Survey: Why Do Fans Hate the Fantastic Four Films

[TMC1982]

The first movie (the "official", big budgeted one from 2005, not the unreleased, Roger Corman version from 1994) wasn't all that well received critically, while the second one did even worst box office business. Now, according to Chris Evans (Johnny Storm) at least, the chances of their being a third one are very, very slim.

Several obvious reasons first come to mind:
*The handling of Doctor Doom.

*The casting of Jessica Alba as Sue Storm.

*Making Galactus a gigantic storm cloud.

*Having Tim Story (who had mostly, a comedic background with "Barbershop" and "Taxi") direct.

*Battle sequences being too short.

Here's some further comments from fans:
What do you hate about both Fantastic Four movies?

 

[3dman27]

The first movie (the "official", big budgeted one from 2005, not the unreleased, Roger Corman version from 1994) wasn't all that well received critically, while the second one did even worst box office business. Now, according to Chris Evans (Johnny Storm) at least, the chances of their being a third one are very, very slim.

Several obvious reasons first come to mind:
*The handling of Doctor Doom.

*The casting of Jessica Alba as Sue Storm.

*Making Galactus a gigantic storm cloud.

*Having Tim Story (who had mostly, a comedic background with "Barbershop" and "Taxi") direct.

*Battle sequences being too short.

Here's some further comments from fans:
What do you hate about both Fantastic Four movies?

i have no problem with ms.alba's portrayal of susie but agree with the other points

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

I don't "hate" the FF movies, but they disappointed me a bit. Here's why:

1) Doom portrayed as a smug prick instead of a Latverian Monarch.

2) Reed Richards played as an inept, bankrupt, idiot instead of the founding father of the Marvel Universe, and the LEADER of said Universe's premiere super-team.

3) Galactus completely left out.


Other than that, i have no problems. I thought the director and actors were all fine.

 

[shadowdog]

the biggest problem with FF2 was the lack of FF action.
The whole power-switching sidestory really took time and focus away from the story and I think the action suffered most.
There was no FF vs Silver Surfer battle, no Doom vs FF battle, nothing
I thought the movies had a lot of potential, I liked the casting and the look of the films, even the general mood of the films, but they fell way short, especially the 2nd one

 

[Artistsean]

My problem with the movie is that they changed to much, didn't stick close enough or respect the source material. They updated it too much or something.
Then in the case of Dr. Doom they completely messed up.

 

[The Major]

My problem with the movie is that they changed to much, didn't stick close enough or respect the source material.

Agreed.

They updated it too much or something.

Updates are necessary for most live action adaptions. What went wrong is that their updates were generally not necessary, inferior to the original ideas and, the most crucial of all, horribly executed.

It didn't capture the spirit of the FF. It was more like a lame caricature that only went after the lowest common denominator and preferred to avoid reaching the franchise's potential. It didn't have a brain when it should have.

Then in the case of Dr. Doom they completely messed up.

Agreed

 

[Dope Nose]

2) Reed Richards played as an inept, bankrupt, idiot instead of the founding father of the Marvel Universe, and the LEADER of said Universe's premiere super-team.

Reed has always been an inept, bankrupt idiot. Back when Stan Lee was writing Reed lost all of his money investing in the stock market and the team was forced to sell their equipment.

 

[cerealkiller182]

1) The handling of Doom and Galactus obviously.

2) I could have done without Alba, but she doesnt bother me as much in the second film

3) There should be some comedy but a lot of the lines were just too corny.

4) Better balance of motifs. It was mostly "We're a family not a team" which is nice, but I wanted to see more exploration of the universe. I wanted to see more scope.

 

[SymbioteKal-El]

There were a multitude of problems with both movies, the 2nd had so much potential with the SS/Galactus story but it was just underwhelming when it shouldnt have been. SS is practically a god and Galactus is practically the God of Gods but be barely saw anything from either of them.

The first one was even worse. I dont blame Story completely, though he was a factor, but, as with many other CB movies, the fact that Fox was the studio making the movie was the biggest factor in their downfall. They are simply a horrible movie-making studio.

 

[bubbadoom]

FF was Marvel's first and best "Cosmic" comic, and the movies feel much too small. They need the scope and adventure of the comics! They need the respect for the characters that a director like G. delToro brings to HELLBOY.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I like the movies, but I take them for what they are. Dr. Doom should have been a larger than life villian, you know, the villian to end all villians. Galactus, of course, was mishandled. The Silver Surfer's board being the source of his power I felt was kinda lame. I didn't care for Alba, but I can forego the little things. The movie should have felt larger, much like the comic. When you read a Fantastic Four comic, you get the feeling that they have the enterity of the world at their disposal (if that makes any sense).

 

[StarkTheProdigy]

The first was alright, but no where great. The second one should have been straight to video. Imo, here's what went wrong:

Introduced the Silver Surfer too soon imo, should have waited, but owell.
The movies were too childish,
The impact of the movie: the feeling of "wow, this is intense" ex: in ff2, our earth was going to be destroyed, and i was like, "whoopdie do"
Timing: imo, a great super hero movie must atleast be around the 2 hour range
The action scenes: come on, a guy that can stretch, a guy on fire, a gaint rock, and a girl that can turn invisible, in my opinion, the action was poor, they could have been alot more creative. ex, in ff2, having the whole team give the human torch their powers; that defeats the purpose of a super hero TEAM movie.
The director: sucked imo
The actors: didn' t really bother me, although, jessica was as orange as the thing in ff2.

 

[Abstract]

What I didn't like was how much they changed. Dr. Doom and Galactus being the most obvious examples.

Neither of the films had a strong story either, which is disappointing considering the 500 + issues of comics they had to draw inspiration from.

 

[bullets]

the villians weren't that impressive and the fights should of felt or been more epic. the galactus cloud was lame and doom was weak.

 

[OsGom]

The reasons I hate the FF movies.

-Miscast and poorly written Dr. Doom. He is the most prolific villain in comics. He has an extensive and diverse back story. If any villain in all the Marvel Universe needs and deserves his own origin story it is Victor. Instead he is cast by a bargain basement pretty boy and written as an efite gigolo prick. IMO the key to a great franchise is not only character depth for the heroes but making a villain with whom people can identify and sympathize. Fox should followed the path used for Magneto.
-Reed Richards miscast and poorly written. At no time did I believe Guffold's Richards could be perceived as anyone as a leader. His acting was mediocre at best.

The other factor that kept me from enjoying the FF was the fact that The Incredibles preceded the FF release by several months and watching that movie you realized everything an FF movie could and should be. IMO The Incredibles is the pinnacle of what a superhero team movie should be. The FF did not capture it nor did Xmen quite hit the mark. As good as the action sequences were in Xmen the mostly encompassed 1 on 1 battles. They didn't do a good job of capturing the level of teamwork needed in a team battle.

 

[Doomed_hero]

It all comes down to Doom for me. I can deal with nearly everything else(with maybe some more action and doing Surfer better.) but Doom was the worse character brought to screen in all comic book movies. This is a guy who is not simply a main villian in the FF pathos, he is the villian of villians in all of marveldom and should be given the respect they give Joker everytime they do a Batman movie. I mean ruthless buisness man? I can see making a low level flunky into a Lex Luthor clone, but Doom? and then a love trangle? eh. Plus if the world was being destoryed, Doom would be noble enough to give up his power, since he wishes to rule the world andnot destory it. His quest for power always have meaning, and in the film he has none. They take away from the muilti demensional character Doom is in the comics and it hurts the movies in the end.

 

[OsGom]

It all comes down to Doom for me. I can deal with nearly everything else(with maybe some more action and doing Surfer better.) but Doom was the worse character brought to screen in all comic book movies. This is a guy who is not simply a main villian in the FF pathos, he is the villian of villians in all of marveldom and should be given the respect they give Joker everytime they do a Batman movie. I mean ruthless buisness man? I can see making a low level flunky into a Lex Luthor clone, but Doom? and then a love trangle? eh. Plus if the world was being destoryed, Doom would be noble enough to give up his power, since he wishes to rule the world andnot destory it. His quest for power always have meaning, and in the film he has none. They take away from the muilti demensional character Doom is in the comics and it hurts the movies in the end.

Agreed. If anything Doom whould have usurped the Surfer's power in a bid to get Galactus's power.

 

[Matt312]

The problem wasn't ff was bad, it was just o.k. And o.k. now doesn't cut it. And Alba was cast for her star power because no way did she look like Johnny sister.

 

[The Major]

The problem wasn't ff was bad, it was just o.k. And o.k. now doesn't cut it.

For a low budget direct to dvd or made for tv movie might have.

Only they were big budget theatrical movies.

And Alba was cast for her star power because no way did she look like Johnny sister.

Alba's ethnicity was the least of her problems. It was her acting.

The fact they had to go to her in an industry filled with famous, talented blonde actresses for a role like Sue Storm really shows how bad the movies were. They could have had Rachel McAdams IIRC. While not my first choice she'd have a better Sue Storm.

 

[That-Guy]

1. Dr. Doom... the only reason I was ever interested in an F4 movie (not a big fan of F4) and he ultimately turned out to be the worst part. Aside from changing his origin, they didn't even make him interesting or ingenious. He was just a snotty rich *****e with a hard-on for Sue. Yawn.

2. Jessica Alba CAN'T act and no amount of special effects can change that fact. I'll agree, she's a beautiful girl, but her lack of talent is so obvious, I refuse to watch any film she's in henceforth other than Sin City 2, if it ever gets made.

3. Poor direction. Tim Story couldn't figure out if he was making a comedy, a super hero action/adventure, a sci-fi picture, a romance or a family film. Fortunately for him he failed on all counts. TWICE.

4. Bad FX. Sure, Johnny Storm looked cool and I was happy to see that Ben Grimm was a real guy instead of CGI, but Reed's lame looking stretching knocked the effects down to the crap level. Seriously, it was REALLY bad.

The worst part of it all though was that I felt there was actually some potential here and its a shame that it was wasted on two lousy movies. I thought Chris Evans and Michale Chiklis were really good in their roles and saved these two films from being practically unwatchable. Also, I enjoyed the Silver Surfer... I didn't even mind the Cloud Galactus simply because I was just thankful that Story didn't f**k up the Surfer's origin too much.

Hopefully we'll get a Silver Surfer movie. If we get that (and it's good) then it'll all have been worth it, IMO, because I love the Surfer.

 

[sleepwalk]

1) Doom- Poorly handled and likely miscast. I like Julian McMahon but . . .
2) Source material- Largely ignored. See above for prime example.
3) Alba- As I think about it more and more, she didn't do too badly. The maternal Sue couldn't show up until sequel and all she had for the first one is a bunch on nudity jokes.
4) Grey hair and blue contacts aren't to be used when they are not necessary.

Piece by piece the first movie looks fine but fails to equal the sum of its parts. Michael Chiklis is always clutch and Chris Evans worked great with him. Ioan Gruffald was actually okay as Reed in that he was underwhelming in his interaction with people but started to shine when he was in his element in the labs.

 

[Obi-Ron]

Dr. Doom was simply a copy of Norman Osborn from the Spidey franchise.

He should:

• never have been seen without his mask
• have been caught in the end, only to be revealed as merely a robot double.

 

[alexdunn]

It's too dumb.

And Doom sucks.

hehe.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The problem with the Fantastic Four films was that they were made by Fox, the studio that has no respect for the properties they are in possession of, makes them in an incredibly cheap quality, and then charges people the most for DVD/blu-ray.

 

[Docker2.0]

1. Dr. Doom... the only reason I was ever interested in an F4 movie (not a big fan of F4) and he ultimately turned out to be the worst part. Aside from changing his origin, they didn't even make him interesting or ingenious. He was just a snotty rich *****e with a hard-on for Sue. Yawn.

2. Jessica Alba CAN'T act and no amount of special effects can change that fact. I'll agree, she's a beautiful girl, but her lack of talent is so obvious, I refuse to watch any film she's in henceforth other than Sin City 2, if it ever gets made.

3. Poor direction. Tim Story couldn't figure out if he was making a comedy, a super hero action/adventure, a sci-fi picture, a romance or a family film. Fortunately for him he failed on all counts. TWICE.

4. Bad FX. Sure, Johnny Storm looked cool and I was happy to see that Ben Grimm was a real guy instead of CGI, but Reed's lame looking stretching knocked the effects down to the crap level. Seriously, it was REALLY bad.

The worst part of it all though was that I felt there was actually some potential here and its a shame that it was wasted on two lousy movies. I thought Chris Evans and Michale Chiklis were really good in their roles and saved these two films from being practically unwatchable. Also, I enjoyed the Silver Surfer... I didn't even mind the Cloud Galactus simply because I was just thankful that Story didn't f**k up the Surfer's origin too much.

Hopefully we'll get a Silver Surfer movie. If we get that (and it's good) then it'll all have been worth it, IMO, because I love the Surfer.

Agreed on all parts except about Story. From my understanding, Story wanted to use the original Galactus design but Fox said no. His hands were really tied. With the exception of Alba, casting was perfect. Julious made a perfect Doom but they just dropped the ball with him. But my biggest problem was Alba. She's a horrible actress, every movie she plays in bombs and she's only used for eye candy! She sux! End rant!