Rise of the Best Summer Sequel (So Far)!

No the scene of Johnny Storm (aka Chris Evans) coming out of the shower wrapped only in a towel wasn't gratuitous. We've come to expect such crowd pleasing fare from a Fantastic Four flick (though in my humble opinion we shouldn't have had to wait so long for said scene), good honest comic book movies with a little style, very little substance, but a very fun-filled 90 or so minutes nonetheless.

The 7:30pm Friday night audience at The Grove was packed with kids (and a spattering of homos), the target audience for this popcorn tale that introduces the iconic Silver Surfer (herald of the storm-cloud like Galactus, an Ultimate Universe-esq. departure from his classic pointy-helmeted appearance), cures Victor Von Doom of his facial deformities (so that the stunning Julian McMahon, who I'd never really considered that handsome before, can play him mask, and makeup, less), and brings the Fantasticar to the movie mythology.

Like Spider-man, New York City is the home base for this super foursome, however unlike most Ameri-centric comic book movies, FF2 turns into a truly global venture with spectacular set pieces at the London Eye, the Great Wall of China and some other Asian city. Like the recent Spider-man 3 however, FF2 also features a dancing superhero (this time Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards), though this time its totally played for nothing but laughs (and to show off Reed's stretchiness).

With an estimated opening weekend gross of $57.4 million in the US, it looks like I wasn't the only one to actually like the Rise of the Silver Surfer, despite mediocre reviews. If I had one real complaint about the entire movie it would be this: Jessica Alba's blond locks really bothered me (with a Storm circa X-Men 1 and 2 feel)!!!

(But best summer sequel (so far) you ask, well Spidey 3 just couldn't, and didn't, live up to its previous installments, and Pirates 3 beached itself on a sandbar of confusion and boredom. Next upJohn McClane dies again.)