Fantastic Four (2005 film)/YMMV

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.
Base Breaking Character: Is Johnny Storm an unlikeable Jerkass or does he have that suave charm?
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 film got better emphasis on Ben and Alicia's romance. It also showed a scene of character development where Johnny gets scolded by a woman for throwing a fireball near her.
Broken Base: As with the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, does the cheesiness make the films dated or is it better than the meta humor of more recent superhero films?
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.
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.
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 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, particularly the "Main Title" piece.
Draco in Leather Pants: Doctor Doom is known in the film for his rugged looks.
Ensemble Darkhorse: Reviews of the movie was 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.
Fandom Rivalry: Fans of the Storyverse naturally don't get along with fans of Fant4stic and Roger Corman's film.
First Installment Wins: As a whole, this and its sequel 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' 2023 Fantastic Four film.
- Superman Returns, The Amazing Spider-Man and Hellboy are equally considered faithful superhero films replaced by mediocre or worse reboots after a sequel (In Superman Returns' case, none). 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 (first Hellboy film only) as well as John Ottman composing music for Superman Returns and the Storyverse films.
- Storyverse fans 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.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- The Fantastic Four in quarantine is harder to watch because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Reed wanting to cure the 4's powers is more unsettling after the release of X-Men: The Last Stand.
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. What makes it even funnier is that the two of them landed on ice at some point and get called Tinker Bell.
- Many compared the film to Teen Titans Go! and The Powerpuff Girls 2016 reboot given that all three superhero teams don't do that much crime fighting.
- Both Jessica Alba and Kate Mara (who would play Sue in Fant4stic) have met their future husband during filming a Fantastic Four film. They would later be together on an episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks: Some people thought that the film was trying to copy the Raimiverse, including where Doctor Doom is probably a Norman Osborn expy.
Just Here for Godzilla: Fortnite players watch the film just to see Doctor Doom.
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.
Misaimed Marketing: The trailers and TV spots showed off the action scenes but didn't focus on the more humorous aspects.
- That assumes that you expected the film to be a comedy and not, you know, a super hero story, which tend to be action-oriented.
Most Wonderful Sound: The electricity charging sound effect from Doctor Doom is hardcore.
One-Scene Wonder:
- As always, Stan Lee as Willie Lumpkin.
- Wolverine makes a facial cameo in the extended cut of the film. H.E.R.B.I.E. also appears in another scene of the extended cut.
Retroactive Recognition: Is that Captain America?
Romance on the Set: The films as a whole foreshadowed Jessica Alba's blossoming romance with Cash Warren since they met during the film's production.
Sacred Cow: Michael Chiklis' performance as the Thing is seen in a universally 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.
Signature Line: "It's clobberin' time!"
Signature Song: "Come On, Come In" by Velvet Revolver and "Noots" by Sum 41.
So Okay It's Average: This film got reviews mostly in this range.
Small Reference Pools: Younger (or more ignorant) viewers thought that the film was a rip-off of The Incredibles but the comic originated in 1962, over four decades before The Incredibles.
Special Effects Failure: The stretching effects for Reed are cartoony.
Squick: The extended close up shot of Reed's hand squeezing beneath Ben's door:

Johnny ...That's gross.

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.
Testosterone Brigade: A good amount of men just watch the film for any scene that features Jessica Alba as Sue Storm.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The theatrical cut of the 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 with voice over, 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.
Unacceptable Targets: Making fun of Chiklis as the Thing would likely get you clobbered.
The Unexpected: The extended cut showed cameos of Wolverine and H.E.R.B.I.E.
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.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The makeup for the Thing and Doctor Doom are so lifelike.
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 Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: The film is a little more tame than other Marvel films at the time, but there is some minor profanity, a violent death thanks to Doctor Doom and Jessica Alba has some stripping off scenes.
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. Alba looked more Danish with the blonde hair.
  - 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.