Went to Southern California over the weekend,primarily to celebrate The Random Mother’s birthday. We had to drive home Sunday (Happy Father’s Day! You win … 7 hours in the car!) and in the interest of maximizing time spent with both families, we saw my folks on Friday night and The Random In-Laws on Saturday evening.
Sitting at The Random In-Laws’ house Saturday night, looking forward to seven hours in the car the following morning, we decided to celebrate Father’s Day a little early by taking The Random Father-in-Law to the movies. (Like that one? Everybody wins.) Two hours later, we’re sitting in a theater, surrounded by popcorn, candy and sodas which wouldn’t be on my diet but for the fact thatI can’t possibly let The Random Spouse and The Random Father-in-Law eat all that stuff alone. (They’d only feel badly about it afterward, and my righteous abstinence would make them feel worse … so of course I took one for the team.)
And what, pray tell, did we see?
Rise of the Silver Surfer, of course.
Which of course means you’re gettingmy review.
I liked it.
And below the fold, I’ll tell you why.
I’m sure we’ll see all kinds of posts, articles and reviews from people who expect every movie to either (a) change the world with earth-shattering special effects like Star Wars or Jurassic Park,(b) promote positive reflection and self-examination a-la Gandhi (Yes, I saw it. Yes, I stayed awake), or (c) both, preferably without a slow minute and only stellar acting. Those people won’t like Silver Surfer – a fact which they probably ought to know before going in, but which they’ll ignore in favor of the opportunity to rip apart a film that actually manages to do what it claims to do – entertain.
I don’t go to the movies for earth-shattering commentary, for self-reflection or for education. If I want commentary, I’ll read. If I want reflection, I’ll pray. If I want education, I’ll pick up a book, call up a blog or watch the History channel. (With occasional stops at Discovery, Food Network or another related documentary-style production).
No. I don’t go to the movies for any of that. I’ll be honest here. I go to be entertained. I go to laugh. I go to watch things blow up. I go to watch people fly (sometimes intentionally). In short, I go to the movies to escape the issues which surround me every day, to appreciate the special effects, and to see guys like Bruce Willis and Will Smith fight aliens and terrorists with bad one liners and massivecollateral damage (which apparently results in zero human casualtiesaside frominsurance company adjusters).
I didn’t see An Inconvenient Truth, but I’ve seen every installment of Alien and I haven’t missed a decent comic book film in years. I liked The Fantastic Four and I liked Silver Surfer – not because they remained faithful to the comic books I read as a kid (they didn’t) – I didn’t expect them to. Jurassic Park butchered Michael Crichton’s novel too – but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the film.
The issue, as with just about everything else in life, is expectation. If you see a film with preconceived notions about what the film “must” be to you, you’re almost certainly facing disappointment. If, on the other hand, you can go in forgetting just about everything you know – with no expectations beyond the hope that you’ll spend the next 90 minutes immersed in the experience – you’re likely to enjoy far more of these films. If I want the original Silver Surfer, I’ll read the comics. I’ll surf the fan sites. I’ll talk on the boards. But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted ninety minutes in which I rooted for the good guys to blow up the bad guys, who in turn tried to blow up not only the good guys but the rest of the world along with them. Preferably with a few entertaining moments and solid laughs built in.
I wasn’t disappointed.
If you’re looking for something other than an entertaining comic-book ride, go elsewhere. The acting was moderately good for a comic bookfilm (which mainly means I didn’t find myself pondering the fact that my lawn needs mowing) and the action keeps moving at a fairly consistent clip, with the exception of about ten minutes toward the beginning which I found slightly boring (but then, it was “wedding-based exposition” andI’d rather just jump to the part where they start flying around and blowing things up…but that might just be me.) On the whole, though, I enjoyed the film immensely. If you liked the original Fantastic Four, you’realmost certainto like Silver Surfer. If not …. the new Die Hard opens a week from Wednesday. (And if you don’t like Die Hard, you’re probably reading the wrong blog.)
Trackposted to Webloggin, Mark My Words, Conservative Cat, and Pursuing Holiness, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
