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As it stands, recent months have delivered us a number of disappointing ventures - Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Shrek the Third were all considerable departures from the films that preceded them. With the sequel to 2005's Fantastic Four, things are a little different - the original, whilst fun, was never held in the high regard that the aforementioned titles were, but nevertheless, can this sequel retain the coveted title of the "great Summer blockbuster" that we are missing this year?

The plot continues where the last film left us - Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) is imprisoned in Latveria, and Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) and Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) are preparing to finally marry. Just as the pivotal moment approaches, all Hell breaks loose as an alien entity arrives on Earth, soon identified as the Silver Surfer (rendered in the form of Doug Jones, and voiced by Laurence Fishburne). To add to the chaos, Dr. Doom is awakened from his tomb, and through the myriad double-crosses and questionable motives, there's certainly a lot going on.

That being said, the film is about as good as one might expect, given the not-terrible, not-great original. Given how the original film was an enjoyable Summer actioner, albeit one served with a rather large side of cheese, one expects much the same here. What you see is, invariably, what you get, although aside from the appearance of the Silver Surfer, the film is sorely lacking in almost every department. There is too much cheese, the humour is truly dire, and in perhaps the worst offence, everything is just too blatant. Stan Lee's cameo in particular is utterly ridiculous, and the product placement, whilst clearly self-aware, is nevertheless preposterous.

The first half an hour of the film could have been cut down considerably, allowing more time for the Silver Surfer. Running in at just ninety minutes, donating almost thirty to building up the rather tiresome marriage story and re-acquainting us with the already one-dimensional characters does not sell. That said, the second that the Silver Surfer shows up, the film improves by leaps and bounds. The Surfer is excellently rendered, and despite apprehension regarding the casting of Fishburne, his voice work is exemplary. Some of the Surfer's dialogue is extremely memorable, and comic fanboys will at least appreciate that this is the one thing, above all else, that Tim Story and company have unquestionably landed on the money with. That said, the Silver

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