| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | |
|---|---|
| |
| Riffed by | RiffTrax |
| Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett |
| Series | Marvel Movies |
| Date Released | December 18, 2007 |
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a 2007 superhero film, and the sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Both films are based on the Fantastic Four comic book and were directed by Tim Story. Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm are the film series' recurring protagonists, while Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington reprised their roles from the first film as, respectively, Victor Von Doom and Alicia Masters. Beau Garrett appears in the sequel as Frankie Raye, along with Doug Jones as the Silver Surfer and Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. The plot follows the Fantastic Four as they confront, and later ally with, the Silver Surfer to save Earth from Galactus. RiffTrax released their riff in December 2007.
Synopsis and Preview[]
Best of Rifftrax - Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer
[Spoilers Begin]
As Reed Richards and Sue Storm prepare for their wedding, a silver object enters Earth's atmosphere, creating 1 mile wide craters across the Earth. General Hagar asks Reed to track and identify its movements. He initially refuses, to appease Sue, who feels he is again neglecting her for his work. However, he surreptitiously builds a radar tracker to locate the object, as the Army requests.
During the wedding, Reed's systems detect the phenomenon approaching New York City, which suffers a blackout since it emits electromagnetic pulses that cause power outages. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, pursues the object, discovering it to be a silvery humanoid on a flying surfboard. The "Silver Surfer" drags him into the upper atmosphere and drops him. During his fall, Johnny finds his flame powers fluctuating and barely survives, successfully flying only at the last moment. Later, Sue and Johnny switch powers when they touch, prompting Reed to deduce that exposure to the Surfer has affected Johnny's molecular structure, allowing him to switch powers with his teammates through physical contact. Tracing the cosmic energy of the Surfer, Reed discovers that a series of planets the alien has visited have all been destroyed.
With the Surfer creating craters around the globe, Reed determines that the next will appear in London. The team arrives too late to stop the crater, which drains the River Thames, but does prevent the London Eye from collapsing after it was damaged by the quake (though Johnny nearly thwarts their effect in the process). Afterward, Reed and Sue contemplate abandoning their lives as superheroes in order to have a normal life and raise a family. The Surfer's movements around the globe bring him past Latveria, where the cosmic energy affects Victor von Doom, freeing him from two years encased in metal. Doom, able to move again but scarred, traces the Surfer to the Russell Glacier and offers to join forces. When the Surfer rebuffs him, Doom attacks. The Surfer returns fire, blasting Doom through the ice. The cosmic energy of the Surfer's blast heals Doom's body.
Doom leverages his experience into a deal with the American military, who force the Fantastic Four to work with Doom. Deducing that the Surfer's board is the source of his power, Reed develops a tachyon pulse generator that will separate him from it, while Doom works on a machine whose function he does not reveal. In the Black Forest, the Surfer confronts Sue and reveals he is merely a servant to the destroyer of worlds, and regrets the destruction he causes. The military opens fire on the Surfer, which distracts him and allows the Fantastic Four to fire the pulse, separating the Surfer from his board. The military imprisons the Surfer in Siberia, while they torture him for information. Sue uses her powers to sneak into his cell, where he reveals more information. He tells her his master, known by the people of his world as Galactus, is a massive one million mile long cloud-like cosmic entity that feeds on life-bearing planets to survive, and that his board is a homing beacon summoning Galactus to the planet. The Silver Surfer has to serve Galactus, who will otherwise destroy not only his loved ones but also his planet.
Doom, using the device he has created, betrays and steals the board from the compound using his device from earlier, killing the majority of the Army present there. The Fantastic Four rescue the Surfer and pursue Doom in the Fantasticar, confronting him in Shanghai. During the battle, Sue is mortally wounded. With the Surfer powerless, Johnny absorbs the combined powers of the entire team in order to battle the now cosmic energy-empowered Doom (also saying Ben's catchphrase). Johnny succeeds in breaking Doom's controling device over the Surfer's board, and Ben Grimm uses a nearby crane to knock Doom into the harbor. However, Galactus has arrived, and Sue dies in Reed's arms. The Surfer regains control of his board, restoring his power. He revives Sue and chooses to defend Earth, flying, with an extra boost from Johnny, into Galactus. The conflict results in a massive blast of energy that engulfs Galactus in a cosmic rift, and apparently kills the Surfer as well. Johnny has recovered his stable molecular state after touching the Surfer's board.
Reed and Sue get married in Japan, in an abbreviated ceremony. Receiving news that Venice is sinking into the Adriatic, the team heads to Italy. In a post-credits scene, the Silver Surfer's seemingly lifeless body floats through space. His eyes then open and his board races toward him, showing that he is alive.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Ioan Gruffudd as Dr. Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
- Jessica Alba as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
- Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
- Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm / Thing
- Doug Jones as Norrin Radd / Silver Surfer
- Laurence Fishburne as the voice of Silver Surfer
- Julian McMahon as Dr. Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom
- Kerry Washington as Alicia Masters
- Beau Garrett as Captain Frankie Raye
- Vanessa Minnillo as Julie Angel
- Andre Braugher as General Hager
- Stan Lee as Himself / Rejected Wedding Guest
Quotes[]
Notes[]
- The minister performing the wedding ceremony of Reed and Sue is played by actor/comedian Brian Posehn. Posehn is a long-time friend of Patton Oswalt (who had been considered for the role but was unavailable).