Slowly, but surely, I am catching up on the Marvel films made before the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Nowadays, it all goes through the Mouse.  Yet, there was a time when most of these movies were produced by Twentieth Century Fox.  That was the case until that studio, too, was absorbed into the Disney collective.  I am not trying to paint the picture of an evil corporation.  If nothing else, you can admire them for having the vision to bring together these different titles into one overarching narrative.  This is something I have discussed in other reviews, so I will try not to rehash points I have already made.  What I would add here is that it is good that this is happening.  What makes it more interesting is that Disney is trying to incorporate everything by using that wonderful plot device of alternate universes.  Thus, seemingly divergent plot lines can co-exist because the multiverse is a thing.  What does this mean for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)?  Not much.  I just thought you should know.

You should also know that in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the eponymous character at the end of the title is Norrin Radd (Doug Jones, voiced by Laurence Fishburne).  He is the herald of a world devouring entity known as Galactus.  Whatever planet the Silver Surfer goes to, eight days later Galactus shows up and destroys everything to quench its hunger.  I will give you two guesses as to where the Silver Surfer is next headed, and one of them is not Alderaan.  While some on Earth note the energy surge that announces the Silver Surfer’s arrival, not to mention the various natural disasters he causes, most of the world’s attention is focused on the upcoming wedding of Drs. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffud) and Susan “Sue” Storm (Jessica Alba).  They are, respectively, the super stretchy Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.  I will let you work out for yourself Dr. Storm’s abilities, though she can also project force fields in case that is not clear from her moniker.  Together, with Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), also known as the Human Torch (again, I hope this is self-explanatory), and the human rock unfortunately called The Thing, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), they form the title team of super heroes.  They are also famous, which is putting a strain on the upcoming nuptials.  So, too, are the disturbances being caused by the Silver Surfer.  They prompt a visit by General Hager (Andre Braugher), who desires Dr. Richards to build a device to track the cause of these anomalies.  He declines, to Dr. Storm’s delight, citing their imminent wedding.  However, in secret, he does so anyway.  Another side-effect of the power generated by the Silver Surfer flying around the planet is the awakening of the Fantastic Four’s arch-nemesis Dr. Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), now going by his villain name Dr. Doom.  Closer to the Fantastic Four’s base in Manhattan, the Silver Surfer interrupts the much-anticipated wedding.  While Dr. Storm surveys the wreckage of her special day, her brother takes to the skies to go after this mysterious foe.  He catches up to the Silver Surfer, but the alien easily brushes aside Johnny’s attack, taking the Human Torch by the neck into the edge of space before letting go.  Upon returning to New York, it becomes apparent that, as a result of direct contact with the Silver Surfer, Johnny can switch powers with his teammates simply by touching them.  This is one of many problems that Dr. Richards feels compelled to handle.  Another is General Hager coming to once more insist that they help stop this new threat to the planet.  Johnny, feeling they need for revenge, inadvertently touches Dr. Richards as they are trying to save the people riding the London Eye, almost causing it to fall over.  General Hager is not pleased, and he decides to bring in another scientific mind to come up with a way of defeating this supposed menace.  This other scientist, to the outrage of the Fantastic 4, is Dr. Doom.  While he pledges to put aside their differences for the sake of saving the planet, we see that he is making a device to take control of the Silver Surfer’s board, the source of the alien’s power.  As for what Dr. Richards develops, it succeeds in separating Norrin Radd from the implement that gives him his name (and sheen, apparently), leading to his capture.  What is evident to the Fantastic Four, particularly Dr. Storm, is that the Silver Surfer is not evil.  Indeed, she learns after sneaking into where he is being held that he is being forced to do Galactus’ bidding in order to protect his own planet and the one he loves.  Thus, while Dr. Doom does as Dr. Doom do, the Fantastic 4 free the Silver Surfer in the hopes of rejoining him with his board and convincing him to turn against Galactus and save Earth from destruction.  As it turns out, finding Dr. Doom is the easy part.  Trying to get him to give up this new source of power for the sake of the planet proves trickier, despite the evident chaos breaking out with Galactus’ arrival.  Remember Johnny’s newfound ability to absorb the powers of others?  Well, he decides to take on the combined might of the Fantastic 4 onto himself in order to take down Dr. Doom.  Back on the ground, a mortally wounded Dr. Storm succumbs to her injuries.  The Silver Surfer, seeing the pain it causes Dr. Richards, using space magic to heal Dr. Storm before heading out into space.  Once there, he stops Galactus, somehow, appearing to give his life in doing so.  Whatever it is that happens, it allows Drs. Richards and Storm to finally have their wedding . . . before zooming off to help with some other crisis.

The actions of Norrin Radd at the end of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer would seem to align well with Catholic doctrine.  He sees a pure form of love that touches his heart, and it convinces him to sacrifice his life for the sake of the world.  The giving of one’s life on such a scale is the basis of our Faith.  This is all obviated when, during a mid-credits scene, you see the Silver Surfer floating through space and eventually opening his eyes.  Instead, there is a smaller moment on which I will focus.  In talking about the strange occurrences that comes with the Silver Surfer mucking about the planet, one of those fake newscasts you see in movies like these wonders if the disasters are the hand of God at work.  There are a few things going on with this statement.  On the surface, it is yet another example of Hollywood trying to push Faith to the fringes.  In other words, only a lunatic would look at the things happening around the globe and think that its origin is Divine.  This leads to a deeper aspect of this, however, and that is the doubt that God’s hand is not upon events.  One of the classic arguments against God’s existence is that if He is, in fact, real and loves us so much, how could He allow for something so tragic as the world ending to occur.  This attitude speaks to a distorted view of God as this magical, wish-granting entity instead of the loving beyond all comprehension God that He is in reality.  Good or bad, it all is meant to work to His greater glory.  That is for the best as each of us, with faith, can have a place at His table in Heaven no matter what happens to us in this reality.  Movies like this one obscure these facts, sometimes innocently, sometimes purposely.  Given that this is a superhero film, I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

This is not to say that Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a good movie.  Indeed, it is pretty bad.  Mr. Fantastic should never be dancing in a club, or bragging about his wit and hot, soon-to-be wife.  The movie is rated PG, so there is not much harm it can do in watching it, but not a lot of good either.  Take all this for what you will.