posted
aside: It warmed my heart to see Rifftrax as the ad at the bottom of this page.
Katie, I look at it like this: The cliche we were supposed to expect in that scene (they dance, they go outside alone, share an intimate kiss, and so on) didn't quite happen. They are 'real' people who sometimes do things out of, uh, 'character' for their normal selves. We don't get to see what happens to Potts and Stark, how they handle it as Tony gets pulled away right after.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote: Like paralyzing him while stealing the battery that's keeping Tony's heart alive?
When villains have the upper hand, why don't they ever just finish the job? Seriously...he just took his heart and walked away? Why not pop him in the head?
quote: What's actually more surprising is that Tony's little USB key-based search program only popped up a relatively small number of directories.
These days I have been playing with a lot of USB drives--particularly for Moka5. I was sure when she left that the computer was going to make that little noise when you pull out a thumb drive without ejecting it.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
unless it had no speakers turned on?
Also Stane is the kind of villain that to me seems like he doesnt like doing dirty deeds with his own hands, it was one thing to nab his PSU he couldnt leave it to chance to others, but popping him in the head would raise questions and have too much risk.
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The speakers were on. We had just heard it do some really fantastic audio, in fact, with real-time language translation and everything. Maybe, since Stark wrote the OS, he set it up so you can remove USB keys all you like without actually alarming the system in any way. Although you'd think he'd consider the "Download 100% Completed" alert to be completely unnecessary.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Perhaps the Translate command (it's not a button, Potts actually types out "Translate" and presto!) is actually a command to pull a different audio track that was made for Stane's benefit, since Stane and Raza used English in their meet. That would explain the Middle Eastern accent of the voice providing said translation. Although, it's anyone's guess why Stane would keep such incriminating evidence on the network share.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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"When villains have the upper hand, why don't they ever just finish the job? Seriously...he just took his heart and walked away? Why not pop him in the head?"
Haven't you ever seen Austin Powers? True villains always give the hero a chance to survive. Posts: 2054 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I certainly enjoyed the movie. There were a few strange moments that could have been more realistic, but nothing I saw as a deal breaker.
I was hoping that the grand finale explosion would end with the awesome electrical charge shot into the sky. I was disappointed when a traditional mammoth fireball followed it up.
Aside from all of the things mentioned about the "Pepper sneaks into the office and downloads secrets" scene, I was annoyed they used the "files transfer really slow" cliche to create suspense. I guess they had to do something, but seriously, I've seen that little progress bar used to create suspense way too many times in my life, and they already used it once earlier in this movie.
I would just like Hollywood to never, ever use the progress bar as a means to create suspense, ever again. Is that too much to ask?
Posts: 247 | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by lem: These days I have been playing with a lot of USB drives--particularly for Moka5. I was sure when she left that the computer was going to make that little noise when you pull out a thumb drive without ejecting it.
Hehe, me too. I was really wondering how she'd pull that off. Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:"When villains have the upper hand, why don't they ever just finish the job? Seriously...he just took his heart and walked away? Why not pop him in the head?"
Well, seriously, because if he offed the hero, the movie would end there. Realism is something to aim for, but if the bad guy offed the hero every time he had the chance to, most of our stories would end with executed heroes and victorius bad guys, and I doubt the realism would comfort us that much. I guess they could have left the scene out entirely if that would've made you feel better. But frankly I didn't mind it. I think the idea that the big bad is sadistic and arrogant enough to think that he doesn't have to finish off the hero, that he can let him suffer, and that he's already won is pretty plausible.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Meh, I'm used to bad guys not finishing the job. Looks stupid and at least part of the movies doing it could be modified in order to avoid it without losing anything. I guess it's just easier this way. I'm also used to good guys not finishing the job because of some stupid "sympathy" that will only get them in trouble right after that scene. "Hmm, he wants to kill me, but he's not such a bad guy after all. Let's see what happens if I let him go. Maybe he'll have a change of heart." Uhm, yeah, sure.
:"Shadow Puppets" spoilers:
That why I loved the last scene between Bean and Achilles in "Shadow Puppets". Bean does what needs to be done, no fussing about it.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I didn't think the decision not to put a bullet in him was unreasonable - we've sort of accustomed ourselves to the idea that all bad guys are comfortable with offing someone at a moments' notice, when in fact most bad guys would rather have someone else do their dirty work, or find some way to not do it face-to-face.
Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but didn't whatsizname paralyze the terrorist, then walk out of the tent and have it all blown up?
It's kind of like Joseph's brothers - they're too squeamish to kill him outright, so they decide they're going to leave him to die in a pit.
Posts: 324 | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
I have a question about Tony Stark's wholeheart battery. What is it?
Does it act as a power source to pump the heart or just as a power source for a magnet to keep shrapnel from going deeper?
I thought it was just a power source for a magnet, but what's-her-name took out the magnet. Also, if it is just a magnet, why does he get week when it is off but strong when it is on? If it turns off and the shrapnel goes deeper into his body, turning the magnet back on doesn't undo the damage.
If it acts as a heart pump, turning it off or taking it out would kill him pretty quickly.
Plus, don't we have good heart surgeons in America? I don't remember the comic book well enough to remember what that glowing thing on his chest was and the movie left me confused.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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lem: look at my hands wave and you won't be worried about these concerns any more... <waves hands about wildly>
but yeah, all I got as an explanation in the movie was the electromagnet keeping shrapnel from moving further, but after that they seem to keep acting like it's more of a pacemaker type thing (though they don't actually explain that, just act like it)
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Speaking of nit picking. If the terrorists already had a business relationship with Stark's partner and they were hired to kill Stark, why did they need him to make the weapon?
Weren't they already making back room deals?
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
When they found out they were hired to take out Stark (and not some lesser schlub), they decided that they weren't being paid enough. So while they were negotiating more money, they decided to put him to work. Bonus!
Posts: 254 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
The Jericho missile had just been unveiled and, presumably, was not in mass production yet. They wanted to be the first people to get one.
When we see them with Jericho missiles later, a significant amount of time has passed. Now, we can assume, they're in production and on the open market.
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I agree with pretty much everything OSC wrote, except that I've never read the comics so I didn't understand quite everything he wrote about.
I just got back, BTW. Saw it tonight.
I do agree the scene after the credits if not worth waiting for is you've never read the comics and have no idea who Nick Fury is or Shield. (In fact, just so you guys can have a laugh, I was trying to figure out the acronym and thought the last word in the list was Association or something, and figured it was called SHIELA - then wondered why the spelling was off.)
At any rate, I did enjoy the movie. My husband, not so much but it's not really a favorite genre of his.
I agree that Downey, Jr. was great in his role. I liked Paltrow. I didn't have a problem with the scene that kat had a problem with. She repeated several times that she worked with all those people. What was bothering her, I think, was that people would construe that she was now sleeping with Stark. As someone who wanted to be accepted on her own terms, as a competent woman - that would bother her. She didn't want to be just another one of Tony's conquests that would need her clothes dry cleaned and a car waiting to take her wherever she wanted to go. And, a potential romance would certainly jeopardize the relationship she had with him - which she treasured, as evident by the "You're all I have too, you know" comment.
She didn't want to risk losing what she had, and she didn't want people to think she was just another Maxim model for Stark. I got it, and it worked for me.
I totally agree with OSC about the brief scene in the jeep with the airmen. That was well handled, and the actors did a fantastic job.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I'm not sure what was going through Pepper's mind in the almost kiss scene. One thing I did notice was she was leaning and he wasn't. She was trying to see if he wanted to meet her halfway, and he didn't (because he didn't want to be taking advantage?), and she was having to process the significance of this by the microsecond. I mean, he'd asked her to dance. Who's idea was it to go outside? I don't remember. I know she asks for a drink.
Keep in mind he was in terra incognito for starting a sincere relationship. I read it as mutual awkwardness, or a two-way failure.
My husband commented on the non-mutant appeal as we drove home, but both Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are billionaires. I know most people don't think of money as a mutation, but I'm not so sure it isn't.
quote: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
Sure glad I never got into marvel's whole Ultimate binge.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Clearly they got their audience right. Don't worry, men! Express an interest and that cool, collected, beautiful blonde will turn into a giggling pile of mush before your eyes!
Huh. Didn't even realize this thread was mostly men posting until you said that. Funny, I didn't have a problem with the scene, either.
quote:Maybe y'all find a 30-year-old woman acting like a naive idiot believable. I didn't, and it was one of the weakest parts of the movie
Thirty-year-old people never act like children? The circles you run in must be filled with formidable, together people...i think i'd be terrified to meet them! She tries very hard not to babble in the scene, and compose herself, and explains that it's not just HIM that is making her nervous, but the scenario. She even asks him to get her a drink, to get him away from her, so she can get a grip.
I thought Chris' summation was the best -- either the character development in this movie was good or it was shoddy, and if it was Good then they naturally took into account what she'd been through with his disappearance and his subsequent 180 with the weapons development AND with how he interacted with her. I'm leaning on the side of good Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
I liked the scene, but then again I am just another guy....what would I know.
There are a ton of reasons that a person would be flustered, and most of them have nothing to do with the sex of the person involved. I have personally acted even more flustered than that at times when I was not expecting a romantic comment or action and one happened.
I could see why someone would be worried about what others think about their relationship with their boss in that situation, perhaps BECAUSE of the fact that she is competent and deserves everything she has because of her intelligence, candor and professionalism....and she doesn't want people to take her lightly or think she slept her way to the top.
Particularly when her boss is a notable womanizer...and she may be having real feelings for him.
Or maybe I am just clueless because I am a guy.
I also loved the scene where she told him what was what at the end.....it was good to see her put him in an awkward place for a change.
But I didn't like his announcing his identity right away. It seemed a little out of place for me, but I guess that is because I had always though that he had kept it a secret, at least for a long while.
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I thought he kept it a secret for awhile too. Lots of denials, and that Iron Man was actually his bodyguard or somesuch.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I liked it, it was perfectly in-character- at least as defined in the movie. I've never read the comic book, so I have no idea how it played out there. I figure that Stark's thoughts went something like this...
In head: "Oh, I should probably keep it a secret... that is, after all, what superheroes do, right? They have alter egos. Safety in secrecy and all that. Hmm... ah, screw it, I like the attention, and I can't keep a straight face through this crap anyway."
Out loud: "I am Iron Man."
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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quote:Originally posted by pooka: microsecond. I mean, he'd asked her to dance My husband commented on the non-mutant appeal as we drove home, but both Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are billionaires. I know most people don't think of money as a mutation, but I'm not so sure it isn't.
I've wondered this kind of thing before about OSC's books. Is the Step Fletcher character in Lost Boys the only main character OSC's written, who doesn't have some extraordinary ability or superpower?
Posts: 575 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
One plausibility stretcher that no one mentioned before, and was the biggest for me other than the hard impacts that merely stunned Stark: Tony's got some incredible AI running, capable of sarcasm and interpreting his tone of voice, but not of securing his household or warning him of intruders. Both the capabilities of the AI and the severe gaps in its functionality are a stretch for me.
But I still enjoyed the movie a great deal. It was awesome. Just the right amount of geeking out over his design systems, butt kicking, humor, suspense, and glimpses of the playboy lifestyle...all the right escapist elements. I haven't enjoyed 2 hours more in recent memory.
Somebody actually named "Pepper Potts" seemed like such a throwback to mid-20th century comic book conventions to me that any girlish reactions from the character didn't really seem incrementally anachronistic or out of character. I found the dance/near-kiss scene awkward but not out of character (within the movie. I'm an Iron Man neophyte.)
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:One plausibility stretcher that no one mentioned before, and was the biggest for me other than the hard impacts that merely stunned Stark: Tony's got some incredible AI running, capable of sarcasm and interpreting his tone of voice, but not of securing his household or warning him of intruders. Both the capabilities of the AI and the severe gaps in its functionality are a stretch for me.
I'm sure what's-his-bucket had easy access to Stark's house. Why would he have to break in when I'm sure that the security system recognizes him and will allow him entrance?
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posted
Why would JARVIS note Stane as an intruder? He's been a close family friend for decades, after all. It's only strange that JARVIS didn't announce his arrival to Stark, not that there were no alarms going off.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
S.H.I.E.L.D. is not the run of the mill group, and they probably could have bypassed his security. Probably one of the only groups in the world who could, really.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Didn't JARVIS's voice kind of cut out towards the end of its welcome home to Tony? I figured Nick just did something to it.
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