Fantastic Four mediadads.com movie review

Fantastic Four:

Rise of the Silver Surfer

PG (2007)

Marvel Enterprises

, distributed by

Twentieth Century Fox

Director:

Tim Story

Cast:

Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael

Chiklis,

Julian McMahon, Kerry

Washington, Andre

Braugher,

Doug

Jones, Laurence Fishburne

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and the Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba), are trying to
settle down and get married when somebody starts punching holes in Earth and
the team is called to battle. Johnny (Chris Evans) and Ben (Michael Chiklis) are
back at the banter, and before you know it, Doc Doom (Julian McMahon) shows up
to "help out". Can their combined superpowers save the day, or will it take a
sacrifice beyond anything they can give?

We love seeing these superheros back up on the screen and the special effects
are excellent. So we don't understand why Alba's makeup and hairdos were so
gawd awfully overdone, especially around the wedding(s). On the other hand, the
Silver Surfer was so great it took two people to portray him: Laurence Fishburne's
voice and Doug Jones' body.

Fatherhood
No dads here, but in a quiet moment while Sue is waiting to begin her wedding
march, Johnny says one of the only lines he's ever delivered without joking around:
“Dad would be proud.”

The Fantastic 4 movies have taken on a distinct feminist tone. In a telling tribute to
the re-education of U.S. males, the film franchise demotes Reed Richards from the
comic book's fearless leader to a generally wishy-washy nerd, while Sue Storm's
girl power has been turned up full blast, and the "Invisible Girl" of the original comic
books has become the "Invisible Woman".

In Surfer, Sue is sweetly demanding, and in one scene, as her fiancé, (Mr.
Fantastic) is leaving the room, she reaches out and imprisons him in a force field,
squeezing him so tightly he can't move or speak, and turns him around to face her
while he meekly submits. In another scene, when he is working she makes his
computer disappear so that he will talk to her. Mind you, they are not fighting, this is
just the way the new Woman conducts her relationship.

Do we have to point out that if a man did either of these things, it would be seen as
domineering? It's not like she's the weaker sex, either, since she can hold up a
ferris wheel with her mind.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic's elastic superpower is diluted by depictions of him going
limp at the thought of getting married. Against his more solid performances in
Amazing Grace (2006) and The Gathering (2002), it is clear that someone wanted
Ioan Gruffudd to be transformed into a henpecked wimp for this action flick.

Trivia: Fantastic 4 creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a wedding
guest and is turned away because he is not on the invitation list.

Finally note: A word from the feminist lexicon becomes central to the fate of the
universe when a former bad guy says that Sue is right; "we always have a choice".

We?

Final Review
Aggressive against males while momentarily friendly toward a dad.

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