Poster art for "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
9 OK for kids 9+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    One of the most enjoyable pictures of the season. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today |

    Doesn't quite live up to the billing, but it improves mightily on the original. And the superhero family can thank its new addition for the upgrade. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Justin Chang

    At a time when tortured superheroes like Spider-Man, Superman and Batman would benefit from some serious psychotherapy, it's almost refreshing to see a comicbook caper as blithe, weightless and cheerfully dumb as Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Read full review

  • 50
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Good fun -- more fun than in the original -- punctuated by some lines of admirable awfulness. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Earnest, gee-whiz and foursquare, this simple and intentionally inoffensive sequel gets points for being easy to take and scrupulously avoiding obvious sources of irritation. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    An improvement of sorts over the lifeless 2005 edition. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Scott Brown

    The dialogue aims young and low, and sounds translated from comic-book Esperanto. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    This existentially and aesthetically unnecessary sequel to the equally irrelevant if depressingly successful "Fantastic Four." Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The perfect summer movie, that is if you're eight years old or under. For the rest of us, the sequel to the first "Fantastic Four" that miraculously amassed more than $150 million in 2005, is a plotless, brainless, witless bore. Read full review

  • 20
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    Surely the dullest of Hollywood's many comic-book-derived summer movies, "Silver Surfer" is drearier than corn dying in the Iowa sun, slower than molasses in Antarctica. Read full review

View more reviews for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 9+ Much better than the first; OK for tweens and up.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this sequel to Fantastic Four is tamer than the original and much more tween-friendly. Like most superhero flicks, it includes loud, cartoonish violence -- but only two characters get seriously hurt or die. Most scenes involve crowds panicking as the Silver Surfer creates huge craters around the world. Unlike other conflicted superheroes, the Fantastic Four enjoy being of service, and everyone knows their true identities. There's some iffy language ("ass," "crap," "damn," etc.) and more innuendo than you might expect (characters talk about getting "hot," Johnny asks The Thing how he and his girlfriend "you know," and so on), but overall it's lighter and less complicated than similar comic book-based action films.
  • Families can talk about how this movie is similar to and different from other superhero films. What makes the Fantastic Four different from other superheroes? Do you like them better or worse than characters like Superman and Spider-Man? Why? Families can also discuss selflessness and responsibility. Sue tells the Silver Surfer that every being has a choice to do the right or wrong thing. Are there times when you're pressured to do something and feel there's no other choice?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: The four decide to stick together for the greater good; Johnny realizes he can be selfish and learns to be a team player; a rival redeems himself through self sacrifice.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Lots of explosions and crowds of people in jeopardy; the foursome, Johnny in particular, fight the Silver Surfer and Victor Von Doom. Someone is speared and temporarily dies. Another character is killed, but there's no blood.
  • sex false0 Sex: Several moments of spoken innuendo: Johnny asks The Thing how he and his girlfriend "you know;" Reed thinks scantily clad women at his bachelor party are "exotic dancers," but Johnny says they're just "hot." Johnny's girlfriend says being with him requires "fireproof lingerie" and "lots of aloe." Sue and Reed kiss on several occasions, and she tells him "I'm so hot for you right now." Johnny comes out of the shower in just a towel.
  • language false3 Language: Several uses of words/terms like "ass," "pissing me off," "crap," "what the hell," "freak," "screw-up," "damn," etc.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Crunch, Keebler, Gillette, Fox News, Circuit City, E! News, Daily News, Dolce & Gabbana.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Club-goers drink beer; Ben drinks from oversized glasses; someone mentions Jell-O shots.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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