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.
 * 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.
 * 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 (comics). That's about as far removed from Johnny as you'll get.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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: 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.