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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

June 21, 2007


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2007-06-21

Make like the name

Shouldn't this superhero movie be a little more Fantastic?

(Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, now showing)

B-

The character-driven quality and near-absence of good action in The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will likely alienate fans despite the anticipation surrounding this latest comic-book sequel movie.

This issue of FF unfurls as scientists-turned-superheroes Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) plan their long-awaited wedding. Too bad for the caterer that Mr. Fantastic can't seem to tame his workaholic ways.

Richards has been picking up strange intergalactic readings in his fancy laboratory, and the U.S. military is demanding he help figure out the cause of weird radiation flashes in the sky.

An un-costumed Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) shows up, returning inexplicably from his annihilation in Part 1, and begrudgingly works with nemesis and former colleague Richards to explain the energy blob.

Turns out it's merely the interstellar Silver Surfer scouting dinner locations for his planet-devouring boss, Galactus, who's hungrily en route to Earth.

The bulk of the film finds the Fantastic Four pitifully trying to stop Silver Surfer's path of destructive reconnaissance. In one of the film's several underwhelming action scenes, Alba's tediously acted Invisible Woman saves London's Millennium Wheel from collapse simply by standing in front of it with arms and fingers outstretched and a feigned grimace.

The scene is a good example of the film's general reliance on weak computer animation, which really lets the bad acting shine through.

When your superhero shtick is malleable and fantastic body powers, they'd better look good. Mr. Fantastic's computer-generated stretchy arms and legs are as convincingly realistic as Atari, and director Tim Story could've done a better job with actual rubber and some basic camera trickery. That approach makes The Thing's rock-encrusted body look terrifically lifelike, but he's unfortunately the only character who doesn't receive a half-assed treatment of computer effects.

The effect inspires one to compare these 2007 depictions with those in the 1994 Roger Corman film of the same name - an unreleased, copyright-protecting legal exercise/B-movie that mixed live action with traditional animation.

The new Marvel movie also nails down mediocrity in the portrayal of the original comic-book characters. Human Torch Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) is adequately cocky, but gone are Mr. Fantastic's avuncular white sideburns and the Invisible Woman's innocent and earnest allure, replaced by Gruffudd's Grecian formula and Alba's Maxim-inspired casting.

Even enemy Galactus is dehumanized from studly villain to grey storm cloud.

In the end, this film feels like superhero-lite, rarely the feeling elicited by four decades of the Marvel-ous comic book. Bad graphics, poor talking-to-clobbering ratios and general imagination-on-vacation depictions make this sequel more bland than fantastic.

While the task of boiling that rich history of creative storytelling down to 90 minutes is daunting, it seems like one you wouldn't want to get this wrong.
— Walter Forsberg

Forecast calls for showers, laughter

Steve Carell stars in new comedy about a man building an ark for God

(Evan Almighty, now showing)

B+

Readers, what's more absurdly hilarious: a biblical comedy cashing in on the trendiness of global warming or the trend itself, which worries people enough to watch green-themed films but not enough to do much to prevent the impending environmental collapse?

Drive your SUV to the local megaplex and see the new Steve Carell romp to decide for yourself.

Evan Almighty is the tangentially related sequel to 2003's Bruce Almighty, but there's not much plot connection with the original film. Here, again, Morgan Freeman's God character actually answers an innocent-sounding, religiously ensconced request from the protagonist, turning his life upside down in the process. This time God's chosen one is TV anchorman Evan Baxter (thank God the charmless Jim Carrey is not resurrected).

We join Baxter as he retires from broadcasting to pursue national politics. He's just been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on the campaign slogan, "change the world," but doing so has its challenges, and Baxter has plenty to worry about at his new job. There's the human incapability to fully read the laws he'll be voting on, plus the pressure to rubber-stamp legislation sponsored by slimy Congressman Long (John Goodman), who scores Baxter a sweet Capitol Hill office. And, of course, his family wants him spending more time at home.

A small prayer asking for help grabs God's attention, and pretty soon the lumber starts to roll in. God wants Baxter to build an ark of biblical grandeur for an impending flood. Initially skeptical, Baxter tries to continue on with his 'real' job - but God can be persuasive.

Soon, Baxter's dogged pursuit by pairs of birds and animals, his new, unshaveable Galilean beard, and spousal separation convince him of the futility of disobeying God's ark commission. So, with much public ridicule and little support, he builds.

With a reported price tag of $250 million US, Evan Almighty is the most expensive comedy ever made, but it's certainly not the funniest.

Carell's characters usually have an innocent yet ironic naiveté that endears audiences. The Office's Michael Scott might be a terrible boss and co-worker, yet something about the character's idiocy melts your heart (think Scott's Jamaican dreadlocks). Carell's virginal 40-year-old was also supremely uncool but had a charming honesty to him.

With Evan Baxter, Carell is able to play an earnest straight man whose sense of faith helps him build the ark, all while hamming it up with the folly of Congressional thirst for power. Doing so easily makes Carell the funniest part of this movie, but the average writing leaves previous efforts more hilarious.

The remainder of the film will please families, Christian groups and, perhaps, animal lovers, but the overwhelming computer graphics used to depict the wildlife sends a weightier environmental message than the movie's intended one: how long before Hollywood will be forced to use digital stand-ins for extinct species?
— Walter Forsberg

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