I am Iron Man

[ebonlock]

I have to say that I'd put this film just behind X-Men 2 as far as all time greatest super hero flicks. When I heard Robert Downey Jr. was playing Stark I knew he was going to be perfect, I just didn't know *how* perfect. I'm not sure how much of his performance to attribute to a fantastic script and how much to Downey's impeccable improv. It really was just seamless.

The plot itself was entirely recognizable to someone who had only the slightest familiarity with the Iron Man comic, it established the character right from the get go and made his transformation from billionaire playboy to crusader seem realistic. The confidence that Downey exuded was nearly palpable and his dry wit made you look past the asshole aspect of his personality and just downright adore the guy. You could definitely understand why Rhodes and Potts were so devoted to him.

My own favorite sequences were those involving Tony learning to fly in the suit, beautifully written and acted and funny as hell. What actually surprised me was how little of the suit you really got to see in the film. It's one of the trickiest elements of doing a superhero flick, especially when it's going to involve a lot of CGI. It's way too easy to lose the character in the effects. Keeping the use of the suit to a minimum and spending a lot of the time he's in the suit showing a close up of his face with the head's up display helped tremendously.

I love when a movie team learns from the mistakes of the past, incorporates what they've learned into their own project, and then mixes in perfect casting and first rate writing with a healthy dash of profound love and understanding of the genre.

Very, very satisfying film overall, and if you love the character you're going to be beside yourself with adoration. If I were more of a Tony Stark fan and less of a Kurt Wagner fan I'd probably rate it a little higher than X2 when it comes right down to it. But the beginning of X2 remains my favorite sequence in superhero film history, and I admit my biases there.

However, the first superhero team I ever got caught up in was the Avengers, which is why when we stayed through the credits and we got the extra scene I nearly jumped out of my seat with glee. As soon as I heard Sam Jackson's voice I knew, knew he'd been cast as Nick Fury (they threw in a bunch of SHIELD references and I'd wondered if he was going to show, but had no idea who'd be playing him), and when he mentioned the Avengers...well, suffice to say that shit was well and truly lost. I am saying, right here and now, that if Quicksilver shows up on the team that's it, I will have had two of my all time favorite characters show up on screen. I'm not holding out for Legion who, I know without a doubt, will never appear on screen, but I can be happy with Quicksilver...so very, very happy. They've gotta' have Scarlet Witch, right? I mean they've just got to. A scene or two with Wanda and Pietro...*dies happy*

Why yes, I am a comic geek, why do you ask?

Comments

[scoreboard.livejournal.com]

Three, if I heard right. We get Hulk this summer, Iron Man 2 in 2010, and both the Captain America and the notional Avengers flick in 2011. It looks like Marvel Studios, after watching stuff linger in development hell for literally decades (Universal optioned Iron Man in 1990, for godsakes, it's taken half my life to get this picture made), has taken it upon themselves to start building their entire universe on celluloid. I have to think that this is Stan Lee's last big dream: to see all those essential characters from 1961, everything Kirby and he created, brought into the mainstream of American entertainment, and if this is the first stroke of that, they're on time and on target.

The only trick now: keep Downey, Norton, SLJ (!!!!), and all the necessary supporting cast together through the end of what will have to be five or six movies. I know Downey is down for 15 more Iron Man pix, by his own admission, but I wonder if Ed norton will keep coming back.

Anyone else notice Rhodey's brass rat when he was on the phone? Other than tsmaster? OK, I saw it on IMDB, but I noticed *something*...

"Damn. Next time."

You know, I've been known to leave a movie, do a 180, and walk right back into the subsequent showing...

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Personally I just hope that all the success from this one doesn't end up doing Downey more harm than good. I'd hate to see him slip off the wagon because the pressure and fame got to be too much for him again.

As for the new Hulk film...I want to like it, I really do because gods I worship Ed Norton, but... Let's just say I still haven't quite gotten over the last atrocity. I grew up watching the Hulk on tv, I know that Banner can be an interesting and sympathetic character and I really hope that Norton can make that work, and that they keep the CGI to a minimum.

And as for seeing it again, I really was tempted to do the same thing, walk right back into another showing.