Though silver surfers roam Solana Beach and the front rows of Jimmy Buffet concerts, the movies have never seen a surfer quite like this. Comic fans are well familiar with the doomed figure atop the dynamite board, though, and welcome him to a medium where usually only the biggest names in superhero land get a title credit.

In this sequel to the 2005 hit, and based on the comic magazine characters who have now been around nearly 50 years, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" loads up on modern special effects while retaining its old-school storytelling standards.

Returning are the four heroes whose freak abilities enable them to protect the world's inhabitants, even if their talents put a giant wrinkle in their social lives. The stretchy Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), the now-you-don't-see-her Sue Strom/Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), the way hot Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Chris Evans) and rock-steady Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis) all return, hoping for some peace and quiet following their last adventure.

That's not the case, as trouble brews, and we see early on this impending catastrophe will cause havoc during the wedding of Reed and Sue, whose comic-land wedding during the '60s caused much discussion long before Luke and Laura and Charles and Diana.

Both Reed and Sue worry that because people rely on them so much, they will never have a normal life, and this is a good call. The evidence arrives with a whoosh when the Silver Surfer, a computer-generated creation designed by the special-effects folks who did similar magic for "The Lord of the Rings," appears with bad news. He is there as a precursor to Galactus, his master, for whom he prepares planets to disappear.

Earth is on its way out, so the Fantastic Four move toward battle mode, made difficult because the surfer's presence has caused a big problem. Seems that every time one of the Fantastic Four touches one of the others, he or she trades powers with that person, causing disruption. Bigger fish, though, because Galactus is on his way, and unless the team can discover the key to the surfer's magic, Earth is in big trouble. They do so, and along the way learn the sad story of their board-dwelling opponent, who is not what he first appears to be.

"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" entertains at a PG level, and that's just fine, reaching out to the crowd demographic who latched on to the series from the start. Corny humor and less bombastic action scenes than usual pave the way for a comic-style adventure with some old-style matinee mustard. This isn't great news for the post-tween crowd looking for some intellectual dynamite, maybe complex time-travel mechanisms and hidden but huge cultural commentaries. Not there, dude. No matter, this thing is pretty swell.

B+ "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis

Director: Tim Story

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Rated: PG (for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo)

RT: 92 minutes