"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Stu]

Rise.
http://marvel.toonzone.net/Stu/rise.jpg
Johnny: "How do you fight something that can eat planets?"
Reed: "Leave that to me."Release Date: June 15th, 2007
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Director: Tim Story
Screenwriter: Don Payne and Mark Frost
Starring: Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Julian McMahon, Doug Jones, Kerry Washington, Lawrence Fishbourne
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: PG
Official Website: www.riseofthesilversurfer.com

Plot Summary: The enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As the Silver Surfer races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery of the Silver Surfer and confront the surprising return of their mortal enemy, Dr. Doom, before all hope is lost.

Comments?

Related Discussion:
-Fantastic Four Feature Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=144879)
-Fantastic Four: Extended Edition DVD Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191505)
-Fantastic Four DVD Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=156083)
-Fantastic Four: Extended Edition DVD Review (Spoilers) (http://wfdvdreport.com/index.php?action=fullnews&id=86)
-Fantastic Four Animation Discussion: Fantastic Four (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191897), Silver Surfer (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191938), Dr. Doom (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=192034), Powers (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=192098), Characters (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=192164)
-Fantastic Four #48 - 50 "The Coming of Galactus" Classic Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191219)
-Ultimate Fantastic Four #42 - 46 "Silver Surfer" Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=191221)
-Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Heroes - Volume One DVD Talkback (Spoilers) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=186589)

[krazymed]

The first 20 minutes were fairly funny. The rest was a joke onto itself. The parts where Alba tries to act actually made me cringe, like the talk with Alicia, the talk with Torch, the talk with Doom. Speaking of Doom, he was even more of a wuss here than in the first movie, bringing very little to the table. Making Torch the Super Skrull was out of left field as well. Richards fighting the government, wasn't that done in the last three X-Men movies?


I wanted to like it, but there were too many "Huh?" moments and not nearly enough "Cool" moments. Thumbs down.

[rggkjg1]

ok, its the moment of truth. is galactus a cloud? and/or does the end of the movie leave some kind of DIRECT hint/teaser that the real galactus WILL be in the next film? please stay durring the credits people!!

[Wolf Boy2]

No real Galactus??!?!??!?!?

Suddenly I want to see this movie less and less.

[Anthony C.]

The first 20 minutes were fairly funny. The rest was a joke onto itself. The parts where Alba tries to act actually made me cringe, like the talk with Alicia, the talk with Torch, the talk with Doom. Speaking of Doom, he was even more of a wuss here than in the first movie, bringing very little to the table. Making Torch the Super Skrull was out of left field as well. Richards fighting the government, wasn't that done in the last three X-Men movies?


I wanted to like it, but there were too many "Huh?" moments and not nearly enough "Cool" moments. Thumbs down.

You know what? I've long tried to defend Jessica Alba ever since the Dark Angel days, but that was because I thought she was one of the hottest women I've ever seen. However, seeing how bad the reviews are, I think it is impossible to defend her anymore. I knew since "Idle Hands" that her range was limited, but I just hoped that she would improve. I just have to face the sad facts, she is no Halle Berry (that being beautiful and can act if motivated). Damn shame :sad: .

Oh yeah here is the review by critc and Fantastic 4 fan James Berardinelli. He totally rips the movie apart:

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/f/fantastic_four2.html

[J'onn J'onzz]

ok, its the moment of truth. is galactus a cloud? and/or does the end of the movie leave some kind of DIRECT hint/teaser that the real galactus WILL be in the next film? please stay durring the credits people!!
I just got back from the movie. I liked it. But I also liked Fantastic Four 1, unlike pretty much everyone else.

Yes, Galactus is a cloud. I'm saying that the chances that a humanoid Galactus will be in Fantastic Four 3 are about .00000000001%. Cloud Galactus wasn't really even in the movie that much. He was in the last five minutes or so. The rest of the movie was just Doctor Doom and Silver Surfer fighting leading up to it. Speaking of the Surfer, I thought the movie portrayed him pretty well. The CGI they used to animate him was cool. And, of course, we got a Stan Lee cameo at Reed and Sue's wedding.

Overall, the movie was good. Plus, the last scene leaves possibility for more Silver Surfer in the future, which is also good.

[Hero Supreme]

From my blog: (http://servewithchips.blogspot.com/2007/06/silvers-no-gold-but-it-still-has-bit-of.html)

Silver's No Gold, But It Still Has a Bit of a Shine (http://servewithchips.blogspot.com/2007/06/silvers-no-gold-but-it-still-has-bit-of.html)


The Silver Surfer himself was incredible. Even the Morpheus voice wasn't too bad as the guy wasn't very talky. The movie had a number of funny scenes mostly involving the Thing and "John" Storm. It seemed that the teammates each got their scenes in the spotlight. Galactus AKA V'yger was hardly in the movie, and had absolutely no semblance of non-cloud form. Still, his stormyness wasn't too big an issue, and I think the epic F4 story was pretty well adapted. Back also was Dr. von Doom. Of all the problems with the first film, Doom was the main one that didn't get addressed. He was still pretty lame and wussy, though his final fight was cool. The Fantasticar was ok, but also the source of some pretty blatant product placement for Dodge. "Hemi?" "Of Course." Overall, if you hated Fantastic Four, this one is pretty much a cooler version of the same formula, but still has ample portions of corniness. But if you liked parts of the first one, this one has even more to like. As I have said before, the secret to the elusive sequel that is better than the original is setting the bar nice and low. So, in short, I liked it. Its a good solid second tier superhero film sort of on par with the original Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles or Daredevil.

One last note, at a mere 89 minutes, surely a lot was cut. I am interested to see what makes it onto the inevitable Fantastic Four 2 extended DVD. And the Silver Surfer solo film should be great!

[ShadowGUN]

Well just came back from movie and I love it. The humor was great and the character interaction was great too. They felt like a real family Stan Lee cameo (" I telling you I am Stan Lee") was way better than his SM3 cameo. The only problems I saw with the movie was Alba acting was bit wooden and the movie was bit too short. For those wondering about Galactus he not really a cloud. During the final fight you could see his true form is that of a energy beign( his head has the shape of his comic book counterpart). It has it faults but I enjoy the movie better than Spider Man 3. I give the movie a 9/10.

One thing I wonder thought why was this movie rated PG? There several scenes that look PG-13 like when Dr Doom kill the "quaterback" with the power of the Silver Surfer.

[Hades]

ok, its the moment of truth. is galactus a cloud? and/or does the end of the movie leave some kind of DIRECT hint/teaser that the real galactus WILL be in the next film? please stay durring the credits people!!

Seriously, do not pay attention to people. If you recall in the comics, Galactus piloted A SHIP. The SHIP is what is in the form of a cloud, NOT Galactus. You don't actually see Galactus, but you do see his head's shadow when Surfer fires at him, and the shape looks exactly like it does in the comics.

With that said, the movie was very good, better than the first, but like hte first, it leaves a lot to be desired. The biggest problem is this movie is way too freaking short. I only paid $8 for this, and I think I got gyped because teh running time was not worth the $8. I am sick of this. If I'm going to pay $8+ for a movie, the movie has no right to be under 2 hours!!!!

[Hanshotfirst113]

I'd be far more concerned with the quality of the storytelling than the length. Some directors have virtually nothing to say in 90 minutes, while others, like David Lean or Akira Kurosawa, can make four hours fly right by. Ridiculous overlength sank the last two Pirates installments. A perfectly adequate story can be told in 90-100 minutes, or even 70-80 (Budd Boetticher), whereas a story barely fit for an hour and a half (armageddon, the Pirates movies, The Mummy films, Van Helsing) can drag endlessly at 2+hours. I think that it all comes down the discretion of the filmmakers; some know their limitations, others get Pirates syndrome.

[Kolbar]

I just got back from seeing it and I thought it was great. I did have some problems, but I liked it a little bit better than the first (which I really liked).

Obviously the biggest problem was the Galactus cloud. Apparently, a gigantic humanoid with a big red headpiece that eats planets with the Elemental Converter isn't realistic enough for this movie, but a silver guy on a surfboard, a guy that controls electricity (Dr. Doom in the movie), and the rest of the FF are realistic enough.

I really liked Doc Doom a lot better in this movie for some reason and his plans to steal the surfboard (hey, just like the last 90s FF episode) and glad they got rid of his metal skin, so he had to wear the armor suit.

The Silver Surfer was very well done and looked really good. The voice was a little weird, but I'm glad they gave his backstory.

And the best part: the Stan Lee cameo at the wedding. If I recall correctly, that's right out of the Reed and Sue wedding issue where Stan and Jack Kirby try to get into the wedding but aren't on the guest list.

Anyway, I think I still liked Spider-Man 3 better, but this was pretty good.

4.5/5

[JustJack]

Pickers can't be choser's, and what we got made me happy enough. This flick is a good example of sleeping in the bed you made yourself. The first flick was hard to swallow for fan's and average movie goers in general. This time around, they made the effort to fix what they did wrong, but not act like the first flick was a complete waste. On one hand I applaude them, on the other....bah...

Overall, the Fantastic Four are so much like the comic-book Fantastic Four, the haters can just shut up and piss their pants for all I care. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben were nearly pitch perfect this time around, so much so I nearly leaked out a tear. When Reed stands up to the general with his "I'm the smartest guy in the room" speach, I turned to my girlfriend, pointed, then whispered "THAT's the Reed Richards I've been reading about since I could first hold a damn comic!" The fact that we actually saw Reed DO something with his power was almost enough for me.
Silver Surfer was also kick ass...no need to say any more there.

Doom...they did better with Doom this time around. Doom has been poorly designed in these movies from the beginning. He has no european accent, Latveria's a sidenote, and he's more playboy than scarred menace with a score to settle. I'll never be satisfied with Doom until I hear him scream "RICHARDS!!!" and proceed to wail on the good Mr. Fantastic in an all-out stretchy, zappy, sciencey battle of the super-minds. Anyway, for this movie we get the continued adventures of a playboy doomy guy who's only there to be the antagonist. Motive's are lost, the evil is weak, and all he's there for is for a flashy finalle. Maybe in 10 or so years when we get a F4 reboot, Doom won't suck.

Overall, I was satisfied with this movie. The F4 were handled perfectly this time around, the Surfer looked nice, the story wasn't half bad, and it actually felt like a real life gosh darn Fantastic 4 MOVIE, unlike the first one.

And a little note to the haters...this flick really isn't about Galactus. I have no issue's with having not seen Galactus, and neither should any of you. We do get a Galactus sillouette, so he exist's -only in a giant galactic cloud that sucks life. But, the story's not about Galactus...it's more about the Fantastic 4 truly becoming The Fantastic Four. Think of this little saga with The Silver Surfer as the catylist that forces them to mature into a true team of heroes. If Galactus floated his purple ass down to earth, it would've distracted from everything leading up to the climactic ending. We'll worry about seeing Galactus when they make the Silver Surfer movie....

[Terminatah]

Not a great movie, but much better than the first. Lots of fun.

-Terminatah

[launchpad25]

Pickers can't be choser's, and what we got made me happy enough. This flick is a good example of sleeping in the bed you made yourself. The first flick was hard to swallow for fan's and average movie goers in general. This time around, they made the effort to fix what they did wrong, but not act like the first flick was a complete waste. On one hand I applaude them, on the other....bah...

Overall, the Fantastic Four are so much like the comic-book Fantastic Four, the haters can just shut up and piss their pants for all I care. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben were nearly pitch perfect this time around, so much so I nearly leaked out a tear. When Reed stands up to the general with his "I'm the smartest guy in the room" speach, I turned to my girlfriend, pointed, then whispered "THAT's the Reed Richards I've been reading about since I could first hold a damn comic!" The fact that we actually saw Reed DO something with his power was almost enough for me.
Silver Surfer was also kick ass...no need to say any more there.

Doom...they did better with Doom this time around. Doom has been poorly designed in these movies from the beginning. He has no european accent, Latveria's a sidenote, and he's more playboy than scarred menace with a score to settle. I'll never be satisfied with Doom until I hear him scream "RICHARDS!!!" and proceed to wail on the good Mr. Fantastic in an all-out stretchy, zappy, sciencey battle of the super-minds. Anyway, for this movie we get the continued adventures of a playboy doomy guy who's only there to be the antagonist. Motive's are lost, the evil is weak, and all he's there for is for a flashy finalle. Maybe in 10 or so years when we get a F4 reboot, Doom won't suck.

Overall, I was satisfied with this movie. The F4 were handled perfectly this time around, the Surfer looked nice, the story wasn't half bad, and it actually felt like a real life gosh darn Fantastic 4 MOVIE, unlike the first one.

And a little note to the haters...this flick really isn't about Galactus. I have no issue's with having not seen Galactus, and neither should any of you. We do get a Galactus sillouette, so he exist's -only in a giant galactic cloud that sucks life. But, the story's not about Galactus...it's more about the Fantastic 4 truly becoming The Fantastic Four. Think of this little saga with The Silver Surfer as the catylist that forces them to mature into a true team of heroes. If Galactus floated his purple ass down to earth, it would've distracted from everything leading up to the climactic ending. We'll worry about seeing Galactus when they make the Silver Surfer movie....
I agree. As much as my inner fanboy wanted to see Galactus in all of his comicbook glory, he presents was still felt as a 'force of nature'. The rest of the movie was very enjoyable, and had some of the epic feel that you'd expect from The Fantastic Four, with some creative homor sprinkled in for good measure. Gruffudd, Alba, Evans, and Chiklis played their parts well, and While Doom was still a bit lacking, his costume looked cooler this time. The Surfer himself looks utterly amazing, and Larence Fishburn's voice fits him quite well. My only nitpick was Giuliana DePandi's appearance, but i'll let that slide since it fits with the wedding fiasco, and as always, Stan Lee give us another fun cameo.

[Silly McGooses]

$22.75 million on opening day.

[S.C.B]

Lots of fun. Not a character study, not an emotional rollercoaster, just good entertainment. Silver Surfer was a highlight, as was Johnny's subplot, well acted by Chris Evans. It was an aspect of the movie that hadn't been spoilt for me by the trailers.

And Galactus being a cloud? Didn't really bother me. Although I did see a hint of the classic helmet during the Surfer's final showdown with the planet gobbler.

All in all, I'm totally on board (sorry) for the sequel and the spin-off.

[Cortez2301]

I thought that the movie was alot better than I expected.The humour and the action were great.The plot was fairly well and I thought that the Silver Surfer was introduced in a respectful manner to the marvel movies.To be honest I wish Vin Diesel voiced himm instead of Laurence Fishbourne (Even though Laurence did a pretty good job) since his voice fits him almost perfectly (Plus Vin is a big fan of the surfer).Even though we didn't get to see Galactus (Unless you count,what looked like an image of his face in those red burning clouds before the Silver Surfer "ended" their lives) I thought it was extremely cool.Did Doom die or something? I don't know what happened after Johnny took care of him.I also loved it when Ben kept saying "Oh Crap!".I laughed so hard.Overall,I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5.

[Zam]

Geeze, now The Dark Knight is our last hope for a good superhero movie...

[Hanshotfirst113]

Geeze, now The Dark Knight is our last hope for a good superhero movie...

Man of Steel. Have faith in Singer; he crafted X2, one of the best superhero movies ever. Other than that, most franchises seem to have run their course.

[Zam]

Man of Steel. Have faith in Singer; he crafted X2, one of the best superhero movies ever. Other than that, most franchises seem to have run their course.

Yeah, sure! Let´s see Superkid in action again! *shudders*

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Yeah, sure! Let´s see Superkid in action again! *shudders*

His names Jason.


I saw today, and liked it. It was simple, action-packed, and funny.

[Fanboy Dave]

I just saw it a couple of hours ago and I liked it,could have been a wee bit better but all in all it was good.

When I go into a movie I go in with no expectations or reservations and it works out like this,if I don't come out angry or demanding a refund,then I liked it and consider it to be a good movie,plain and simple. Now as for the movie itself I was hoping for a cloudless Galactus as well,but am not suicidal over it. I was almost glad they finished the story in this installation because I was so not looking forward to waiting a year or two to pick up on a cliffhanger.

My wonder was with the city sinking at the end were they hinting at either the Mole Man or Namor as the next movie encounter or is it a meaningless line that was thrown in for the hell of it?

I gave it 4 outta 5,to me it was great but needed to be 2 hours or a tad over to really have made it solid. Now all we need is the grumpy never happy fanboys who complain about too much CGI to complain about the guy in the Silver suit. When there is CGI,they complain there's too much. When there's a real human being in a suit,they gripe that it looks cheesy,make up your minds you whiny dinks!

PS-I know nobody on this site has complained about the CGI,but you just know they're out there.

Now to wait eagerly for The Transformers.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/xXvRKOvXx/galactus.jpg

courtesy of: Tempest19 from Superherohype.com

There you have a hint of Galactus I think they are saving the big reveal for the Silver Surfer movie.

Oh and I absolutely loved this film :D

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Even better

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb284/galactacloud/ROTSSGalactus.gif

courtesy of Adwolf of superherohype.com

[launchpad25]

Even better

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb284/galactacloud/ROTSSGalactus.gif

courtesy of Adwolf of superherohype.com

Wow, that looked cool! I'm surprised i didn't pay close attention to that. I did see his shadow going across one of the planets though before the climax.

[Darklordavaitor]

Alright, just came back. Better than the first, which I found tolerable. The Surfer deserves his own movie, considering the fact that he didn't feel right in here. I'd rather of seen Namor in this one, just to see the Doom/Sub-Mariner teamup. And some acutal Galactus would of been better.

Overall, a ***1/2.

BTW, is it just me, or is Stan Lee's cameos getting more and more obvious?

[Bobbywoodhogan]

Wow, that looked cool! I'm surprised i didn't pay close attention to that. I did see his shadow going across one of the planets though before the climax.

I thought I noticed something when I was in the cinema but wasn't quite sure until I saw it.

[Hades]

Geeze, now The Dark Knight is our last hope for a good superhero movie...

What are you talking about? This year we have had Ghost Rider, FF, Spider-Man 3. Next year we get TDK, Iron Man (although I'm still cautious on this due to bad casting), and something else I can't think of right now.

[FightingDreamer]

Iron Man (although I'm still cautious on this due to bad casting)

Pardon? Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard. Gwyneth Paltrow. Jeff Bridges. How, precisely, is that bad casting?

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Pardon? Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard. Gwyneth Paltrow. Jeff Bridges. How, precisely, is that bad casting?

Not to mention Downey is a self-proclaimed Iron Man fan.

[Fanboy Dave]

with Galactus' countenance in the fire,it was hard to really spot as it happened. In fact I was really looking out for it and for the most part I saw only a couple of possible spots here and there but nothing solid. Great work on actually getting a clear shot of it cause that was probably tough to bullseye.

If you can't have the big guy in the flesh,at least a little tease is better then nothing.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

with Galactus' countenance in the fire,it was hard to really spot as it happened. In fact I was really looking out for it and for the most part I saw only a couple of possible spots here and there but nothing solid. Great work on actually getting a clear shot of it cause that was probably tough to bullseye.

If you can't have the big guy in the flesh,at least a little tease is better then nothing.

I think they are saving him for the Silver Surfer movie, I think the point of this film was Silver Surfer had to be the focal point.

[Mynd Hed]

I think this flick really benefited from my lowered expectations after having seen the first one. (-: It was what a fluff summer flick should be: short, fun, and not weighted down by pretensions. Of course there were plot holes big enough to fly Galactus' planet-eating space cloud through, and the first third or so got a little annoying with its consumer-whore dance club vibe, but it had some great action scenes and some cute character interactions. Not bad, worth my 90 minutes, but I kind wish I'd waited for a matinée showing. Three stars.

[KCJ506]

I enjoyed this much better than the first.

What I liked

-Silver Surfer was excellent. Possibly one of the coolest image I've seen in a superhero movie. While I was disappointed his character was not explored further, I think the focus on him as a threat worked quite well and he was sympathetic.

-Evans and Chilcklis were just as fun in this one as they were in the first one. Johnny's turmoil was fun if shallow and Ben and him going at it is always a joy. Their relationship is the most believable.

-The Stan Lee cameo. Best one ever.

-Johnny getting all four powers as he fought Doom.

-Doom was decently cool this time around.

-Alba was smokin hot and I thought she played Sue decently.


What I didn't like

-Running time. Too short

-Why are the military trusting someone who wants to kill the F4?

-I would have loved to see a little more feats of strength out of The Thing.

-The whole team didn't seem incredbily sad when Sue was dying. Much more emotion could have been added to this scene. When Johhny was fighting Doom he should have been furious. That was his sister. Instead he was cracking jokes and squeeling "wheee" as he used the stretching power. (Unless that's just in the ad?) It doesn't ring true. (But I admit it didn't occur to me at the time, probably because I knew of course that Sue would be fine.)


Other thoughts

-Galactus was so-so i wouldn't say "bad" but it wasn't good. I thought the storm cloud thing looked really scary, you're tellling me if you saw that in real life it wouldn't scare the hell outta you? They just better have the real deal in the SS spinoff.

-At the end, when Ben hit Doom with that wrecking ball, and knocked him into the ocean, Doom should have yelled "Curse you Richards!" while flying through the air.

[Jaguar]

It was really good. I actually was one of the few people who enjoyed the first film, probably because I was also one of the few people to have the sense to realize that you can't turn FF into some huge, dark, angsty, brooding thing of a movie like most the other films that we happen to like these days. Now that the origins and family dynamic were set in the first movie, this one just went balls to the wall with action and it really over-filled my expectations.

As for all this Galactus crap, I don't remember this being called 'Rise of Galactus Who Is Not Supposed To Be Shaped Like A Cloud Because I Said So', or 'GALACTUS: Rise of GALACTUS...and GALACTUS!'. Just a thought.

Also, *cough* better than X3.

Bring on FF3 (and that Surfer spinoff from JMS).

[90'sCartoonMan]

Much improved over the first. The Fantastic Four found their voice in this one. They didn't need to be weighed down by the burden of their powers like so many other superhero movies make their main characters. While it's true, they had their problems (Sue doubting she should marry Reed, Ben stuck as the Thing), the fact that they have each other and are a family makes things better for them. I loved the scene with Ben and Johnny in the bar, and I loved them hugging each other after the world is safe. That's what a family does.

There were some pretty funny moments (Reed Richards dancing worked a lot better than Peter Parker), and Silver Surfer looked really cool, as was Johnny as Super Skrull (complete with the rocky hands) and the Fantasticar. The Fantastic Four are one of the few comic properties that can actually have their heroes do globe-trotting and use their powers in various ways to save lives.

Not that this movie was perfect. Some of the dialogue was groan worthy. I still don't buy Jessica Alba as Sue Storm. Showing Chiklis and McMahon's faces just screamed "Hey, this is a movie and we're not going to cover our actors for the whole thing!" And also, Doom still kind of sucked. He wasn't arrogant enough...or, not arrogant in the right way. And the ending was stupid. Galactus gave Silver Surfer his power...Surfer shouldn't have been able to take him out like that. Overall, though, I liked the movie.


One thing I wonder thought why was this movie rated PG? There several scenes that look PG-13 like when Dr Doom kill the "quaterback" with the power of the Silver Surfer.

Star Wars was rated PG too, wasn't it? Must've been because all the violence was sci-fi. Plus there really wasn't any swearing.


And the best part: the Stan Lee cameo at the wedding. If I recall correctly, that's right out of the Reed and Sue wedding issue where Stan and Jack Kirby try to get into the wedding but aren't on the guest list.

Right, that was from Fantastic Four Annual #3. I loved that they put it in the movie.


Did Doom die or something? I don't know what happened after Johnny took care of him.

He's Doom, he's not just going to be knocked into the water and die. They left it open so it won't be too implausible for him to come back.


My wonder was with the city sinking at the end were they hinting at either the Mole Man or Namor as the next movie encounter or is it a meaningless line that was thrown in for the hell of it?

I was thinking Mole Man. Maybe not actually as a threat that would appear in the next movie, but it could've been a reference to him. Or Namor, that's a possibility.

[Cyporiean]

As for all this Galactus crap, I don't remember this being called 'Rise of Galactus Who Is Not Supposed To Be Shaped Like A Cloud Because I Said So', or 'GALACTUS: Rise of GALACTUS...and GALACTUS!'. Just a thought.



That and Galactus's form changes depending on who is looking at him, in 616 he is a giant man in a purple hat, in Ultimate he is a swarm of nanites, and to a group of shape changing robots he sounds like Orson Wells.

[Hanshotfirst113]

What are you talking about? This year we have had Ghost Rider, FF, Spider-Man 3.

All of which were medicore as compared to the finest comic book adaptaions of late; Spider-Man 2, X2, Batman Begins, and Superman Returns. All of them proved that you could have serious, fun, intelligent, and stylish comic book adaptations. Ghost Rider and FF were fun, but neither had the dramatic and narrative complexity or the afforemention. Spider-Man 3 was valiant effort overstuffed with way too much going on, IMESHO.

Was I the only who thought that Doom's presence was pretty much pointless? No explanation as to how he got back, once again Latveria is pretty much just a line for the fans, why is he not deformed with this makeup budget? The Surfer was an interesting idea, voiced well by Fishburn, but with five-plus other major characters to vie for screentime with, he seem underdeveloped, and what exactly did he do to Galactus (the evil cloud) at the end; not making sense to me. Singer juggled almost a dozen characters with much more skill in X-Men and X2.


That and Galactus's form changes depending on who is looking at him, in 616 he is a giant man in a purple hat, in Ultimate he is a swarm of nanites, and to a group of shape changing robots he sounds like Orson Wells.

The idea is similar, I'll grant you, but the slight on TF was not really necessary ;).


Also, *cough* better than X3.

Yeah, well, lots of things are...

[Cyporiean]

The idea is similar, I'll grant you, but the slight on TF was not really necessary ;).

Its true though, Galvatron acted as his Herald, and Transformers was a Marvel property back in the day.

[Damien]

I was expecting more from this movie.

Let's just start with Doom. With some good dialogue to justify it, there was no reason he couldn't stay in traditional Dr. Doom attire. And, I just...he was surfing. I can't get past that.
Also, where did his cloak all-of-a-sudden come from when he took the board and put back on his mask?
Finally, why was he in the movie? I love him, but come on. His dialogue with the Surfer was awful, and he had no real motive. He just wanted to be powerful, yada yada yada...he could've easily been used so much better.

Now, here's the real question: If the Surfer was able to destroy Galactus, or at least scatter him apart like he did, why didn't he just defend his homeworld in the first place?
Also, why can we see planetary footage on his stomach? And how can he bring Sue back to life, even though Doom killing her was pointless in the first place?

It was good, I guess, just...I don't know. It was cool seeing a bit of Galactus in that cloud, though.

[Terminatah]

Now, here's the real question: If the Surfer was able to destroy Galactus, or at least scatter him apart like he did, why didn't he just defend his homeworld in the first place?I think this is because he would have to suicide himself in order to kill Galactus, and that would be counterproductive to his goal of one day being with his beloved. I guess seeing Sue step in front of the spear thing gave him the courage to make the sacrifice and end all the planet-devouring BS.

As for how he's able to bring Sue back to life, the man has molecule-rearranging powers that border on Godlihood. So that wasn't too much of a stretch.

-Terminatah

[Anarky]

loved it, a definite improvement over the first (which was still fun btw)

no doubt they intend to produce a Silver Surfer origin film as a prequel to this feature.

i sincerely have absolutely no complaints w/ the film. i liked this film more than Spidey 3. can't wait for F4 III. Any chance we'll get some Skrulls?

[Kolbar]

Now, here's the real question: If the Surfer was able to destroy Galactus, or at least scatter him apart like he did, why didn't he just defend his homeworld in the first place? Because, if I recall correctly from the comics, Galactus made Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer. He was just an ordinary scientist on his planet (Zenn-La?) and only became powerful through Galactus.

[Mynd Hed]

Because, if I recall correctly from the comics, Galactus made Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer. He was just an ordinary scientist on his planet (Zenn-La?) and only became powerful through Galactus.

Although if he'd had the balls (which we can see he doesn't, since he's not wearing any Silver Shorts-- ka-zing!), he could've agreed to the whole Herald gig and then immediately turned around and offed Galactus without, y'know, allowing a good eight or ten innocent populated worlds to snuff it first.

Other plot holes:

It takes a network of Department of Defense satellites plus a super special custom-made control gadget to track the Surfer (which SS fries in an attempt to remain undetected), but then when Doom gets the surfboard, Reed just hits a button and says, "He's thataway!"

When the FF and those military goons are checking out the planets Galactus has chowed down on whilst en route to Earth, they make a big deal about how they're all "lifeless." Umm... weren't they already? Or has Reed been chatting away with E.T. since the first movie and it just never came up?

And don't get me started on Johnny's weird power-switching disease. Was that something the Surfer did to him? Why? Or does he usually, in a fight, choke his opponent, yank him into the stratosphere, and then give him some weird power-swapping bug as a lovely parting gift before letting him drop?
And then it changes from some weird power-SWAPPING bug into apparently some weird power-ABSORBING bug that lets him steal the powers of anyone he touches without giving up his own... why? And then it mysteriously vanishes. Sure, that makes sense.

Mildly Amusing Side Note: Did anyone else get a very strong Star Trek vibe when Reed busts out that old standby, tachyons, to separate the Surfer from his board? I half expected him to explain that he could reconfigure the main deflector dish to do the dirty work. (-:

[LazyReaper]

Just came back from watching this and I really liked it. Anyone who complained about there not being enough action in the first movie got their wish come true here. We were able to jump right into the story without having to cover who everyone was. Also, each of the characters got an equal amount of screen time to develop here as well.

Plots I liked for the Characters:

-Human Torch bearing more of a responsibility towards his team and powers. You didn't really get to see this in the last movie unless you watched the extended edition, but I'm happy to see that this character got some growth past being just the one-liner amateur kid of the group

-Reed Richards owning up to be the leader of the group, and being focused more as one of the most brilliant men in the world. The best (non-action) part out of the entire movie was definitely when Reed told off that arrogant officer. It was also nice to see that he still had that nerdish element to him, especially in the bachelor scene, all the while trying to keep a healthy relationship with Susan.

-Sue Storm was great here as well. I don't know why everyone talks down to Alba's acting. Yeah, she's hot, and looks the part here, but besides that I didn't think she did a bad job of playing the part. They certainly could've gotten someone worse. I liked that they focused on her dealing with the FF and her relationship with Reed being on the media 24/7, and also coming to realize where they stand as 'normal people' and with their responsibilities.

-Ben Grimm was very likeable here once again. You can notice right away of how far his character has developed from the last film. He's comfortable with himself and of his relationships with the FF and Alicia. I felt that they really portrayed him well here as a stand point from the last film. He's no dummy, he's a pilot and knows the stuff to be where he once stood. He's aggressive and kicks ass, but he's still a softie, and I like that they showed him with compassion towards Alicia, Johnny, and the whole world crisis in general.

-Dr. Doom was waste of a character here imo. He really wasn't needed at all aside from letting the FF know of Silver Surfer's power. I don't know why the government let him walk around and grant him to do experiments on a weapon that could blow up their planet. He would've been better off as just re-introducing himself in this movie to come back in the third movie as a villan with a more clear motive.

-Silver Surfer was great in this movie. I have to admit that I don't read many comics about the Silver Surfer and Galactus, and I don't know much aside from the basic plot of Galactus devouring planets to consume energy and Silver Surfer being his herald. I thought they did a pretty good job on the character though, and the effects were great. Once I saw Galactus as a cloud, I knew many fans would be whining right away, but I don't think what they did to Galactus here was a bad thing, and I think this way translates much better in a movie format without completely alienating any regular viewer. Also, as far as the cloud thing goes, it looked as if Galactus was in there and was just using the storm to hide his presence. I know I saw a bit of his helmet the first time we saw the surfer, so it may be that they're saving his full look for the people making Silver Surfer's movie.

Aside from that, I thought that the movie was overall pretty well done. I was one of the few people that liked the first movie, and I thought that this movie was definitely a step up. There was plenty of action, humor, and character development. The only thing I think really brought the movie down was the ending of the Surfer taking out Galactus. It just seemed a little too easy after everything they had gone through, but otherwise the movie was great. As far as sequels go this year, I enjoyed it more that Spider-Man 3, so I'll probably go see it again before it's out of theaters.


It takes a network of Department of Defense satellites plus a super special custom-made control gadget to track the Surfer (which SS fries in an attempt to remain undetected), but then when Doom gets the surfboard, Reed just hits a button and says, "He's thataway!"
I'm pretty sure Reed was able to detect Doom because of the device that Doom had strapped on to his wrist for absorbing the silver surfer's power. I could be wrong, but that's what I thought was happening.


And don't get me started on Johnny's weird power-switching disease. Was that something the Surfer did to him? Why? Or does he usually, in a fight, choke his opponent, yank him into the stratosphere, and then give him some weird power-swapping bug as a lovely parting gift before letting him drop?
And then it changes from some weird power-SWAPPING bug into apparently some weird power-ABSORBING bug that lets him steal the powers of anyone he touches without giving up his own... why? And then it mysteriously vanishes. Sure, that makes sense.

Again, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the power swapping thing was a side effect from being touched by the surfer. Didn't Reed say that both the surfer and cosmic cloud that gave them their powers have the same type of radiation or something? It's comic book logic, but I didn't think it was completely out there. Also, I think the absorbing powers went away once Johnny touched the Surfer again in the end to help boost him up to Galactus.


-Aximlli-

[Hanshotfirst113]

Its true though, Galvatron acted as his Herald, and Transformers was a Marvel property back in the day.

Touche. You came. You saw. You kicked my ass :D.


Dr. Doom was waste of a character here imo. He really wasn't needed at all aside from letting the FF know of Silver Surfer's power. I don't know why the government let him walk around and grant him to do experiments on a weapon that could blow up their planet. He would've been better off as just re-introducing himself in this movie to come back in the third movie as a villan with a more clear motive.

Agreed. Doom didn't really get to do that much until he got the surfboard, which was sort of...stupid looking. Multiple villians are always tricky, and think that his presence simply distracted from the main storyline with the Surfer and Galactus, who sort of acted more as a presence than anything else.


It takes a network of Department of Defense satellites plus a super special custom-made control gadget to track the Surfer (which SS fries in an attempt to remain undetected), but then when Doom gets the surfboard, Reed just hits a button and says, "He's thataway!"

That, and, um, was I the only one who found the Fantasticar kind of cheesy? Granted, I suppose that in the context of the whole movie, it was less so.


And don't get me started on Johnny's weird power-switching disease. Was that something the Surfer did to him? Why? Or does he usually, in a fight, choke his opponent, yank him into the stratosphere, and then give him some weird power-swapping bug as a lovely parting gift before letting him drop?

What bugged me was the fact that once he was in the stratosphere as far as it was show, he was in SPACE, and therefore would be dead.


And then it changes from some weird power-SWAPPING bug into apparently some weird power-ABSORBING bug that lets him steal the powers of anyone he touches without giving up his own... why? And then it mysteriously vanishes. Sure, that makes sense.

You know, that's a good point. You're right; it makes no sense for him to suddenly absorb powers instead of swapping them. My suspension of disbelief has limits.


Mildly Amusing Side Note: Did anyone else get a very strong Star Trek vibe when Reed busts out that old standby, tachyons, to separate the Surfer from his board? I half expected him to explain that he could reconfigure the main deflector dish to do the dirty work. (-:

I thought that I was the only one who noticed! What the real flag was to me was the use of TACHYON, an old Star Trek standby.

[Knight]

Enjoyable while not nearly as likable as Spiderman 3 to me. I was mostly disappointed by the appearance of Galactus as nothing more than a cloud. Other than that the characters were great and Jessica Alba’s Sue Storm has to be the sexist superhero female in a movie by far. I was often distracted by how good she looks. Im going to giove the movie a 3.

[WSJ3]

Obviously the biggest problem was the Galactus cloud. Apparently, a gigantic humanoid with a big red headpiece that eats planets with the Elemental Converter isn't realistic enough for this movie, but a silver guy on a surfboard, a guy that controls electricity (Dr. Doom in the movie), and the rest of the FF are realistic enough.

And the best part: the Stan Lee cameo at the wedding. If I recall correctly, that's right out of the Reed and Sue wedding issue where Stan and Jack Kirby try to get into the wedding but aren't on the guest list.

I have to agree that the Galactus swarm/cloud wasn't what I wanted to see but honestly I doubt that the producers were going to put a guy in a big purple helmet on the screen.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h265/SammySosa42/galactus3.jpg
I give this movie a 5/5. Doom stealing the Surfers powers and beating the FF was my nerdgasm for the weekend.

L. Fishburne voiceover work was great. I just wish the Surfer had more screen time.

[Cool Blue]

I thought this movie was really enjoyble and better than the first. What I really enjoyed was the feeling this movie gave off and how much more 'fun' it is compared to other comic book movies like Batman, X2, Spider-Man, and Superman Returns. Although i like all of the above more than this, this was kind of a break from the same tone that I feel all the others share.

[Bobbywoodhogan]

I thought this movie was really enjoyble and better than the first. What I really enjoyed was the feeling this movie gave off and how much more 'fun' it is compared to other comic book movies like Batman, X2, Spider-Man, and Superman Returns. Although i like all of the above more than this, this was kind of a break from the same tone that I feel all the others share.

exactly thats what I liked about it, good post.

I really like Ghost Rider too, I feel this is similar in a way that it just trys to be fun.

[Hanshotfirst113]

exactly thats what I liked about it, good post.

I really like Ghost Rider too, I feel this is similar in a way that it just trys to be fun.


I thought this movie was really enjoyble and better than the first. What I really enjoyed was the feeling this movie gave off and how much more 'fun' it is compared to other comic book movies like Batman, X2, Spider-Man, and Superman Returns. Although i like all of the above more than this, this was kind of a break from the same tone that I feel all the others share.

Y'know, I have a friend who said the same thing. Personally, I don't feel that way; I found films like X2, Spider-Man 2, Batman Begins, and Superman Returns to far more dramatically compelling, and better piece of filmmaking as a result. Similarly, I find Dick Tracy, The Phantom, and Men in Black far more fun in their willingness to embrace their pulpy tone. Still, I think that his and you enjoyment of the FF films comes largely from the fact that they are willing to embrace the cliches; I mean, they are pretty true to Lee and Kirby's original work; the very reason I dislike it is probably why so many people do. And Lee's cameo was fun this time.

[Michael24]

Saw it last night. The first movie I would give maybe about a 1.5/5. This one I would give a 4/5. Definite improvement. I'd say my only complaint was really just (again) the lack of Dr. Doom in full costume. Sure, it would have been cool to see the real Galactus instead of a cloud, but I think for what it was, Cloud Galactus certainly worked in the film and looked like a true threat. And though Jessica Alba continues to show that she's a truely bland actress with absolutely no charisma, the performances of the rest of the FF made up for it. I really like Ioan Gruffudd as Reed. I was kind of surprised the film was just PG after seeing Dr. Doom's escape from the lab (one death in particular I'm talking about). I think it stunned just about the entire audience, and my friend and I both went "Woah!" at the same time.

Basically, this movie was the complete opposite of Spider-Man 3: short, too the point, and--most importantly--fun.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, and Silver Surfer looked awesome! :D

[90'sCartoonMan]

Now, here's the real question: If the Surfer was able to destroy Galactus, or at least scatter him apart like he did, why didn't he just defend his homeworld in the first place?
Also, why can we see planetary footage on his stomach?

Because the Silver Surfer is cosmic. Surely a feat a mere Teletubbie can do is nothing to the Silver Surfer.


Although if he'd had the balls (which we can see he doesn't, since he's not wearing any Silver Shorts-- ka-zing!), he could've agreed to the whole Herald gig and then immediately turned around and offed Galactus without, y'know, allowing a good eight or ten innocent populated worlds to snuff it first.

He had no reason to believe Galactus gave him enough power to do that. In fact, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that Silver Surfer can take out Galactus the way he did.


That, and, um, was I the only one who found the Fantasticar kind of cheesy? Granted, I suppose that in the context of the whole movie, it was less so.

The only cheesy bit of that was the Hemi part.

[Zuric]

I don't understand why everyone wants to have seen mister blue and purple spandex on screen of a live action movie.
A) That would look a little weird.
B) The only sensible way for that to work would involve his planet destroying abilities be having the planet's inhabitants laugh themselves to death.
Which among you would seriously be scared of a Giant the blue and purple spadex/armor with that ridiculous headpiece?

[Silly McGooses]

I'd be pissing myself I'd be so scared. Not even joking.

[Anarky]

I don't understand why everyone wants to have seen mister blue and purple spandex on screen of a live action movie.
A) That would look a little weird.
B) The only sensible way for that to work would involve his planet destroying abilities be having the planet's inhabitants laugh themselves to death.
Which among you would seriously be scared of a Giant the blue and purple spadex/armor with that ridiculous headpiece?

agreed, F4 requires some suspense of belief however a giant humanoid afloat in space devouring worlds would test even the most ardent filmgoer. The cloud vortex was the right direction.

know to answer a few Qs

Reed's studies found that the cosmic energy emitted by the Surfer was not unlike the cosmic radiation that altered the Four and Doom, hence when he attacked Johnny and Doom the radiation caused some rather entertaining side effects.

as for the Surfer "killing" Galactus, no such luck. Galactus is a cosmic force. I believe the Surfer merely scattered him across the universe. In time he will reconstitute himself and resume consuming planets.

as for how did Reed find Doom so quickly: I'd have to watch the film a 2nd time but here's a guess. I believe Reed had found a means to track the board therefore he was able to locate Doom. The board was the beacon after all.

[Hanshotfirst113]

I don't understand why everyone wants to have seen mister blue and purple spandex on screen of a live action movie.
A) That would look a little weird.
B) The only sensible way for that to work would involve his planet destroying abilities be having the planet's inhabitants laugh themselves to death.
Which among you would seriously be scared of a Giant the blue and purple spadex/armor with that ridiculous headpiece?

Valid, valid. The idea of portraying Galactus as a sort of presence is interesting, I just can't help but feel that it could have been done differently.


And though Jessica Alba continues to show that she's a truely bland actress with absolutely no charisma, the performances of the rest of the FF made up for it.

Apart from being pretty, she's just sort of...there.


Basically, this movie was the complete opposite of Spider-Man 3: short, too the point, and--most importantly--fun.

Whereas Spider-Man 3 aspired to something...and wound being sort of pretentious and self-important.

[Conekiller]

as for how did Reed find Doom so quickly: I'd have to watch the film a 2nd time but here's a guess. I believe Reed had found a means to track the board therefore he was able to locate Doom. The board was the beacon after all.

Perhaps Doom simply didn't know how to track down what was tracking him and stop it.

Maybe he LET Richards find him so he could put a cosmic whuppin on his stretchy butt.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Now that WAS fantastic. Far more so than the first movie which I honestly found dull and dissapointing and I'm not even a FF fan so to speak.

Galactus was a bit of a let down. I would have liked to at least see more of a face on the inside of it but oh well... it's a minor complaint.

So that's what it would look like to combine all the FF powers completely and not semi-completely like the Super Skrull (various body parts use various powers IIRC). It looked freak'n awesome. And having one being with all those powers might have been a more effective hero in some ways. Though they'd never do it, I must admit the idea of Johnny doing that from then on and everyone else going back to semi-normal lives would have been an interesting twist.

You'd think that you'd see more rock in the power but then again the elastic power would negate the texture I suppose.

There were only a few curses (very minor ones) so I guess that's why it managed a PG but man some of those jokes seemed a bit much for PG. They'd go over kid's heads but still... "killed by a rock slide" jeez... Though Johnny it'd be better than being killed by burning intercourse now wouldn't it?

Nice cameo for Frankie. I hope we see her again.

Doom was a lot more interesting in this one but his plans were still rather petty. I suppose we can expect much like Green Goblin in Spider-Man movies we'll see Doom at least once in a possible 3rd FF movie.

Doom + Silver Surfer powers = AWESOME

I'd theorize that his contact with Johnny's extreme heat will meld that new armor onto his skin. A shame if that is the case because it was interesting to have him look normal again but use powerful armor like comic book Doctor Doom did.

The whole group was very entertaining in this one. Reed loosening up and then showing he's got a backbone was especially nice to see. Johnny having the dilema of being alone was also a nice bit of character development that really helped him grow despite that jerky move he pulled at the end. Ben got a lot of focus in the first so it was nice to see him have less serious issues and be able to enjoy himself while also adding more entertainment value. Sue was about the same... but that isn't a bad thing.

Speaking of Sue. It's so painfully obvious they tried to use make-up to make Jessica Alba look more white. And that really didn't work but eh... can't blame them for trying.

Anyway it was a great flick so if you haven't yet... go see it.

[Spider-Man]

First off this movie was definately better than the first one. I didn't even mind the 90 minute running time. It seemed to fit the movie just fine I think. Secondly I thought this movie was just alot of fun through and through. Yeah it wasn't perfect and had a couple problems (namely Jessica Alba) but this was a fun movie. Add in The Silver Surfer and it was a blast and a half. Yes Galactus wasn't the same as his four-color counterpart but so what? Not everything can be directly translated to film perfectly. I thought they did a great job and came up with a real fun movie. Far from perfect but one I will definately check out on DVD.

[FightingDreamer]

Considering that my expectations for this were about as low as you can imagine, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie.

Pros

Save for Doom, the acting is much improved from all parties involved, especially Ioan Gruffudd's Mr. Fantastic and Jessica Alba's Sue.
The Silver Surfer is AWESOME. Props to WETA for the awesome effects.
I want the Fantasticar so badly.
Action scenes improved. The various smackdowns were well directed and exciting, unlike the first film's dreadful action.Cons

Doom still stinks. Julian McMahon is far too laid-back and boring as the kind of villain who needs to be over-the-top and cartoony.
While Galactus's cloud form worked better than I thought it would, I was disappointed to not hear any kind of voice. A simple "I AM GALACTUS, DEVOURER OF WORLDS!" would have sufficed.
The aforementioned plot holes. Seriously, how did Johnny survive being in space TWICE?Overall, I'd give it *** out of ****.

[ifthismeansevos]

I think I like it...
I mean I also liked the first one and thisa one was fun maybe a little over the top but it was fun stuff.
I liked Spidey 3 better but hey I can't even explain why.
Now I actually liked Doom better this time and at the end it was so cool and he's obviously not dead again. That's somethin Raimy should learn.
Now I really wanted some kind of physic Galactus I hope we see it in SS.
Because no freakin way that cloud was Galactus...Oh and I'd really get scared if a supergiant purple guy was walkin in the street.
And...Mmm the only thing I really really dislike are the stupid action figures so darned small!

[JustJack]

And...Mmm the only thing I really really dislike are the stupid action figures so darned small!

Yeah, if you have any of the movie figures from the first film, the new Hasbro line really brings nothing to the table. With the exception of a "piss-poor" flameless Johnny figure, there are no new character or new designs in any of the ff2 figures.

The only thing worth getting in the entire toy line is the Fantasticar. BTW, has anyone picked up the Fantasticar, yet? I've been looking at it whenever I go to the store, and I have a good feeling I'll be able to fit my 6" Toy Biz figures in there, without making them look awkward. Can anyone confirm this for me?

[DarthGonzo]

Yeah, if you have any of the movie figures from the first film, the new Hasbro line really brings nothing to the table. With the exception of a "piss-poor" flameless Johnny figure, there are no new character or new designs in any of the ff2 figures.


There's a Silver Surfer, but it's badly shortpacked.

[JustJack]

There's a Silver Surfer, but it's badly shortpacked.

yes, but if you already have a Marvel Legends SS from a couple years ago...that one works just fine, if not better. Also, Hasbro re-released said figure in the 6" scale.

Once again...there is absolutely no reason to buy these toy's. Until they make a Doctor Doom in his FF2 suit, or "Skrull" Johnny...this toy line brings nothing new to the table.

[Gokou Ruri]

I hope there's a third movie, and I think out of all the Fantastic Four characters, the third movie should center around Namor, and it could tie into the second one's ending

Doom got knocked into the ocean in the second movie, and is found/saved by Namor and his Atlantian people. Doom manages to persuade/trick Namor and his followers that the Fantastic Four want to destroy their kingdom and proposes that they go to war against the surface world. Throw in some Sue/Namor stuff like in the comics and I'd think it'd make a nice plot.

[DBZALLSTAR]

I hope there's a third movie, and I think out of all the Fantastic Four characters, the third movie should center around Namor, and it could tie into the second one's ending

Doom got knocked into the ocean in the second movie, and is found/saved by Namor and his Atlantian people. Doom manages to persuade/trick Namor and his followers that the Fantastic Four want to destroy their kingdom and proposes that they go to war against the surface world. Throw in some Sue/Namor stuff like in the comics and I'd think it'd make a nice plot.

This is exaclty what I was thinking after seeing the film today. An Atlantis Attacks plot would be great for the next movie, and it would set up the Namor film.

I liked the movie, even if I was disappointed that Galactus wasn't shown in his purple pants suit man glory.:D I agree that Marvel is probably saving that for the Silver Surfer solo flick. After seeing how great this film was, I wouldn't mind seeing an Annihilation movie years down the road from now.

[Silly McGooses]

Unfortunately, the rights to Namor are somebody else's...can't remember who.

Or maybe fortunately, since it'll probably handled better than these films.

[mookie75]

I finally got around to seeing this tonight.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. In fact, I enjoyed it much more than Spidey 3 and I was really hoping for sheer entertainment from Spidey this summer. I'm thinking that a third FF movie has a better chance of breaking the curse of the Marvel 3s that we've seen in the past. The reason? Because there wasn't some humongous buildup at the end that hinted toward the events of the third movie. I remember watching the end of X2 and thinking, "The Phoenix is coming! This will be awesome!" Seeing that firebird image on the water just stirred up excitement in me. Well, we all know how that turned out. X3 was ok as a movie, but it didn't live up to what I was hoping for. The same goes for the Spidey movies. The scene with Harry discovering the Goblin's lair at the end of Spider-Man 2 filled me with the same kind of excitement that I got from the firebird, and between that and the insinuation that Peter and MJ were heading toward happier times, I left the theater expecting an awesome conclusion to the trilogy. It's a shame Venom had to show up and screw with that (among other things that messed with Spidey 3).

Anyway, getting back to FF2...

The cloud Galactus worked for me. In fact, the shot of the cloud dwarfing Earth was far more menacing than the humanoid Galactus could have been (imo). Besides, the hints of the big guy's humanoid form were so obvious at the end, and I appreciate that as a "nod" on the behalf of the filmakers to the Galactus of the comics. I've read a number of comics that have Galactus in them, and on some level I'd like to see that on the big screen too, but this method worked as well. I've always been a little skeptical as to how the non-comic reading crowd would react to the Galactus of the comics anyway. I can almost imagine a few people laughing outloud at the mere concept of it. :shrug:

The FF team dynamic was more polished this time around. On the way home from the theater, I was thinking about their display of teamwork during the events in London. That seemed like a classic FF moment ripped straight from the comics to me. It makes me realize that the X-Men movies never did quite as well in doing the whole "team thing." They talked about it, but when it came down to the action it usually became the Wolverine and Storm show for the most part. And I say that with regret because I'm a long time X-Men fan....

Did we have any mention of Latveria in the first movie? I honestly don't remember, but it was nice to see it briefly in the sequel. Doom really didn't get a whole lot of time to "be Doom" in this movie, but he seemed fine when he was playing the part. Granted, he's still not the Doom of the comics, but hey, this is the movies and not the comics.

Finally, I enjoyed the Surfer and his cool Morpheus voice. :anime: I still wonder how well a solo Surfer movie will do, but I guess we'll find out (if it indeed gets made someday). They clearly left the door open since, if the Surfer lived through the events at the end of the movie, then I see no reason not to believe that the big G-Man did as well.

All in all, I give it 5 stars. Very enjoyable.

[The Weed Of Cri]

It took me two weeks before I finally got a chance to see this, but it was worth the wait. Not perfect, but a lot of fun. The movie captures the feel of Stan Lee's original concept of the FF as a dysfunctional family of superheroes. They fight like cats and dogs among themselves, but when the chips are down, they pull together. The Surfer was done to perfection, and the small lapses in internal logic that are present in just about every superhero film are less distracting than usual.

I know a lot of people have problems with the way Galactus was portrayed, and I want to address that. As a comic fan, and an FF fan, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say something that will be considered heresy in some circles:

Galactus sucks!

As much respect as I have for the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Galactus is arguably the worst thing they have ever created. A giant guy in a purple helmet who eats planets (but doesn't actually "eat" them), so cosmically powerful that nothing can stop him, thereby damning comic writers to 40+ years of one-shot deus ex machinae and lame rationalizations for why Galactus hasn't killed us all. And the over-formality of the character just reeked to high heaven. Lee was a great writer when his characters spoke with the common man's voice (Spider-Man, Ben Grimm), but he had a tendency to go overboard with the pomposity on some characters (The Sub-Mariner was another example of this.), until it came across as a bad Shakespeare parody. And what was the deal with the helmet, anyway? Galactus was indestructible! From what, exactly, did he need to protect his head? (Low ceilings, maybe?)

So I say, the less Galactus, the better. Focus on the characters who actually have a story to tell, like the Surfer.

[Magmafire2374]

I felt like it was a good follow up from the first movie. It felt like a good conclusion to a previous story but not a good stand alone film.

I felt like we should have seen something about Galactus (maybe evil eyes in the sky or something crazy) rather than a big dust cloud engulfing the world ('cause that didn't do it for me).

[kaine23]

I was actually hoping Galactus' attack would end the 2nd movie and lead right into the 3rd. Decent movie, too many comedic parts. Stan Lee's cameo was hilarious though.

[Movie06]

It is slight better than the first film. But it needed work. Especially Dr. Doom himself actor-wise. I think Adrew Divoff would've been great. Same with Sue Storm, she's hot but not so much of a good actress. Maybe Alyson Kiperman would've been more sutible.

[Arkaron]

Wow, I'm stunned. Not by the movie (haha), but by the number of people who liked that so-called film.

First of all, I enjoyed FF 1, even if it was far from being great. That was fun and entertaining. The FX were okay, the actors were "meh", the story not very interesting, but the humor and the action worked.

Now, IMO, FF 2 was awful.

Pros:
-FX
-Stan Lee

Cons:
-everything else: the actors are damn bad, I've never seen it in my entire life. It's like they just want to get their check and that's it. Mr "Fantastic" has no personality, Jessica Alba is no actress, and the guy that impersonates Human Torch is just a punk. He is good at jokes, but man, there are way too many useless teenager jokes. What is that? A comedy? Oh yeah, that must be it, I laughed at that film from the first scene.

And what about the story? Oh yeah, nothing happens, there's no action, there's no tension. I was bored. The characters are not interesting, even if they tried to make them interesting. Everything seemed to be forced, not natural.

Sorry, but it never felt like I was watching a FF movie. Nothing remains from the comics I like.

For me, one of the worst super hero film. I'm going back to X-Men 2, Batman Begins and Iron Man, real super hero movies, with real stories, real actors and real characters.

[LazyReaper]

And what about the story? Oh yeah, nothing happens, there's no action, there's no tension. I was bored.
Are you sure you just didn't forget to turn on the TV?


-Aximlli-

[Arkaron]

My point is that the story is way too simple and predictible. It could be written on one single page. We can guess how the film will end.

I admit some movies don't need any awesome plot twist, but at least, they need a good story. We could say there is a story in FF2, but even the 90 minutes are not needed. It could have been a 60-70 minutes DTV.

[Michael24]

I thought Rise of the Silver Surfer was a perfect popcorn flick. Like I said in my review of it elsewhere in this thread, it was short, simple, and too-the-point, and I liked that. I'm disappointed that things aren't moving yet on a third film and the studio is instead concentrating on a Silver Surfer movie. That's fine, but I think they should continue with FF and make a third.

[FightingDreamer]

My initial, mostly positive opinion is probably in this thread somewhere, but here's my revised, middling opinion:
Pros
-Overall, the movie is better than the first one, which was one of the only movies I found myself fast-forwarding through boring parts. I never do that, ever, but Fantastic Four was boring enough to justify it. Rise of the Silver Surfer has better pacing, mostly better acting, and better action sequences.
-Michael Chiklis (The Thing) and Chris Evans (The Human Torch) remain dead-on in their portrayals.
-While Ioan Gruffudd is a very likeable actor, he seemed kind of bored in the first Fantastic Four. That is remedied here, although the dance scene sucks.
-The Silver Surfer is awesomely realized by WETA, Doug Jones, and Laurence Fishburne. As a result, he gets the best action scenes in the film, although most of these were pretty much spoiled in the trailers.
-Galactus' "cloud form" is pretty imposing and certainly ominous enough, and the CGI effects involving it are pretty cool.

Cons
-Dr. Doom still sucks. I'm sorry, he just does. Julian McMahon does not lend himself to bad-guy posturing and munching on the scenery, offering a wooden portrayal of one of the most influential comic book villains ever devised. I remain disappointed in the lack of Doom referring to himself in the third-person (y'know, stuff like, "You are helpless before the power of DOOM!" or "DOOM bows to no man!" That's just fun). You need a British scene-chewer along the lines of Alan Rickman, Tim Roth, Gary Oldman or, hell, Jeremy Irons (though he seems to have bad luck with fantasy/sci-fi lately), not a GQ cover model.
-Oh, Jessica Alba. Such a lovely woman, such a terrible actress. I hate Sue Storm in this thanks to her, although the writing doesn't help. Seriously, who walks in on a guy in the middle of his (impromptu) bachelor party? Way to kill the fun, ma'am.

Overall, it's a marked improvement over the first film, but they need to get their act together for the third one (if there is one).

[RonDrakenfan17]

I know I'm really late and all but I just watched the thing on DVD and did enjoy it...Jonnys my fav character in the entire movie, you feel sorry for him and at the same time he's soo funny and I love when he kicks butt and flys around the world to chase after the Silver Surffer. Ask for why he's in space and can surrvive, well maybe when hes on fire he can breath in space???

[dmxx116]

Tim Story kill this movie he don't know jack about The Four.

[TMC1982]

Tim Story kill this movie he don't know jack about The Four.

I thought that the 1970s animated series with HERBIE the robot subbing for Johnny Storm and the first season of the 1990s animated series were bad enough. I hope to God that Marvel Comics gets the rights back and produces the next Fantastic Four movie by themselves (a la the Iron Man movie and the new Hulk movie that hopes to fix the 2003 fiasco from Ang Lee).

The Fantastic Four is more than a campy, sitcom-ish, romantic comedy disguised as a superhero film. Tim Story, quite frankly isn't a very good action and sci-fi director. I want a film containing epic, "Star Wars" kind of qualities like the Fantastic Four mythos to be more than simply a 90 minute kiddie film.

When I come to see a Fantastic Four movie, I want to see a Doctor Doom who's genuinely meanacing and mysterious, as opposed to the game show host, Lex Luthor, tycoon flake we got in the movies. I also want Reed Richards to exhibit more confidence (as if he has a chip on his shoulder) as a leader. I want Galactus to be more than purely a gigantic fart cloud with zero personality. I want the actress portraying Sue Storm to actually be a good actress and more maternal, and not just a sexbot in blue contact lenses and a bad blonde doll wig. Only Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm seemed to be remotely accurate.

[Harvey Two Face]

I like the part where Von Doom gets pwnd! by the surfer.

[Spideyzilla]

This movie was okay. Galactus was butchered. I won't even say anything that hasn't already been said. They nailed the Silver Surfer, I thought. Sue was annoying. Reed was completely out of character. That dancing? Come on. Johnny was more mature, which I liked. Ben was okay. 3 Stars, mainly for the Surfer.

[dmxx116]

This is what Tim Story said on DVD why he made Galactus a stupid cloud: In the planned Silver Surfer,we wanted those filmmakers,whoever they wind to be to design Galactas their way.

[Gold Guy]

I actuallt prefered the first film. This one felt...silly, I guess. The whole switching powers thing was random and Doom was maybe even worse than last time. Silver Surfer wasn't that good here, and Galactus, well, was just awful. He didn't even really appear.

[kid rabbit]

I just notice at the end they set up Namor for the third one
Reed said a city was sinking