Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the second installment in the Fantastic Four series. Many of the attempts at emotional resonance fall flat but the action scenes are shameless entertainment.

Reed Richards, or Mr. Fantastic (played by Ioan Gruffudd) is set to marry Sue Storm, or The Invisible Woman, when the world is disrupted by an unknown force. Later it is discovered that the Silver Surfer (physical acting by Doug Jones and voice by Laurence Fishburne) is creating craters that are disrupting more than just what the Fantastic Four can seen. The Fantastic Four; Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, Human Torch (Chris Evans) and The Thing (Michael Chiklis) set out to save the world from the doom the Silver Surfer has bestowed upon them. They must work with the pompous General Hager (Andre Braugher) who brings with him the treacherous Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon.)

The acting in Fantastic Four is kiddie pool deep at best. There are no painfully shallow scenes but there are no scenes that stick with you either.

Jessica Alba suffers from a horrific case of the overacties! Every time she makes a force field it looks like she is trying to push it out her butt instead of through her hands. She couldn't muster an attachment for her fiancé, brother or long time friend. The closest she gets to actually portraying an emotional attachment is for the Silver Surfer. I am having Jessica's last name changed to Albarf.

Ioan Gruffundd is only slightly better. While he can't seem to look adoringly on his future wife, he can look adoringly on his PDA and scientific equipment. He is in his element when he is discussing the science-ish stuff. He never comes across as heroic because most of his heroic scenes are done poorly, by computer generation, so you never see his face or his mannerisms.

The only actor that caught my attention as particularly good was Doug Jones. He lends his face and dare I say, tremendous body, to the Silver Surfer. The true gift Jones gives the Silver Surfer is the great stone face that only occasionally cracks but does so subtly, avoiding the pitfalls of melodrama.