To Peace!
I know I've been very lax with blogging lately (I have my bachelor party recap halfway done, and I need to get some pics up of the ever-growing Loki), but wanted to give my two cents on Iron Man, which Night Nurse and I have already seen twice.
As you can imagine from the fact I've seen it twice in the span of a week, I absolutely loved it. For a character I've never had much love for (honestly, I never minded the character, it's the fact his villains all sucked ass), and for one who's pretty much become the asshole of the Marvel universe over the past few years, I wasn't chomping at the bit for this one when it was originally announced. But then they cast Robert Downy, Jr., and I thought, wow, that's pretty much the most ingenious casting every. Then, The Dude was brought in as Obadiah Stane, who I didn't have much knowledge of, but come on, it was The Dude. Finally, Terrence Howard as Rhodey... not who I would've gone for - I find Howard to be weak in the voice and kinda scrawny - but the guy is a good actor, so it had promise.
Then all the previews came out, and I was hooked. I was amazed the Superbowl trailer didn't go over well (I seem to remember it was at the bottom of the pack according to USAToday's audience ratings). But man, the look of the Mark I in action, the visuals of how they would do Tony inside the suit, I was enthralled. And when all the stellar reviews started trickling in from earlier reviewers, I knew the summer season was gonna start with a bang.
The flick starts off very strong. It's amazing how much they can set up the character just with a shot of a glass of whiskey in his hand, and some hilarious one-liners. And that's the first thing to say, this movie is very funny. And not canned, crappy humor either, each joke and one-liner is set up perfectly... Jon Favreau really impressed me as a director this time. I particularly loved the interaction between Stark and his robot arm Dummy... not something I think was in the comics, but a hilarious interactions, very similar to a boy and his dog...
The geek moments sprinklered throughout are awesome. All the mentions of SHIELD and it's mouthful of an acronym. Jarvis. The fact Tony is drinking nearly all the time. Rhodey's simple yet awesome "Next time, baby" line towards the end. Even the fact they somehow included the Mandarin in the story without using the outdated name. And of course, the reason I went to see the flick a second time, the final 20 seconds of the movie... the one scene I wanted to see and was pissed wasn't included. Just goes to show I was a bad geek not to wait til after the credits.
Visual effects are nearly seamless, with my only problem being when Stane is in the Iron Monger suit. Other than that, there are times I can't tell what's real and what's FX-driven. The battles were well-thought out, and while I wish the final battle occurred in the day time, I suppose I imagine having it dark helped with the special effects... still, even after two viewing, I'm still not sure what Iron Monger hits Iron Man with during the fight... a motorcycle?
Not much more to say. The movie doesn't quite garner 5 stars, due to a weak score (this is a Marvel movie, of course), and Happy Hogan getting the short-shrift (come on Jon, just 'cause you're the director doesn't mean you're scenes should be the first cut). Gwyneth Paltrow was okay as Pepper Potts, but again, I don't know the character at all, so all I saw throughout the moie was Gwyneth, not Pepper. 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Very cool movie, I was really lukewarm about it when I first heard it was coming out but I think Downey did a great job and all the work in the Iron Man suit looked great. It was a little weird seeing the Dude getting so worked up and fighting, but it was cool.
Watching: Lost, Heroes, 24, Criminal Minds Listening: Brobdingnagian Bards Reading: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Playing: Final Fantasy XII Eating: Healthy...er Doing: Running... hopefully Wishing:
Comic Quote of the Week
"It's trying to end the suffering of everything. Do you want to discuss our options? Maybe together we can, you know, workshop?"
"Okay, best way to stop a ten-story godlike monster from destroying existence? I'm gonna go with hitting, you have anything?"
"You took mine."
Wesley and Angel, Angel: After The Fall #15
Who Am I?
Name: Holz Home: Sonoma County, California About Me: I'm a comfortador. See my complete profile
AKA: Ozymandias, DrOzymandias, Darth Angelus, Darque Feonix, Trip McNeely Kicking ass for: 29 years Job: UWing Systems Design Specialist Walking Theme: Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury Most watched movie: The Princess Bride Most read book: The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42
