June
15 "Surfer" rises at last

There's no Ultimate Nullifier, and, yes, Galactus is a giant cloud of destructive forces instead of a giant man in purple and blue armor. This is more menacing and interesting to watch than it sounds — and there are interesting glimpses of a familiar shape within that cloud that imply that figure may be lurking at its center. Other fun bits include the cameo by Stan Lee, in which he plays himself and is denied admission to the wedding of Reed and Sue — exactly the way he and Jack Kirby were shut out of the comicbook version way back in Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965). The film also makes much better use of the heroes' powers, especially the Human Torch and, surprisingly, Reed Richards, who does some truly comicbook type stunts in saving that giant Ferris wheel thing in London. The film has plenty of action and moves along at a brisk pace in order to wrap up in about 95 minutes.

The bad news is that on most other fronts, there hasn't been much improvement — most notably in the character department. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben run through their scenes with obligatory and obvious dialogue that does little to make them seem like real people. These are simplified versions of the characters, and they seem not to take seriously much of anything that happens to them. Even Sue's apprehension about living the life of a superhero, which is what passes for emotional tension in this film, is shallow and almost boring. The problem stems from the filmmakers being unable to resist trying to squeeze a laugh out of every non-action scene. The Thing and the Torch, especially, appear unable to speak in anything but setups and punchlines; and I won't even get into Mr. Fantastic's dance number. The more sombre Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic also fall prey to this, though more as straight men for others' humor.

And then there's Dr. Doom, who may as well not even be in this picture. Doom is obligingly revived from his fate at the end of the previous picture and then, for reasons that make no dramatic sense, walks around for most of the movie without his trademark mask and armor. Julian McMahon is a fine actor, but his fresh looks and everyman voice just don't add up to menace — especially in the villainous garb of black turtleneck and leather jacket. Doom does play a role in the big finale (borrowed from Fantastic Four #57-60), but it lacks dramatic tension.

All this adds up to basically the same equation as the first film: Fans who want their FF more serious will be unhappy; those who are OK with this being a lighter, more family-oriented film (i.e., most of the audience) will have a good time. There was actual applause and a few cheers during parts of the screening I attended. The timing again seems quite good for this film to annoy the pundits and scoffing critics who see comicbook movies as keeping Hollywood from making serious dramas for adults by being, potentially, an even bigger hit than the first film.

For Marvel, it's a good sign that they can continue to make movies for relatively low costs that will satisfy auds enough to ensure a big profit. Whether they can continue to do so when their first self-financed and produced films start coming out, while at the same time hopefully improving the quality and comicbook accuracy, is a big question that will now have to wait for next summer's "Iron Man" for an answer.