With all the movie franchises on their third outings this summer, it’s nice to see a franchise break the monotony and merely come out with their . . . .second outing. Next week sees the release of Fantastic Four – Rise of the Silver Surfer, and I can’t lie, I’m really looking forward to it. I know a lot of critics slammed the first film, and for many fans of the comic, it didn’t feel “epic” enough. I can definitely agree with that, but it was nice to see a comic movie that wasn’t a story about a dark, brooding loner, for once. Conceptually, Fantastic Four lent itself to the lighthearted, comedic tone the film ultimately presented. With all the masked vigilante comic movies that have come out, bringing Fantastic Four to film finally presented superheroes as highly public figures, to the point where they didn’t even bother with secret identities. It was also nice to see Michael Chiklis as Thing, ‘cause I couldn’t picture anyone else in the role. If there was any casting issue, it was the choice of Jessica Alba as Sue Storm. Understandably, fans were angered over the choice, as her acting ability is rather questionable, and there was also the issue of her vague ethnic background. Even comic pro John Byrne chimed in on the subject, albeit insensitively, with comments to the effect of Latina women with their hair dyed blonde looking like prostitutes. I eventually warmed up to her in the role, although this time around, her hair does kinda look like a “porn star” wig half the time. Reminds me of one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends from The Girls Next Door, ugh!
So far, the new film looks to have sufficiently more action, and the inclusion of the Silver Surfer should be fun. There’s an interesting subplot with Johnny switching powers with the other members of the Fantastic Four throughout the film due to his interaction with the Surfer. From the trailers, it looks like it’ll make for some of the film’s funnier moments. Of course some fans are complaining that this will lessen chances of seeing the Super Skrull in subsequent films. I don’t see why they’re thinking so far ahead in the first place. This is what happens when everyone starts thinking “franchise” even before the first film is out. Everyone’s already thinking three or four films down the line, and I just think that’s a bad way of looking at it. Besides, it’s become abundantly clear that comic movie franchises are always gonna wear thin around film number three, and even when the filmmakers are immensely talented and creative, things don’t always work out *cough*Spider-Man 3*cough*. Fantastic Four is damn lucky to even get a second film. As much as I’m looking forward to Rise of the Silver Surfer, critics will probably hate it. They’ll either have justifiable reason to hate it, or think back on hating the first film and let that factor heavily into their decision regarding the sequel.
Other issues to consider are things like the rating and the runtime; a major point of contention for fans recently has been the fact that the film is said to clock in at around 95 minutes. They were mad enough when they found out the first film was only a 105 minutes, so naturally, they feel that this is going to be a very sparse film in terms of story and character development. They’ve got a point. We’ve grown accustomed to two-hour-plus film, and anything less than that can be too short depending on the genre. A film can feel rushed if there’s not enough transition time between scenes. Pacing can suffer, and you run the risk of continuity errors. More than likely, footage has been cut that should have probably stayed in the film. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time for a 20th Century Fox comic book film. This is evident in the recent release of an “extended cut” of the first Fantastic Four, boasting almost twenty minutes of footage most would agree would have only made the film better. Even the first X-Men had its share of deleted scenes, and to this day, I’m baffled as to why none of them were included. They were all fairly brief, but more importantly, they offered moments of character development that fans would have loved to see, especially moments between Jean and Professor Xavier. But arguably the worst offense has to be the butchering of Daredevil. Watching the director’s cut is almost like watching a different movie, as more focus is put on Matt Murdock as a lawyer, and a sublot of an innocent man framed for murder is added back into the film, and everything that transpired in the theatrical version actually makes more sense. From a business standpoint, Fox most assuredly believes this strategy will pay off in offering more showings at theaters, resulting in higher revenue. Arguably, history is on their side; with the exception of Elektra, every Marvel-based film 20th Century Fox has released has set or broken some kind of opening weekend box office record on its way to grossing over a hundred million dollars domestically.
Then there’s the rating; while the first film was rated PG-13, rumor has it that Rise of the Silver Surfer will be rated PG. Personally I don’t have a real problem with it. Again, this goes to my enjoyment of the film because of its lighter tone compared to other comic book films. It’s very much something the whole family can and should enjoy. But as far as some fans are concerned, the rating means that the film won’t be as “serious” as they’d like it to be. How serious can it be, when there’s a character named “Mr. Fantastic” that stretches his body like a rubber band?!?! Joking aside, a PG-13 rating isn’t going to make the film any more serious than it already is. Aside from Doom blowing a hole in some guy’s chest in the first film, there was no reason for it being PG-13. There wasn’t even any cursing! Oh, whatever did films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Star Wars Trilogy do before the PG-13 rating was even created?! Then again, Fox seems to be getting into the habit of rating sequels with the intent of appealing to wider (more kids) audiences, even if the original films were rated R. Many believe Alien vs. Predator suffered from being PG-13, and not being nearly as graphic in terms of violence, when compared to its R-Rated predecessors. And some fear that Fox has done the same with the upcoming Live Free or Die Hard. Looking back on those films, you can see how they did benefit from the latitude of an R rating.
Beyond all that, fans fear that filmmakers have dropped the ball with another major villain, Galactus. A while back, Ain’t It Cool News reported a rumor that if and when Galactus does appear in the new film, it will be as. . . .a storm cloud. Even I’ll admit, that’s pretty f***in’ stupid. The execution of that idea would have to be something completely unprecedented to make it work. It’d be a shame if it’s true, ’cause they’ve done, what I think, is a great job with the Silver Surfer.
Not that any of this really matters to the casual moviegoer. Comic book movies are still a popular trend, especially after the surprising success of 300. With the right ingredients, any comic book film can be a commercial success in spite of itself. . . .look at Ghost Rider, for cryin’ out loud!
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