Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) and Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) encounter the Silver Surfer in this scene from "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is better that the first attempt to bring the Marvel Comics characters to the big screen. Actually, this sequel could have been 89 minutes of static and it would have been better.

The surprise is how much better it is. The characters and cast remain the same. Tim Story is back as director. There's even the obligatory appearance by Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee.

But this time, the characters are not treated like comic book characters. The first "Fantastic Four" was shot with a wink and a nod. It was as if Story felt compelled to remind the viewers every few minutes that these characters started out as two-dimensional occupants of a printed world.

The sequel uses the approach that made the "X-Men" movies so good. These are people who are not like everyone else. That means they are going to be treated differently by everyone from the people they meet in a bar to government officials.

That simple change of focus improved the movie. The final ingredient that makes the film soar is the addition of the Silver Surfer (played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne). Surfer, who should be known as the Silver Sufferer, provides the link to a global catastrophe befitting the Four.Surfer seeks out new worlds for a being known as Galactus to consume. Earth is on the menu. The Fantastic Four, with some unwanted help from their arch nemesis Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon), must find a way to stop the threat.The Silver Surfer could easily take over the film franchise. Despite being a creature who looks like he's made of quicksilver, the Silver Surfer brings a great humanity to the film. It is the interaction with the Silver Surfer that elevates the story and, in turn, improves the sequel over the first movie.But the sequel still has a few problems. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, who is the egghead leader of the group, is supposed to be a bore. Ioan Gruffudd's performance at Richards/Fantastic is painfully dull. The film tries to give him a personality, but the attempts come across as trying to slip The Thing (Michael Chiklis) into a Speedo.And even Meryl Streep would have a hard time making it look like she is creating a force field with her hands. Jessica Alba gives it her best shot as Invisible Woman. The sequences always look forced.The bar had been set low after the first fantastic bore. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" sails over that bar like it was able to leap small buildings in a single bound.