The Fantastic Four comics were the crown jewel in the Marvel comic book cannon, being the most popular with fans. So it's disappointing (or poetic depending on your stance), that the film adaptations sit on a mediocre level. The first installment weighed heavy with flaws, a thin screenplay, uninspired acting and bland directing. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfers, pulls out the trump cards to pull this franchise from the murk, yet ends in a case of flashing their cards to early. All the usual tricks of a sequel are here; bigger action set pieces, more enemies with more layers reveled in the protagonists. Script writers Don Payne and Mark Frost attempt to rise above the flaws from the first installment, with inner turmoils of the four leads, while fighting their new foe, but this never amounts to anything captivating. Being stuck in the media light, Johnny's power crisis, Sue and Reed's relationship problems and constant wedding postponements, great material to mine for character development, but Payne and Frost only scratch the surface, while still writing some cringe worthy and emaciated dialog. Director Tim Story's pacing faults proceedings, jumping from problem to action scene to problem to action scene. There seems to be notes taken from X-Men 2, yet Singer took time and found even ground for character development and big action pieces. Story seems to have too much on his plate, implementing too many elements in a short time frame. The set pieces, while imaginative and fast paced, are short and end just when they are about to lift off into eye candy spectacle. The confrontation with Dr. Doom is impressive, while the real enemy Galactus is gone as fast as it arrives. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, and Michael Chiklis reach for their best, but have forgettable performances. Chris Evans, while down playing Johnny's cocky side, seems far from his talents, after pulling one mesmerising performance in Sunshine. Julian McMahon seems to be having fun as Dr. Doom, while being under used. Doug Jones displays the best performance as the nearly expressionless Silver Surfer. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has tripped on its way to sit beside its comic book peers. For many this will be a popcorn affair, but it's very flavourless popcorn.
