Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer ***
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chilkis, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher, Laurence Fishburne (voice), Doug Jones
Director: Tim Story
Running Length: 1:32
MPAA Classification: PG

Reed Richards (Gruffud) and Sue Storm (Alba) are getting married, or at least trying to. Extraterrestrial intervention, in the form of the Silver Surfer (Jones, voice of Fishburne), stops the wedding and threatens the very existence of the Earth. The Surfer’s arrival also awakens Dr. Doom (McMahon), and soon he is helping the Fantastic Four to stop the Surfer, although he has plans of his own. When the Surfer’s master, Galactus, arrives, the Fantastic Four must fight Doom, convince the Surfer that they deserve to live, and stop Galactus from eating the planet.

The Fantastic Four are a more light hearted superheroes than the X-Men or Batman, but that is not a bad thing. Like the first movie, this one is child friendly and entertaining in a lighter way. The gang from the first movie are all back for a second go at things, and they seem more comfortable in their roles. The Surfer is a cool looking character that is more than he seems, and the action is a little more impressive this time around. “Rise” does enough things right that the mistakes are easier to take. The exception might be the anti-climactic ending, but I don’t know how that could have been handled differently. All in all, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” is an entertaining addition to the Marvel movie world.