Review: 'Fantastic Four' sequel better than first

Directed by: Tim Story

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, Lawrence Fishburn (voice)

Rated: PG

When it comes to comics, baby boomers are divided into two camps: The DC people and those of us who started with DC but discovered Marvel.

DC had great, classic heroes, including Superman, Batman and the underrated Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Aquaman. While Batman’s origin had its share of a dark side, most of DC’s heroes were fairly stodgy by the standards of the emerging generation that grew up with television, rock ‘n’ roll, the Cold War and the space program.

My first encounter with Marvel was in 1964. The Fantastic Four were in a battle with The Hulk, who apparently had been a good guy but was now a villain. From that issue, and with the support of the venerable Cotter’s Pharmacy (they had a soda fountain!), I went on to discover Spiderman, The Avengers, The X-Men and so many more.

The Marvel super heroes were made for the boomer generation. They were so much more real, and even though I had no idea what the word meant at the time, I realized the superfolks had foibles. We all had foibles, and having superheroes with the same simply made us love them all the more.

Marvel magnate Stan Lee knew this, and while he capitalized on it, I really believe his intentions were nobler than just making a buck.

Lee has a cameo in “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” that is an in-joke for Marvel fans and a scene that sums up the entire vibe that Marvel created back in our formative years.

The first Fantastic Four film garnered nothing but bile from the critics, and while I gave it the benefit of the doubt, it really did have a lot of problems.

In the end that film grossed nearly $155 million, so a sequel was inevitable.

The sequel, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” redeems the franchise somewhat. While not necessarily a “great” film, it’s better than the original and will most likely make Marvel geeks very happy.

Director Tim Story understands what Marvelites require, and he throws a good helping of wisecracks, woe-be-gones and angst-ridden moments into the film. For the uninitiated it may seem pedantic, but for fans, it’s familiar and welcome territory.

The main story kicks in from the film’s first frame. There’s a peculiar, high-speed object headed toward Earth. When it reaches our planet, strange anomalies occur wherever it passes. The ultimate powers-that-be know the Fantastic Four are the only ones capable of dealing with this kind of crisis.

The “Marvel factor” comes into play inasmuch as Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards and Sue “Invisible Woman” Storm are in the middle of planning their wedding. Storm is having doubts because she feels Richards cares more about saving the world from the myriad dangers that pop up daily than being a devoted husband.

The new threat is a huge one, and Reed tries his best to ignore it and focus on the nuptials at hand. But there’s no way the Fantastic Four can stay out of this one.

The object that has been streaking through the sky has been found (by Johnny “The Human Torch” Storm) to be an alien creature made of silver and riding some sort of high-tech surfboard.

Enter The Silver Surfer.

After a brief tussle, The Torch realizes that the cosmic beach boy is too much for him. And another strange thing happens. Whenever he makes physical contact with another member of the super hero troupe, they exchange powers. This makes for a lot of fun seeing The Thing able to “flame on” and the ever-egotistical Storm take on the stone faced characteristics of The Thing. Exchanging of powers also comes into play at the finale of the film.

The Surfer is wreaking havoc around the globe, causing it to snow in Egypt and the like, but we soon find out he’s not the real problem. He’s merely the advance man for a huge, planet-eating being called Galactus. The Surfer comes around to check things out, then gives the go ahead for the big guy to swoop in for a nice snack.

So the Fantastic Four have a big task ahead of them. They have to save the entire planet AND pull off the wedding between Richards and Storm.

The film plays out as it should – much like a comic book.

After the Surfer meets The Invisible Woman (as played by Jessica Alba, whose hotness spans the galaxy) he realizes what he’s doing may not be the most polite way to make a living and has a change of heart. There’s some doubt that he may be able to return for a sequel, but if audience reaction (a good number of people clapped and cheered as the final credits rolled) and box office numbers are any indication, The Fantastic Four will continue to be a fantastic film franchise.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.