Fantastic Four (2005 film)/YMMV

"General Hager: Let me make it clear for you and your band of freaks here; I'm the quarterback. You're on my team. Got it? but I guess you never played football in high school, did you, Richards? Reed: No, you're right. I didn't. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century; I'm engaged to the hottest girl on the planet; and the big jock who played quarterback in high school? He's standing in front of me asking for my help. And I say he's not gonna get a damn thing, unless he does exactly what I tell him, and starts treating me and my friends with a little respect. Beat. General Hager: ...Give him what he wants."
 * Alternative Character Interpretation: As pointed out in this review, Doom is actually quite a nice guy in the first film, while the heroes cause damage to the city.
 * Best Known for the Fanservice: Some fans most likely remember it for when Jessica Alba strips off to her underwear.
 * Better on DVD: The extended cut of the first film got better emphasis on Ben and Alicia's romance.
 * Can't Unhear It: Those who prefer the Storyverse films over the reboot like hearing Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, Chris Evans, Julian McMahon and Laurence Fishburne for the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer respectively.
 * Comedy Ghetto: The first film got this after dark films at the time of release such as Revenge of the Sith and Batman Begins got considerable acclaim for their dark tones.
 * Contested Sequel: Some prefer the second film over the first film due to the more focus on action but some don't due to the lack of the Thing's screen time.
 * Cult Classic: The Storyverse movies are gaining one due to the lighthearted tone, fangirls of Chris Evans, fanboys of Jessica Alba, nostalgia for 2000s culture and that it is more true to the source material than the reboot.
 * Critic Proof: Audiences loved it, critics hated it. But since audiences loved it, the films were very financially successful.
 * Not exactly. The sequel just barely made it's budget back, and Fox was disappointed.
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: The Four's first public appearance, especially Grimm helping pull back the fire truck.
 * Also, taken almost word-for-for from the Warren Ellis comic book:

"Johnny: You know, I've always been both impressed, and disgusted by that."
 * Johnny using all of the team's powers at the same time to beat down Doctor Doom.
 * The chase sequence between Johnny and the Silver Surfer.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: "I cannot take orders from the underwear model! That wingnut washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria's Secret wannabes into a flight simulator. They crashed it into a wall. A flight simulator!!
 * "Don't Do Drugs!"
 * The extended cut of the 2005 film has a scene where Johnny is riding the elevator in the Baxter Building up and down, using his powers to raise the temperature so that whenever an attractive woman enters the elevator, she's forced to remove her clothes.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Composer John Ottman's contributions to the two movies, particularly the "Main Title" piece in the 2005 movie and the "Silver Surfer Theme" in Rise of the Silver Surfer
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Reviews of the movies were all over the place, but there was one constant: Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing was fantastic.
 * Estrogen Brigade: Johnny is always surrounded by women in public. Unsurprising, considering he's played by Chris Evans.
 * Fandom Berserk Button: Don't say that Black Panther is the first Marvel film directed by a Black person. Fantastic Four is.
 * First Installment Wins: As a whole, they are better to watch than the ill-fated reboot.
 * For the first film itself, some people like it better due to the Thing's increased screen time, lighthearted tone and focus on character development.
 * Fountain of Memes: The Thing, the Human Torch, Doom and Sue are the most quotable characters.
 * Friendly Fandoms:
 * A group of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans wanted Chiklis to return as the Thing for Jon Watts' upcoming Fantastic Four film.
 * Superman Returns and Hellboy are equally considered faithful superhero films replaced by mediocre or worse reboots. It also helps that both Hellboy and Rise of the Silver Surfer featured Doug Jones despite being dubbed over by Laurence Fishburne and David Hyde Pierce.
 * Storyverse tend to be friendly to Raimiverse fans due to how both of them are cheesy but fun.
 * Ham and Cheese: The Thing is quite hammy for these two cheesy movies.
 * Heartwarming in Hindsight: The films as a whole foreshadowed Jessica Alba's blossoming romance with Cash Warren since they met during the first film's production. Doesn't help that Reed's romance with Sue is just as heartwarming.
 * He Really Can Act: Michael Chiklis got considerable praise as the Thing in both films.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight:
 * Watching Chris Evans' performance as Johnny is particularly funny with the knowledge that he'll soon be slipping into the costume of another Marvel hero... Captain America. That's about as far removed from Johnny as you'll get.
 * Johnny being afraid that Alicia would be killed in a rockslide by the Thing is this due to the infamous My Life as a Teenage Robot porn parody, “What What in the Robot” that featured the Crater Critters doing a rockslide to Jenny.
 * Many compared the first film to Teen Titans Go! and The Powerpuff Girls 2016 reboot given that all three superhero teams don't do that much crime fighting.
 * Idiot Ball: In Rise... General Hager... It's one thing when the military does not trust superheros. It is another thing when that same general agrees to work with the guy who is not only WORSE than what you believe, but also took all of the Fantastic Four to defeat him in the previous film. Nice judgement, Hager.
 * Memetic Badass: The Thing is naturally one due to Chiklis' amazing performance and that he is the best member of the 4.
 * Memetic Mutation:
 * "Can't believe I'm doing this again!" Can be used if you don't want to try something again.
 * "Damn, I've been waiting to do that." Can be used if a hard task was done.
 * "I don't want to understand it!" Can be used on something you dislike.
 * "I'm gonna need therapy." Can be used for something traumatizing.
 * Nightmare Fuel: You get to see Doom's scarred face very briefly in the sequel. When you see it you'll be glad it's only there for a second.
 * One-Scene Wonder:
 * As always, Stan Lee as both himself and Willie Lumpkin.
 * Wolverine makes a facial cameo in the extended cut of the first film.
 * Retroactive Recognition: Is that Captain America?
 * Sacred Cow: Michael Chiklis' performance as the Thing is seen in a positive light for fans and non-fans. So much that he got to voice the Thing in an episode Robot Chicken alongside Evans and McMahon.
 * So Okay It's Average: Both movies got reviews largely in this range.
 * Special Effects Failure: In the sequel, it's grossly obvious whenever the Silver Surfer is CGI (which he is throughout the majority of the film) or just a man with special makeup effects.
 * Squick: Reed's texting fingers.
 * Squick: Reed's texting fingers.

"Johnny ...That's gross."
 * Plus the extended close up shot of Reed's hand squeezing beneath Ben's door in the first movie:


 * Straw Man Has a Point: Unlike in other versions Doom's reason for believing Reed ruined his life is far more justified, as it was his experiment that ruined his company.
 * Although one can't help wondering how well his company was doing in the first place if one accident (that ended up creating freakin' superheroes) is enough to sink it in a few days.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Galactus would have been a convincing villain if he wasn't made to resemble a cloud.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The theatrical cut of the first film under-used the screen time between Ben and Alicia.
 * Took the Bad Film Seriously: Rather than using motion capture or phoning in his performance, Chiklis insisted on wearing make-up to make the Thing more human-like and it paid off. His performance got the approval of Stan Lee.
 * Tough Act to Follow:
 * After the Storyverse, there hasn't been any good Fantastic Four films.
 * The actors' performances as the 4 and Doom have yet to be topped off.
 * Values Resonance: Jessica Alba's performance as Sue is now seen in a better light given that Sue had some character development compared to the comics aside that she stripped off in a few scenes. She also isn't afraid to be motherly to the rest of the team.
 * Vindicated by History: They aren't exactly masterpieces but when Fant4stic flopped and got worse reviews, people looked at the Storyverse films in a better light given that it's more faithful to the comics and is more fun.
 * The Woobie: The Thing. Even the most savage of critics loved Michael Chiklis' performance as Marvel's most loveable Tragic Monster. Jessica Alba said that Michael Chiklis was so damn good at pulling this off that she just wanted to hug him between takes because he looked so sad.
 * Plus, who didn't want to give Sue a hug after seeing the look on her face when her first wedding is crashed? Well, some of you would probably want to do more than hug her, but still.
 * What the Hell, Casting Agency?: Jessica Alba and Chris Evans as siblings? Really? Not a single person noticed the ethnic trench between them?
 * Unless someone mentions it, one could be forgiven for not knowing Alba is Latina. Especially in these movies where she is blonde. She is only one-third Hispanic in Real Life. The other parts being European: Danish, Spanish, Dutch, French.
 * But it's worth noting that a lot of people feel this way about the casting of Alba as Sue Storm in the first place.
 * Doctor Doom in general. Julian McMahon isn't to blame; he's a fine actor and did the best he could with the material. Even giving him powers is somewhat understandable, since it wasn't too likely they'd include the whole supernatural element of the character. The problem is that Doom was written as a Corrupt Corporate Executive like Norman Osborn rather than, you know, Doctor Doom.
 * Kerry Washington is a good actress but that she racebended Alicia Masters and that her performance in those films wasn't that good raised some eyebrows.