posted
Just got back from an one of the "day early" screenings.
I'll post in-depth thoughts later, but for now:
Wait until after the credits are done. There's one more scene...
I'd rank this as a better "first film in a potential series" than either X-Men or Spider-Man...and this is coming for someone who isn't a very big Iron Man fan.
posted
I finished the novelization earlier today. It could be a good movie, depending on how different scenes are done. I'm a general fan of Iron Man (although not as much since the whole Civil War fiasco), so I have been looking forward to it for a while. My girlfriend and I are going to go see it on Saturday. I hope it turns out really good.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: Just got back from an one of the "day early" screenings.
I'll post in-depth thoughts later, but for now:
Wait until after the credits are done. There's one more scene...
I'd rank this as a better "first film in a potential series" than either X-Men or Spider-Man...and this is coming for someone who isn't a very big Iron Man fan.
Can't wait! Maybe I can see it tomorrow with the guys...
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I just spoiled myself for the scene at the end of the movie - and I cannot wait to see it. So cool!
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
Awesome movie, I love Stark's attitude. Was he like that in the comics? (I'll admit I've never read a single comic book in my life, all my knowledge is second-hand)
I do wish there were some more terrorist hunting scenes.
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
He has been like that in the comics, depending on who was writing him.
I had the feeling he wasn't specifically hunting terrorists. More like stopping the assault and ruining the weapons.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Okay, I caved and saw it today. I only have one word:
AMAZING.
(About seven people stayed through the credits, and that scene - when the eyepatch is revealed - got more applause from so few of us than any other point during the movie. )
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
The earliest days of the Iron Man comic were rabidly anti-communist...many (if not most) of his earliest villains were of that stripe.
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
The last scene you're referring to, Carrie, was hysterically funny to me precisely because so many people in the theater today stayed to see it, just in case. And I get the feeling many, many of them were not actually comic book readers, because the first thing I heard, whispered from someone behind me, was "is that Morpheus?"
On the way out of the theater, several people were whispering to each other -- after hearing the shouting, spontaneous nerdgasm enjoyed by those of us who got the reference -- "Who's Nick Fury? What's an Avenger?"
One guy was trying to explain it to his girlfriend. "Well, there's a lot of weird continuity, but Iron Man is kind of, like, the leader of the Avengers and the leader of SHIELD nowadays, but the Avengers don't actually work directly for SHIELD, necessarily, but..."
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Spider-Man and Iron Man have always been my two favorite Marvel characters (which is part of why Civil War was so painful for me, and why Card's decision to depict the young Tony Stark as a bio-engineered, superpowered mutant instead of just a human super-genius was so grating). I'd say Toby Maguire did an okay job of capturing Peter Parker; Downey, however, managed to absolutely embody Stark.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
This is simple the best Superhero movie i have ever seen, i just got back.
Ok, is anyone out there that i can go into comic book mode with? ok, here i go anyway.*just so you know, no spoilers will be spared.*
OK first off i thought that taking the ten rings as a terrioist group was awesome, since most people would think that mandarin on a power trip would make a stupid movie. I was wondering the whole time though if that guy was mandarin(i mean the leader of terrorists) or if just some guy.
Next, i thought that the man playing in what i see as the sentiant armor, was almost a let down, then i realised no one would buy the A.I. bit. Yet i also thought the "unmaned flight speach" was a clue in to the fact that the sentiant armor was coming! But, maybe they took that out once they started filming.
Also, i can't beilive i didn't catch on to the S.H.I.E.L.D. quicker, also Nick Fury at the end was awesome(although i thought samuel jackson playing him was stupid, i was hoping for Dusin Hoffman personally, scoff at me all you want.) I can't wait for an Avengers movie. but if Cap, Vision, Thor, or Hawkeye are missing i will be dissappointed.
Oh yeah, my friend thought Stan lee really was Hugh Hefner... nub.
I loved that there were plenty of references to the Mandarin, even though we never actually got to see him. "The Ten Rings" indeed. Set-up for movie #2.
The banter between Downey and Paltrow was perfect...and a vast improvement over the relationship Stark and Potts had in the Silver Age.
Nice tease about eventually having War Machine turn up.
The secret-but-everyone-knew-about-it Nick Fury cameo was great. The promise of the Avengers movie was even better. Here's hoping Cap and Thor's films come out soon.
I liked that there was more focus on character than on action. What used to be the defining trait of a Marvel super-hero comic was what happened in the character's non-costumed civilian life was just as important as any of the action stuff. Something the actual Marvel Comics of today should remember.
The action we did get was SO very sweet.
Really, the only thing that didn't work for me was having Bridges as Stane/Iron Monger. He seemed like he was from a less...cool movie. This is not a knock against Bridges, just that I feel he was wrong for the role.
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: And I get the feeling many, many of them were not actually comic book readers, because the first thing I heard, whispered from someone behind me, was "is that Morpheus?"
They may have been asking if it was the same performer, though I'll be very disappointed if no one snapped: "No! It's Mace Windu!"
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posted
I've got to admit, Puffy, I am willing to wait another six hundred years for a Thor film. Norse gods don't belong in the Marvel universe; they're DC-worthy, full of SHAZAM!
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Norse gods don't belong in the Marvel universe; they're DC-worthy, full of SHAZAM!
So go back to 1962 and tell Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to go do something scathingly realistic...like another giant monster comic! Or perhaps another appearance by Paste Pot Pete.
(Not even the Walt Simonson run? C'mon now!)
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: [*]Nice tease about eventually having War Machine turn up. [/list]
Where did you see that? Was it the "next time" that starks friends said? or did you find another time?
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
Yes, when Rhodey was looking at the silver armor...a reference to both his time in the suit, and his wearing of the silver and black War Machine armor.
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
well, i wonder how that might play out in a sequel, if i remember right, mandarin turned one of starks suits intelligence( or am i wrong)that was the sentient armor and he(probably will be they!) fought it, but what about when the armor gives stark his mechanical heart so he could live.
oh, and ten bucks says the sequel will adress stark being an alchohaulic.
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
"because the first thing I heard, whispered from someone behind me, was "is that Morpheus?""
In my movie, as soon as that scene was done, a big black guy stood up, threw his popcorn on the floor, and said "Nick Fury is not black!!! I love Samuel L Jackson...but Nick Fury is not black!!", kicked his popcorn, and stormed out of the theater.
That was the best superhero movie by far, IMO. I wasn't bored for a second.
Posts: 2054 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Ultimate Nick Fury was actually based on Samuel L. Jackson...
Edit: Oh, and Xann, stop cheating... wikipedia: "The film's stars have signed on for two sequels, the story of which Favreau has planned to depict Stark's alcoholism, Rhodes becoming War Machine, and the introduction of the villainous Mandarin. Downey also cameos as Stark in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk."
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
I went into this movie with absolutely no knowledge of the Iron Man story (hence, I was one of the ones who didn't get the significance of the post-credits scene - though I knew it was significant from the reactions of people around me)
I almost didn't go see it, because I kept thinking: "This is going to be as stupid and lame as Transformers" (I am part of that .0001% of the population that didn't think Transformers was the height of cinematic and artistic brilliance).
But I went, and the movie exceeded my hopes and expectations in every way. I loved it.
Posts: 324 | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Transformers is light years behind what Iron Man is. They're both summertime popcorn flicks, but I didn't leave Iron Man feeling annoyed at Anthony Anderson. Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: Ultimate Nick Fury was actually based on Samuel L. Jackson...
Edit: Oh, and Xann, stop cheating... wikipedia: "The film's stars have signed on for two sequels, the story of which Favreau has planned to depict Stark's alcoholism, Rhodes becoming War Machine, and the introduction of the villainous Mandarin. Downey also cameos as Stark in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk."
hahahah i didn't cheat, but wow, i say that proves i'm quite the comic book nerd.
Posts: 549 | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
Only things that stood out for me, none of them enough to take me out of the movie at all:
The soundtrack was kind of forgettable. No Marvel movie has had a theme song that took on its own life a la Superman, and this one just faded into the background for me.
I don't care how much padding the suit had, when the Mark I hit the dune Stark should have been pulped. I'd rather have seen him hit the downward slope of the dune with a trajectory somewhat kinder than straight down.
When Stark is flying a respectable fraction of the speed of sound and suddenly deploys flaps to kill momentum, shouldn't all of his internal organs squished against his ribcage? Obviously pilots can do this sort of thing but rarely so drastically, and they have major amounts of padding.
I was a little let down after Stark told Rhodey to try and keep up, and then we don't see Rhodey again till the very end. I was expecting him, at some point in the fight, to catch up.
For someone running a major corporation, we don't see many people around unless there's a need for a crowd scene. Minor thing.
Even though the script called for it, it seemed a little hokey to put the Iron Monger development in the power supply building we'd already seen. Good thing Stane dragged Tony there for a heart-to-heart earlier, huh, so we'd know what it was.
And hey, why is a massive power supply with easily deactivated fail safes in the freaking glass-fronted lobby?
But that's about it, really.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Yeah, I did think Rhodey was under-utilized. At least they hinted he'd be doing bigger and better things next time around. (May, 2010 if things go as planned!)
Marvel Universe physics. He was protected by a cushion of Pym particals, unstable molecules, and Kirby dots!
Downey's eyes should win an Oscar. His expressions alone make Stark a much deeper character than he would be otherwise.
Since no one's mentioned it, Stan Lee's cameo as a certain playboy got a huge laugh from the audience. Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:No Marvel movie has had a theme song that took on its own life a la Superman, and this one just faded into the background for me.
I like the Spiderman theme. I like it so much, I was disturbed by the Iron Man theme because they were so similar, but for the way a cadence resolved. They all kind of sound like the Siegfried theme to me, which is fine, because I think Wagner got it right.
The ending was just right. In a world where people hide controversial actions, for fear of personal or political fallout, it's good to have Stark say, "I am Iron Man." That move, I think, takes as much courage as putting on the suit.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Turns out he didn't tell Rhodey "Try and keep up," although I'm pretty sure I saw that in one of the trailers so I must have gotten them mixed up. He says "Keep the airspace clear." And Rhodey does.
When Stark is confronting Stane on the steps at the benefit the reporter seems to appear and disappear behind him.
When Stark puts the arc generator in his chest, he turns it to the right to lock it. When Stane paralyzes him, he turns it to the right to remove it. And then puts it in the Iron Monger suit and, again, turns it to the right. Apparently Stark Industries has perfected the "righty-tighty righty-loosey" technology.
Stark would definitely have been pulped in several instances of very hard landings.
There's also a weird feeling of time passage that seems to bounce around for me. He seems to get to and from Afghanistan awfully quickly, and so does Stane. No problem with the time making his suits, but the Iron Monger crew seems to have whomped their prototype up in a day or so. And it was amazing how they managed to figure out how to seat and accomodate a power supply they didn't actually have handy.
Fortunately Stane managed to learn how to use his suit immediately. He must play a lot of video games.
Again, lax security and control over the big arc generator. No guards? No security staff? I can understand leaving the big glowy thing out in the open for public relations, but wouldn't the control panels be hidden or on a different, privately accessible level?
That said... I love this movie. Even better the second time around.
[ May 03, 2008, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
He says "try to keep up" earlier, in another context.
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The two things that got me, Chris:
1) As you mentioned, the hard landings. 2) As you mentioned, the perfectly-designed socket for the new-model miniaturized Arc Reactor, which they didn't actually have in any form.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
To add to the questions: why was there no man inside with Stark when he built the first armor? How stupid do you have to be to let a man have access to all kinds of military stuff, with the knowledge to build anything possible or impossible, then step outside the room and glance from time to time: "Is it ready yet?"
Anyway, it was a good movie, not as great as you all made me expect though. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: And hey, why is a massive power supply with easily deactivated fail safes in the freaking glass-fronted lobby?
Watching it a second time today...it doesn't seem to be in the lobby at all. The glass you describe all seems to be immediately surrounding the generator itself, not comprising the building proper. The set-up of Stark Industries isn't really defined in the movie, but I'm betting the generator is some distance away from the office and conference/reception areas seen elsewhere in the film.
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Corwin: To add to the questions: why was there no man inside with Stark when he built the first armor?
Yinsen had cut a deal with Ten Rings Guy, or something. They trusted him at least to a point, to keep an eye on Stark. Not to the point that they wouldn't try and torture him, though.
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong: That move, I think, takes as much courage as putting on the suit.
Or it takes a love of being in the spotlight. It's hard to tell, with Stark.
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
I watched the movie, I first started watching it and with the Jericho I started grinning.
I couldn't stop grinning until after the end credits.
You know for not being a comic book fan at all and all of my marvel experience being the tv shows 90% of which being spiderman/xmen series when the guy first mentioned SHIELD I got it right away, odd no?
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I loved it. I have a feeling that OSC will hate it for some irrational reason, though. I'm very bad at predicting his opinion of a flick.
Posts: 127 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: 2) As you mentioned, the perfectly-designed socket for the new-model miniaturized Arc Reactor, which they didn't actually have in any form.
Actually, there was a hole for the miniaturized arc reactor in the original armor, which Stane had for analysis. Also, they had the video of when Yinsid (Yensid?? Disney spelled backwards?) put the original arc reactor in Stark.
Stane, knowing he was going to steal the miniaturized arc reactor from Stark, would have told the techs to make the hole identical so he could install it after he stole it.
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Marvel was hoping for a respectable $60 million for the opening weekend. Most forecasters predicted $80-85 million, on the strength of the reviews.
$101 million.
$104 million if you include the Thursday night showings. $204 million if you include overseas ticket sales. 2nd best non-sequel three-day weekend of all time. 10th biggest opening ever, for any movie.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it was a success. Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Saw it yesterday. Loved it. One thing to add--I didn't expect to be laughing as much as I was. RDJ is hilarious.
Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Saw it yesterday. Loved it. One thing to add--I didn't expect to be laughing as much as I was. RDJ is hilarious.
The vast majority of the funny lines were in the trailer. Some still got a laugh from me seeing them said on the big screen, but I wish that I hadn't been spoiled on some of the other ones.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
I didn't think the funniest bits were all in the trailers - Pepper smacking down the reporter chick, Tony's pickup lines to that same reporter, the 'fun-vee', the snarking at the robotic arm, the 'operation', Tony getting sprayed by the robot arm, more I'm forgetting.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You see him getting sprayed once, without the context of the first spray or his comments to Dummy the rest of the time. You're stretching, bud. I went to see it with a group of 20 guys, and we all laughed a LOT, not just at the 3 jokes in the trailers. I wonder if I can see it again tonight...
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I saw it on Saturday. I saw zero trailers for it, never read the comic book, and saw it with another girl.
I liked it, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't great.
Things I liked: 1. Robert Downey Jr. was fantastic. I adored the title character, and he did a great job with his performance. Good job casting there. He made the movie. 2. Gwyneth Paltrow was fine. Things I liked was that when she was the trusted employee, she was very convincing and very sweet. The knickknack that saved the day was inspired. 3. Suit was awesome - both the rough one and the schmancy one. 4. Final press conference. I fully support him telling everybody he was Iron Man. This is probably part of RDJ's thing, but still - good job in the script. 5. I liked Rhodey. He was great, and I wish we could have seen him more.
Things I didn't like: 1. I knew the bad guy was the bad guy from his first appearance on the screen. Worst of all was the reveal to Stark. Stark doesn't figure it out, it isn't a moment of betrayal, it wasn't a good moment in the script - the bad guy just decided to tell him. For no discernable reason. Without doing anything to protect himself from what Stark would do next. LAME. 2. Speaking of, and then they build a suit in a day? That exactly matches what Stark did? From the remains of the first suit found in the sand? Oh, whatever. DId they even think about that part of the story? 3. The fight between the robots. Unbelievably, Transformers did this better. I was so crazy bored when two mythical suits pretended there was something at stake. I didn't care emotionally about the confrontation because of the blown reveal scene earlier, so this part just DRAGGED. 4. All the setups for the next film. I get that they planned for a sequal, but the lame climax of this movie felt like they should have said To Be Continued at the end of it. You can have movies in a series still have a structure within themselves. 5. Pepper Pots as romantic character. She's an uberconfident and compentent woman until Stark asks her to dance, and then all of a sudden she turns into a 15-year-old who's never been on a date before. It was jarring. What happened to that woman we saw before? Did he spike her drink? Because that would at least provide an explanation for her behavior, and it would give him layers. Evil layers.
I'm glad I went, but the last half of the movie let that amazing cast and suit and effects crew down. Bad director! Bad!
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