YMMV / The Fifth Estate

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Julian a noble crusader driven to extremes by circumstances or a Manipulative Bastard willing to ruin lives just to get what he wants?
• Audience-Alienating Premise: It's one thing to make a film about an already controversial figure like Julian Assange, but it's a whole other topic making a film that actually takes the side of the governments and intelligence agencies that oversaw the controversial Iraq War.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Berg, played by Daniel Brühl, calls Assange (an Australian played by a Brit) an asshole. The Fifth Estate came out a few weeks after Rush where Brühl's Niki Lauda calls James Hunt (a Brit played by an Australian) an asshole.
  • While the film was critical of Wikileaks and Assange, an earlier criticism of Assange by then-State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, becomes hilarious, as it mocked Assange's statement that he could go to Guantanamo, saying, "Save it for the movie."
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl and Anthony Mackie would go on to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Strange, Helmut Zemo and Falcon respectively. Likewise, Stanley Tucci, who played Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger, is also in this film. The icing on the cake is Mackie's character being named Sam Coulson. Sound familiar?
  • Both Tucci and Dan Stevens would go on to co-star in a live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
• So Okay, It's Average: Aside from the positive reactions to Daniel Brühl and the near-raves for Benedict Cumberbatch's performance, seems to be the general critical reaction, especially from those expecting another The Social Network.