Two is lucky number for Fantastic Four

By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter INQUIRER.net THE FIRST "Fantastic Four" film was a good popcorn movie but not as well-made as other Marvel-based movies such as "Spider-Man" and "X-Men," despite doing well in the tills. But the Fantastic 4 sequel is something of a surprise, particularly the storyline that stuck close to the material, except for a few changes in characterization. Simply put, the second F4 movie is one of the few sequels that have surpassed expectations. One of the more difficult parts in doing a sequel is merging separate plots into a cohesive storyline and in the case of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," there was lower expectation about the narrative due to the largely bad reviews from the first film. Fanboys of the comic book did not like the overly simplistic characterization of the heroes and even ordinary moviegoers only saw a regular action flick with the sultry Jessica Alba as the cherry on top. The first F4 flick suffered somewhat a "lechon manok" effect amid Hollywood studios taking Marvel comics licenses to turn them into money-making movies. Not surprisingly, F4 was overshadowed by the successes of the Spider-Man and X-Men movies, as well as minor success of the first Hulk film (with the exception of the badly mangled Punisher film). In "F4: Rise of the Silver Surfer," there are two distinct stories, namely the wedding of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Susan Storm (Invisible Girl), as well as the appearance of the cosmic being known as the Silver Surfer. The Richards-Storm wedding is notable in the story arc of both the comic book series as well as the movie as it depicts the complexities of settling down amidst a media circus as well as their responsibilities to society. Meanwhile, Silver Surfer is well chosen to play the part of the mysterious planetary antagonist, his mission initially being obscure to movie viewers until the end. But it is the Silver Surfer plot thread that is the highlight of the film and all throughout, the Silver Surfer appears to be the villain. Not even the return of the F4's perennial enemy, Victor Von Doom (from the first film) could undermine the mysterious mission of Silver Surfer. From the time he arrives on the planet, the cosmic being has affected the natural balance of the places that he passes by. He flies faster than Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), can go through solid objects without destroying them, is virtually indestructible against human weapons and can travel from outer space and back to earth with ease. The idea of an ultimate being as embodied by the Silver Surfer is easy enough to understand unlike "regular" super heroes whose powers have to be explained. This makes it easier for the movie writers and producers to chuck in Silver Surfer to save time to explain his origins and focus more on what he really means to do to the planet, which is to serve Galactus as his herald in seeking out planets for the cosmic entity to consume. The F4 sequel also stuck with some of the original portrayal of the F4 superheroes and the acting has been fine-tuned to prevent the same inane characterization of the cast. Reed Richards (played by Ioan Gruffudd) talks and acts like the comic book character he is portraying, while the Thing/Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) and Human Torch (Chris Evans) have become more humorous than they were in the first film with their constant verbal tussles. Jessica Alba's portrayal of a sensitive but hot-looking Sue Richards is something that fanboys would still have to learn to appreciate. But the best non-canonical portrayal of a comic book character must be the world devourer Galactus, who is shown only at the last part of the film and is nothing more than a huge but mute dark cloud that can cover five planets. Again, fanboys will definitely not agree with the directors (and with me) in the portrayal of Galactus who is shown as a huge humanoid in the comic books but there are advantages to using an antagonist without any dialogue or a physical body. That is to allow the enigmatic Silver Surfer to explain himself who Galactus is and to make viewers more curious as to what Galactus would look like. Being a cosmic being, Galactus can take any form he wants -- in this case, a huge galactic cloud. Also, Marvel comic book enthusiasts would know that Galactus can never be destroyed (he is, after all, an essential element in the creation of the universe in the Marvel comic book context) but the F4 sequel would have the Silver Surfer using all his cosmic energies to turn Galactus inside out. Criticism by fanboys aside, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is a surprise hit that most viewers and marginal comic book fans would appreciate and enjoy due to the superhero theme, the elements of hilarity among the characters, and the visual effects.