The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Blu-ray Disc, 2009, Movie Cash)

The Rise of the Silver Surfer included an excellent story line and marvelous special effects, but the most importantly of all, it remained faithful to the comics.

Of course, staying faithful to the story line was a guarentee that the story line would be excellent. Galactus was the most resilient armagedon monster in comic book history, and the story of Silver Surfer serving and then betraying him is known to any true Marvel fan.

Silver Surfer proves that screen writers can exercise literary license while not ruining the stories that fans know and love. Just like in the comics, the FF discover the threat that Surfer poses and seek to confront him. In the end, the Surfer relents and challenges Galactus in order to save the world. While the events that unfold in the middle are not exactly like the comic books, it did not bother me too much.

The changes were more a matter of placing the story in modern times than a real attempt to write a new story. I can deal with that. The Comics Code Authority would have banned much of what appeared in the movie, especially the language. In today's world, such sensorship seems pointless as worse things can be seen on prime time television.

What was important about the changes was that the characters still behaved like they would have in the original. Dr. Doom forms an alliance of convience just long enough to get what he wants. Mr. Fantastic puts aside personal feelings for the sake of the greater good. Sue Alexcia (Grimm's girlfriend) provide balance to the chaos. Johnny and Thing act like siblings: constantly bickering but always there for each other when needed. Of course, the "anti establishment" feeling that predominated 1970's culture is still present with the US Army charging in like a bull at a china shop only to fall into an obvious trap.

I won't comment too much with the special effects. They are on par with what is to be expected with super hero movies these days - nothing original but certainly does justice to the super powers the characters posses. In any case, they are exciting to see.

While I do have some negatives, I really have to be nit-picky about them. The biggest dissappointment was how they portrayed Galactus. In the comics, he was humanoid shape. In the movie, he was portrayed as a cloud with chathulu tendrils. I would not have minded it as much if the cloud was a ship and the Surfer actually got to see the destroyer when he challenged him at the end, but perhaps that is expecting too much from a movie.

I also thought that Dr. Doom's voice should have been deeper. I didn't mind it so much when he was without his armor, but even before Darth Vader came along I always imagined a deep, resonating voice coming out of that mask. How could it be otherwise?

Finally, seeing soldiers wearing hats while indoors always makes this ex-soldier's skin crawl, but I can't fault this movie in particular for that when it is such a common mistake in the entertainment industry. It just seems such a pity that the people in charge of costumes go to so much trouble to get the uniform right to the impossible degree and yet mess up one of the most basic military customs there is.

I can honestly say that if you liked reading the FF in four color comics, then you will enjoy this movie. Stan Lee (who makes a funny cameo attempting to crash the wedding) may not have written this, but he could have.

John Holland-author of The Necklace of Terrersylvanous