The Only Watchable ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Is Now on Disney+

It’s really hard to think of a Marvel superhero franchise that’s gotten as raw of a deal as the Fantastic Four. Obviously the heroes that got to make their big screen debuts as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe got a head start on greatness, but even the outliers have had their time to shine. Daredevil and Punisher got a bunch of iffy movies but then got the star treatment on Netflix. Ghost Rider’s film franchise was hit or miss, but his addition to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a welcome one. Blade got Blade, which started the whole modern superhero movie revolution. And of course the X-Men have 20 years of films in their canon, and I know every Marvel fan has to at least like one of them. At least!

And then there’s the Fantastic Four. They got a low budget disaster film debut in the ’90s in a movie so bad it was never released. Then Fox rode X-Men’s popularity wave with a goofy AF superhero comedy in 2005, and then it went confusingly grim and gritty in 2015 to disastrous box office results. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby built the entire Marvel Universe on a foundation they laid down with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. It is ludicrous that no movie has come close to getting it right! Well… sorta?

Okay, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is not a good movie. It has a plot as thin as newspaper and a real 1961 idea of gender roles (Sue Storm just wants a perfect wedding day, dammit!). Mr. Fantastic’s special effects have aged horribly, looking sub-CW level. And as always, the movies just don’t understand what makes Doctor Doom Doctor Doom. But all that being said, Rise of the Silver Surfer is—and this sounds like such faint praise—the best Fantastic Four movie. It’s now streaming on Disney+, and y’know… go on and throw it on in the background.

The thing is, while Rise of the Silver Surfer is not good, it actually does a fine job of capturing the slapdash, tonally off-kilter vibe of those first Lee/Kirby FF issues. Those comics changed pop culture forever, but they were also ridiculous—and this movie is ridiculous. And as cringey as some of the special effects are, Michael Chiklis’ rubber Thing suit has a real, almost Muppet-y charm to it. It matches Chiklis’ grumpy but lovable take on ol’ Ben Grimm. And obviously MCU fans should revisit this movie because it puts Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm front and center. It’s delightful to go back and see Chris “Captain America” Evans play a bro-y, bratty playboy. He has the range! And also a gloriously hairy chest!

But really, this movie’s success hinges on the character that’s right there in the title. If you put the Silver Surfer in the title, you gotta get him right. And y’know what? This movie actually does right by the Silver Surfer. Somehow, as awful as the stretchy CG is, the effects that bring this chrome-plated alien to life still look stunning today. And then just look at the performers bringing this character to life: he has Laurence Fishburne’s voice and Doug Jones’ (The Shape of Water, Star Trek Discovery) movement! The movie is nearly pushed into “actually kinda good” territory just because of Silver Surfer alone.

We’re gearing up for another reboot of the Fantastic Four, this time made by Marvel Studios as part of the MCU and directed by Spider-Man: Homecoming helmer Jon Watts. We may have even seen some clues in WandaVision, or maybe that’s just conspiracy nonsense. Whatever—considering Marvel Studios’ track record, we are most likely going to get the definitive FF movie sometime in the next few years. Until then, we have Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and that’s actually not nothing.

Stream Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on Disney+