fan, and I did actually enjoy the first. But this movie, from what I've seen, is just too cheesy to sit down and enjoy (the dialog in the clips are painful and gut wrenching.......but not intentionally so).
"At last, we shall have our revenge". Darth Maul
Z-Warrior
Best quote from Red Vs Blue:
Doc: I'm a pacifist.
Caboose: Your a thing that babies suck on....
Tucker: No dude, you mean a pedophile.
Church: Tucker, I think he means a pacifier.
Tucker: Oh...yeah....right....man my mind was totally somewhere else.
Church:.....that's real classy Tucker..... |
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| REPLIED Wednesday, June 13, 2007 06:06:48 AM |
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| REPLIED Thursday, June 14, 2007 05:29:10 AM |
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| REPLIED Friday , June 15, 2007 05:49:31 PM |
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vanisher said:
JHBLADER05 said:
infamous_emijayne said:
JHBLADER05 said:
I just read 2 reviews who say they liked the film, and enjoyed the style because its campy.
I'm not saying everyone will hate the film. ROTSS will be well received by those who enjoyed the first. That's pretty much a fact. I won't deny that. I just think it was bad business to cater only to those who liked the first film instead of making a much better one, thus improving the box office potential.
What they basically did was use the Silver Surfer as a marketing ploy much like Sony did with Venom. Granted he is in most of the film, but his character is misused entirely.
True. But I get where you're coming from. I just wish people would stop comparing comic book films to othere comic books films, and the comics in general and just review it or watch the film as simply a movie. People need to let go of the comics and try to be entertained for 2 hrs.
So we should all just shut up and be happy huh? Just forget about the comics and take it for what it is. I see your point.
So would it be alright if The Da Vinci code movie was set in Cleveland instead of Paris huh? Even though an important part of the story was where it happened, if they screwed it up that badly we should stick our heads up our asses and enjoy the movie anyway right?
So would it be ok with you if the main character in Citizen Kane had been a line cook at Hardees instead of an eccentric billionaire or Gone With The Wind was set in Lebanon in the seventies instead of the American Civil War and Scarlett Ohara was a hood and burkha wearing opressed Muslim chick instead of a ruined southern belle?
Evon though these things are despicably heinous departures from the works we know and love, we should still all just dumb down, stuff our faces with more popcorn cuz its all good , main. Hail yeah duh huh.
Sorry sport. I disagree.
I'm with you 100%, Vanisher. I don't get how people say, forget about the comic and just enjoy the movie. In the comics, Dr. Doom was the quintessential classic villain on a par with Darth Vader, one of the most complex, richly developed characters in all comics. What they did to him in the FF movies is unforgiveable. And in thie new film, he's not disfigured at all! In the comics, his disfigured face was the main reason he whacked out and became a villain.
I can forgive that Alicia (Thing's girlfriend) is portrayed by a black actress in the movies, in fact, I appreciate that because Alicia wasn't a major character in the comics, and I consider it a progressive updating of the comic and they stlll portray the nature of the character. But what they've done to Galactus (another character of immense dimension in the comics) and Dr. Doom is ridiculous. It's like making another Superman movie but Superman wears a green costume with a purple cape. Why not be true to the comic? What would it hurt? Why the need to alter the comic so much?
I can't imagine that Stan Lee gave his approval of this portrayal of the superheroes who were the standard-bearers of comics back in 1962. I mean, the FF comic ushered in the modern comic era, so you'd think they'd treat the characters better.
Just doesn't ring true that Mr. Fantastic would use his powers to show off some dance moves to a couple sluts in a club. Or all that crap about the Surfer's powers being derived from his board! I'm thru with the FF movies. |
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| REPLIED Friday , June 15, 2007 06:23:01 PM |
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| REPLIED Friday , June 15, 2007 07:37:25 PM |
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| REPLIED Friday , June 15, 2007 09:18:32 PM |
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| REPLIED Friday , June 15, 2007 09:21:04 PM |
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| REPLIED Sunday , June 17, 2007 12:49:09 AM |
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