Fantastic Four: Fall of a Franchise Opportunity

It’s hard to judge 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on its own merits. All too often comic-book movies get lumped together and compared against each other, whether it’s Marvel versus DC, adaptations faithful to the source material versus ones that aren’t, or how this actor measures up against all other versions of the character than have come before.  Given this tendency to associate every comic-book movie with every other comic-book movie, it’s hard to evaluate something like Silver Surfer objectively. For better or for worse, this sequel to 2005’s Fantastic Four will be forever judged against all other movies based on Marvel comics. Never mind that it was developed by 20th Century Fox and not Marvel itself. It’s a comic-book movie; aren’t they all the same?

Hardly, but I understand the desire to judge these movies accordingly. As I watched Silver Surfer, I couldn’t stop comparing it to other movies. In Chris Evans’ Human Torch, I saw the early vestiges of his recent comic-book turns in Captain America and Scott Pilgrim. I scrutinized the film’s CGI: would it stand the test of time, or look as hokey as some of the shots from Spider-Man 2 did on a recent rewatch? “Why,” I asked myself, “couldn’t Sue Storm’s character have been as three-dimensional as Black Widow’s in The Avengers?”

This? Not okay.

On its own merits, the movie itself is not that bad. A little slow in places? Sure. A bit silly? Yup. Racially problematic? Only once. (I’m thinking of Sue Storm’s kimono-style wedding dress at the end of the movie, which comes out of nowhere. Sue Storm isn’t Japanese. Jessica Alba isn’t Japanese. So why the yellowface?) But unlike other superhero sequels, Silver Surfer isn’t bogged down with too many new characters or plot lines. While the thematic elements don’t feel particularly original (villains becoming allies, key characters suffering from relationship issues, accepting who you are), neither are they so convoluted I can’t keep up. The Silver Surfer (voiced by not Samuel L. Jackson) was a badass, and I would have enjoyed seeing him in future sequels.

Unfortunately for Silver Surfer, its release came at the end of the scraping of the creative Marvel well that was 2006-7. The two other Marvel sequels released around that time—X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3 (released by Fox and Sony respectively), were so mediocre that both franchises were rebooted soon afterward. (The only Marvel movie to escape the Great Marvel Creative Collapse of 2006/7 and get a sequel instead of a reboot was Ghost Rider; credit to Nicholas Cage I suppose?) The lesser-grossing Fantastic Four franchise never stood a chance.

Which is unfortunate, because Silver Surfer isn’t an origin story, and for that it I give it a lot of leeway. Origin stories are a dime-a-dozen, and given preferential treatment over the depth of stories one could tell. This depth is especially true for properties such as the Fantastic Four. whose characters have been around since 1961. It’s almost as if studio execs are creatively gun-shy, and the minute a “new” story doesn’t outperform the previous movie the whole franchise takes a creative step backward into “safe” territory (as DC did in 2013, rebooting the Superman movies after the lackluster performance of Superman Returns). Surely there are other stories to tell than the one about how the team got their powers? Given that the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot is reportedly based on the Ultimate Fantastic Four series (itself an origin-story reboot), I guess not.

But there, I go, comparing this superhero movie to every other superhero movie; even a movie that hasn’t come out yet. Bottom line: if you see Silver Surfer in your friend’s DVD collection or stumble on it during a late-night channel surf (no pun intended), give it a chance. It tells a good non-origin story, has some nice CGI, and features a decent cast of solid actors.

Better than I expected: It’s not an origin story and the CGI still holds up well.

Worse than I’d hoped: Sue Storm’s wedding outfit; the casual racism undermines the movie’s positive message .

Would work better as an HBO series? Not really; the premise worked just fine on the big screen, although the story could have used some tightening.

Verdict: Decent movie for when there’s nothing else on.