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23-06-2007 07:15
Alba and Ioan Gruffudd appear to have had a great time inhabiting their breezy characters.
They play engaged couple Sue Storm and Reed Richards, AKA The Invisible Woman and Mr Fantastic. The film begins with the pair bickering over his inability to rest his massive brain and put the world's troubles to one side for long enough to get their marriage out of the way. But it is nothing compared to the concerns of the first movie, in which Storm would constantly feel so unnoticed she would literally begin to disappear. Here, she is happy enough to be able to control her powers - as carefree and fulfilled as you might expect a woman with an extra-ordinarily flexible fiancé to be.
The Thing, as per events in the first film, spends the second happily loved up, while Johnny Storm is free to enjoy all the trappings of fame and flirt with anything which remotely threatens to have a pulse.
It could be argued that 'Silver Surfer' is a little too relaxed. After all, the world is put in danger by two of the Marvel Universe's more powerful and unusual characters the Silver Surfer and Galactus, the ominously titled 'devourer of worlds'. But even when the planet appears half way down the marauding Galactus's gullet the tension never really ratchets up to pulse pumping levels.
Director Tim Story believes the film is "darker and more adult" than the first. It isn't, although if you push it, a political subtext can be discerned.
The Silver Surfer, an alien, is at one point captured by US forces and tortured, while Alba does her concerned face and preaches about opening up a dialogue. The military are heavy- handed, and too quick to act without finding out the true motivation and feelings of their enemy. And so on. No-one need go in looking for anything really profound, but a message is there nonetheless.
The movie's best moments come from Reed Richards growing into the role of leader. He has risen in confidence and arrogance enough to put military chiefs firmly, acerbically and authoritatively in their place.
It is a development Gruffudd clearly enjoyed, declaring: "I'm very proud of the fact that Mr Fantastic has evolved from being the nerdy science guy, to become the leader of the Fantastic Four, the father figure, the husband, the lover, friend, and I was very pleased with that evolution."
There is a hint of a problem surfacing when Richard's masculine pride is threatened by Sue's budding relationship with the Silver Surfer, but nothing is eventually made of it.
Much the same can be said of the whole character of Dr Doom, portrayed by 'Nip/Tuck' actor Julian McMahon. Killed off in the first film, he is dredged up here to placate a section of rabidly angry fanboys crying into their Marvel annuals at his demise. However, Tim Story does not see fit to properly explain Doom's Lazarus style recovery, or explain exactly why the US military would use him to help save the world. His brand of camp malevolence screams "I'm the baddie" from the rooftops, but under the evil guy radar he slips nonetheless.
Doom manages to play a central role in the plot while still seeming an entirely peripheral and forced presence. Even the Silver Surfer himself enjoys significantly less screen time than would be expected, a shame given that he is a beguiling, fascinating creation drawn from the combined efforts of Laurence Fishburne's voice and Doug Jones's torso.
The action is not overwhelming, but very enjoyable. There are only three set pieces of note, the best of which sees the Four preventing the London Eye from crashing to the floor. It is well made, exhilarating stuff. And according to the cast, these scenes presented the biggest challenge.
Alba recalls: "In a lot of the action sequences there's green screen, so I'm just imagining what the London Eye looks like, and what it feels like, and having to play that with all this conviction. Tim is like, 'It's harder than that,' and I'm like, 'OK.'
Chiklis concurs: "A common question for an actor on this movie was, 'Timmy, what am I looking at? How loud is it going to be? How far away is it?' "
Although director Tim Story admits that he would often forget to explain such things as distance and proportions to his stars, from the final product it appears he did a pretty top notch job of conveying his vision.
Ultimately, the actors' main memories of 'Silver Surfer' appear to be the reaction of its younger fans.
Alba appears delighted that what sounds like a massed entourage of young cousins have a doll of her to play with, while Gruffudd seems genuinely pleased that his sizeable nose is adequately represented in toy form.
He said: "In my opinion they got my doll absolutely right. If you turn the doll into profile next to my profile you see my big nose so I'm very happy."
Chiklis recalls with glee the moment he bumped into a kid dressed up as The Thing at Halloween, the pair of them both staring at each other in awe at the bizarre coolness of the situation.
He said: "I was walking down the street during Halloween this year and it was the funniest thing. I was with my wife and my children and all of a sudden I heard my voice go, 'It's clobbering time.' And I turned round and a ten-year-old kid with Thing hands was hitting them together and making my voice sound. I looked at him and he looked at me and we were both like, 'How cool is that.' "
The movie, like it's predecessor, has proved popular. An opening weekend of £27 million in the US exceeded expectation. The reviews have been decent too, a bonus given that the first movie stormed to £165 million worldwide on a tidal wave of complete critical derision.
Much could be made of the parallel between these superheroes and Hollywood stars. They are the first comic book superheroes not to have secret identities, and as such have to deal with heavy media intrusion. Johnny Storm laps it up, giving the very watchable Evans the chance to have a ball hamming it up. Sue and Reed's wedding is a Hello-style affair which makes news bulletins, and the public constantly want autographs. But the movie does not delve any deeper than that into the issue. Any truly investigative probing into the nature of celebrity would be as out of place here as a circus clown at a funeral. It is not the time or the place.
Alba, frequently voted sexiest woman in the world and certainly the most tabloid-friendly of the film's stars, does acknowledge some parallels between the Four and current celebrity culture.
She said: "They don't really choose to be in those circumstances, and we all know it goes with the territory."
Anyone looking for a deep, dark or complicated movie must look elsewhere. The 'Silver Surfer' represents the return of the real popcorn movie. Buy your giant popcorn, kick back, switch off that brain and enjoy.
By Robbie McIntyre.
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