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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
File:FanFour2 newposter.JPGTeaser poster for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Directed by	Tim Story
Written by	Comic Book: Stan Lee Jack Kirby Story: Mark Frost Screenplay: Don Payne
Produced by	Marvel Enterprises
Starring	Ioan Gruffudd Jessica Alba Michael Chiklis Chris Evans Doug Jones Julian McMahon Kerry Washington Laurence Fishburne
Cinematography	Larry Blanford
Edited by	William Hoy Peter S. Elliot
Music by	John Ottman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	June 13, 2007 June 15, 2007 June 21, 2007
Running time	89 min.
Countries	United States  Canada  Germany
Language	English
Budget	$130 million

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a 2007 superhero film, and sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Both films are based on the comic book of the same name. The film was directed by Tim Story, who also directed the original. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington reprised their roles from the first film. Doug Jones and Beau Garrett appear in the sequel as the Silver Surfer and Frankie Raye, respectively, along with Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. It was released June 15, 2007, in North America, and was rated PG by the MPAA for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo.

Plot

Set two years after the first film, Reed Richards and Sue Storm are preparing for their wedding. A silver object enters Earth's atmosphere, radiating cosmic energy that creates massive molecular fluctuations and causes deep craters at locations across the Earth. The government approaches Reed to build a sensor to track the movements of the object. Reed rejects this request saying that he needs to focus on his wedding with Sue. However, he builds the sensor in secret and activates it just before the wedding.

As the wedding begins, Reed's sensor detects the phenomenon approaching New York City, causing a massive power blackout. The object destroys the sensor while the Fantastic Four protect the crowd from an out-of-control helicopter. The Human Torch pursues the object, discovering that it is a humanoid, a "Silver Surfer". He confronts the Surfer, only to be dragged into the upper atmosphere. After his flame snuffs out, the Surfer drops him back towards Earth, but he reactivates his powers and survives the fall. Reed's examination reveals that exposure to the Surfer has set Johnny's molecular structure in flux, allowing him to switch powers with his teammates through physical contact. Tracing the cosmic energy of the Surfer, Reed discovers that a series of planets the alien had visited before Earth have all been destroyed. The Surfer's movements around the globe bring him past Latveria, where the cosmic energy affects Victor Von Doom, freeing him from two years as a metal statue. Doom, able to move again and returned to a disfigured human form traces the Surfer to the Arctic and makes him an offer to join forces. When the Surfer rebuffs him, Doom attacks. The Surfer returns fire, blasting Doom through the ice. The cosmic energy of the Surfer's blast heals Doom's body, reversing the changes seen in the first film. At this time the Fantastic Four travel to London to face the Surfer but one of the newly built craters leads to the London Eye falling. The Fantastic Four succeed in saving the situation but the Surfer flies away while Fantastic Four are occupied.

Meanwhile Doom leverages his experience into a deal with the American military, who force the Fantastic Four to work with Doom. Deducing that the Surfer's board is the source of his power, the group develops a pulse generator that will separate him from it. While setting up the device, Sue is confronted by the Surfer, during which he reveals he is only a servant to the destroyer of worlds. The military opens fire on the Surfer, distracting him, allowing the four to fire the pulse and separate the Surfer from his board.

The military imprisons the Surfer in Siberia and forbids the Fantastic Four from interacting with him, while they torture him for information. Sue uses her powers to sneak into his cell, where she learns more information from the Surfer. He tells her his master was known by the people of his world as Galactus, a massive cloud-like cosmic entity which must feed on life-bearing planets to survive, and that his board is a homing beacon which even now summons him to the planet.

Doom, pursuing the power in the board, steals it from the compound, using a device to gain control of the board and its powers. The Fantastic Four rescue the Surfer, and pursue Doom in the Fantasticar. Doom however is too strong for the Fantastic Four and they crash land in Shanghai. During the battle, Sue is mortally wounded. With the Surfer powerless, Johnny absorbs the combined powers of the entire team in order to battle the cosmic energy-empowered Doom. Johnny succeeds in breaking Doom's control over the Surfer's board, while Ben Grimm uses a nearby crane to knock Doom into the harbor where he is last seen sinking; however, Galactus has already arrived. The Surfer regains the control of his board, and his power is restored. He revives Sue and chooses to defend Earth by flying into Galactus and confronting him. The conflict results in a massive blast of energy, seemingly killing Galactus in the process.

The film ends with Reed and Sue marrying in Japan, in traditional Japanese wedding attire; they are again called back to action when Venice is threatened.

The credits cut back to a shot of the Silver Surfer's seemingly lifeless body floating through space. Just as he drifts off the edge of the screen his eyes open and his board races towards him.

Cast

Production

With Fantastic Four grossing $330 million worldwide, 20th Century Fox hired director Tim Story and screenwriter Mark Frost in December 2005 to return for the superhero team's sequel. Screenwriters Frost and Don Payne were hired to write the screenplay. Payne has said the film is based upon Fantastic Four #48-50, in which Galactus also makes an appearance, as well as issues 57-60 in which Doom steals the Surfer's power. Payne has also said the film takes inspiration from the Ultimate Marvel limited series Ultimate Extinction. As of March 2 2007, Galactus' design was not yet done, and by April 18 they were still unsure of whether he would speak.

The film includes the Fantasti-Car, a larger role for Kerry Washington's character Alicia Masters, and in June 2006, the Silver Surfer was announced to appear in the sequel as a "villain / hero". The Silver Surfer has been created by combining the performance of actor Doug Jones, a grey-silver suit designed by Jose Fernandez and created by FX shop Spectral Motion which has then been enhanced by a new computer-generated system designed by WETA. The sequel, whose working title was Fantastic Four 2, was officially titled Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in August 2006 with filming beginning on August 28 in Vancouver and set for a release date of June 15, 2007. Michael Chiklis' prosthetics as The Thing were also redesigned to allow him to take it off in between takes.

In August 2006, actor Andre Braugher dropped out of an ER supporting role to be cast in Rise of the Silver Surfer. Braugher was cast as General Hager, whom director Story described as "an old acquaintance of Reed Richards and one of the major additions to the movie". In September, actor Doug Jones was confirmed to portray the Silver Surfer in addition to Julian McMahon reprising his role as Doctor Doom. The Baxter Building was also redesigned.

Rating

Rise of the Silver Surfer got a PG rating from the MPAA, the first Marvel Entertainment film since Howard the Duck to earn this rating. The first Fantastic Four film earned the higher rating of PG-13. Director Tim Story said in a 2007 interview, "Our cut of the film, when Fox told us that we may be able to get a PG rating, we changed nothing in the movie. We didn't change anything to get the PG, and it was great, because it's not as if we sacrificed anything to get a PG, it was just that "Hey, we can get a PG-rating and why not?" ... It was more of a coincidence than anything, it just worked out for the best".

Promotion

The teaser trailer was initially exclusively attached to Night at the Museum. It was released to the general public online on December 26, 2006 on the film's official website. The theatrical trailer was scheduled to appear during the film Disturbia on April 13th but errors occurred and Tim Story announced that it would be released during the Spider-Man 3 film on May 4th. However, the theatrical trailer was finally released online on April 30th on Apple Trailer's website. 20th Century Fox launched an outdoor advertising campaign at the end of February. The cast also made an appearance at the Coca Cola 600 Nextel Cup NASCAR race in Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend.

In late May 2007, 20th Century Fox struck a deal with the Franklin Mint to promote the movie by altering 40,000 US quarters and releasing them into circulation. All of the altered quarters were minted in 2005 and honor the state of California as part of the 50 State Quarters program created by the US Mint. The altered quarters feature the Silver Surfer on the reverse side along with a URL address to the movie's official website. Once the US Mint became aware of the promotional gimmick, it notified the studio and the Franklin Mint that it was breaking the law by turning government-issued currency into private advertising. The federal mint did not indicate whether a penalty would be effected.

Reception

On its opening weekend, the movie grossed US$58 million, $2 million more than that of its predecessor. By its second weekend, the film suffered a 66% drop and has experienced weekend drops above 50% most likely because of the great competition from other movies like The Simpsons Movie, Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . Rise of the Silver Surfer has grossed $277.1 million worldwide, including a $131.6 million domestic gross, as of September 5, 2007. The estimated budget was $130 million.

The movie received a 36% critics-rating at the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and a 45% critics-rating at Metacritic. On Yahoo! Movies, the film is rated C+ by critics based on 14 reviews.

The New York Times called the movie an "amalgam of recycled ideas, dead air, dumb quips, casual sexism and pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo", while The Wall Street Journal said the film even failed to sustain its modest running time of 87 minutes. Critic James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com gave the movie one and a half stars out of four, calling the film "so lackluster it makes Spider-Man 3 feel like a masterpiece by comparison." Frank Lovece of Film Journal International decried the tone, saying, "Imagine the similarly adolescent/collegiate classic Catcher in the Rye adapted into an Adam Sandler vehicle. The young, goofy Adam Sandler. ...When a movie's best sequences are computer-animated, that says something".

Those who liked the film praised the CGI-action and the depiction of the Silver Surfer. The Times of London gave the movie credit for its simplicity in bringing the story to life. IGN wrote "it has enough fun, action and wit to keep fans and non-fans interested and entertained"., claiming it's better than the first film, and praising its action scenes.

Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer was nominated for the "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" Award at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, losing to Transformers.

Sequel/spin-off

The main cast originally signed three-picture deals. Actor Julian McMahon has also signed for a third film.

J. Michael Straczynski, writer of the 2007 Silver Surfer: Requiem series for Marvel, is writing the screenplay for a Silver Surfer film.

Footnotes

1. ^ Box Office Mojo - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
2. MPAA Film Rating search
3. Michael Fleming (2005-12-04). "Story booked solid with Fox". Variety. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. Michael Fleming (2006-05-03). "Inside Move: Surfer may board 'Four'". Variety. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
5. ^ Ben Morse and Brian Warmoth (2007-01-15). "2007 PREVIEW: 'FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER'". Wizard. Retrieved 2007-01-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. Tim Story (2007-03-02). "Fantastic Four 2 Set Footage & Story Comments". Superherohype.com. Retrieved 2007-03-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Pamela McClintock (2007-04-18). "Fishburne voices Surfer". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "First look: Fantasticar flows onto film". USA Today. 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
9. William Keck (2006-06-01). "Jessica Alba plans a fantastic summer". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. Stax (2006-08-17). "Fantastic New Title". IGN. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Ftopel (2007-03-12). "Washington Waits for "Fantastic Four" Final Cut". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Stax (2006-08-24). "Braugher Joins Fantastic Sequel". IGN. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Stax (2006-09-05). "Fantastic Four Sequel Under Way". IGN. Retrieved 2006-12-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. Stax (2006-09-25). "Weta Surfs to Fantastic Four". IGN. Retrieved 2006-09-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Exclusive: FF2 Director Tim Story!". SuperHeroHype.com. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. Apple.com - Trailers
17. "Fox Set To Launch Outdoor RISE Campaign". F4movies.com. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer box office numbers". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
20. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at Rotten Tomatoes
21. Yahoo! Movies: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
22. Dargis, Manohla (2007-06-14). "Armageddon Comes Knocking". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. James Berardinelli. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at ReelViews". ReelViews. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
24. Film Journal International (June 15, 2007): Review by Frank Lovece
25. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at IGN
26. Josh Grossberg (2005-12-05). "A "Fantastic Four" Follow-Up". E! Online. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. Paul Fischer (2007-03-15). "Exclusive Interview: Julian McMahon for "Premonition"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 2007-03-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
28. Jay A. Fernandez (2007-06-13). ""Next 'Silver Surfer': Make It Gnarly"". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-06-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) (dead link as of 2007-08-20)

References

• Official site
• Superhero Hype: FF
• Trailers in Quicktime
• F4Moviearacde.com
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at MetaCritic

External links

• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) at IMDb
• Fantastic Four: Ride of the Silver Surfer at Rotten Tomatoes
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video interview with Chris Evans on stv.tv/movies
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer review at iomtoday.co.im
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video interview with Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd on stv.tv/movies

Template:Box Office Leaders USA

• Foreign films shot in Canada
• Fantastic Four films
• The Silver Surfer
• Sequel films
• 2007 films
• 20th Century Fox films
• Films shot in Vancouver
• Feature films