Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I've waited a long time to see this movie, even before it was scheduled. You see, I know the secret of the Silver Surfer.

I even watched actor/stuntman Doug Jones "explain" how he played the part. He was told not to talk about it, so he mimed how he would get into the suit. The suspense was building.

I finally put aside all of the mundane things in life, like bills, the summer heat, the fact that the city isn't picking up my garbage, etc., and got down to the air-conditioned theatre, walking in during the previews, and took my seat.

I wasn't disappointed. As a reader of the Fantastic Four comics back in the late '60's, I was hoping they'd get it right. You see, FF4 are all about what would happen if Superman didn't have a secret identity. It would be a little hard to put hornrim glasses on, say, The Thing, and pretend he was somebody else. They don't pretend. They are. And they bicker. They had to get those two things right.

And if they're dealing the Silver Surfer story, they have to tell the real story and not sweeten it. And show him in his true gelatinous form. Doug Jones in silver nitrate.

They do all that. If there's anything that disappoints, there's a funny, stupid moment when an Army lieutenant threatens our fab four with a gun. Truly laughable when they feel they have to talk their way out of that one. And I've always had misgivings about Jessica Alba as a blonde; Sue Storm has to be a blonde, I know, I know, but Johnny isn't! But these are small issues.

The first Fantastic Four didn't have a purpose. Origin stories rarely do. But this movie, a super sequel, moves slowly to the menace, and manages to include Dr. Doom, to whom we're slowly warming, cinematically speaking. And manages all of this with a lot of humor and clever dialogue.

Thumb's up!