Iron Man 2
Death Race 29, Sarah 27; 12 of 24 categories completed
I didn’t get around to watching the first one before seeing this one, so I can’t compare them, but the sequel is a bit too long and a bit too…Rourke-y (he’s good, within the character as written, but that character as written is a bit tired). Still, on balance, I really enjoyed it. Don Cheadle: literally always a pleasure. “Get a roof” is so cheap, but I laughed out loud. And I always like Downey, no matter what shite he’s in, no surprises there — but I forget that Gwyneth Paltrow can act, and portray characters I don’t hate. GOOP is so disastrously annoying, and she’s so unconscionably clueless with it, that I avoid her work, and then, when I end up seeing it, I like it. I don’t love her, but she’s good, and she can raise meh material.
No idea of its chances in Visual Effects, but a worthwhile watch, although I’d have had more fun seeing it in the theater. Anyone know if they’re planning a third one? I don’t care either way; just curious. (No sign of it on IMDb.)
Tags: Don Cheadle Iron Man 2 Mickey Rourke movies Oscars 2011 Death Race Robert Downey Jr. shut up Gwyneth Paltrow
They’re planning a 3rd one, but last I heard it isn’t slated to come out until after the putative Avengers movie. I don’t really know why. And Jon Favreau is reportedly not attached to IM3… instead they recently attached Shane Black to it? Who’s apparently worked with Downey before? I don’t know.
So the next big Iron Man outing will be in The Avengers (which, at the moment, Joss Whedon is attached to). I’m not sure if they think The Avengers will be for 2012 or for later, though. The Thor and Captain America movies this summer are set-up for it, but I don’t know what else they may be wanting to set up before we get the team movie. (Surely they aren’t going to make it wait for Ant-Man?)
@Holly Shane Black directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, so while it’s sad Favreau is gone it’s still a positive.
For what it’s worth, I really liked the first movie, and was very “eh” on the sequel. So if you liked this one, you might enjoy the first one even more. I felt like the first one had more character/human element, and the sequel was too much of robots fighting. If you are a RDJ fan, you should definitely see it. Love him.
I liked the first one WAY more. The evolution of the suit, especially. Then again, RDJ could read the Financial Times in a monotone on a movie screen and I’d pay money to watch it.
First one, definitely. I admired how the sequel dealt with the actual consequences of a bizarro life choice that affected the world, but let’s face it, consequences aren’t as much fun as the intial daring leap.
Plus, no Jeff Bridges/Obediah Stain, with, to use a fabulous reviewer’s phrasing, Shaven head and Wolfhound chin. As much charisma as Downey brings to the table, having Bridges there made the first one something special.
Third-ing the suggestion to see the first movie, I think Downey gets a bigger chance to shine, the effects for some reason impressed me more, and Gwen is even less annoying in the first. I liked the second, it was very fun, but the first was just jaw-dropping.
Agreed with all those who say the sequel pales in comparison to the first. I did see this in theaters (well, at the drive-in) with the husband in a double-feature that paired it with Prince of Persia. I do not exaggerate when I say that I preferred Prince of Persia, despite its lack of RDJ.
I have not seen either Iron Man. Well…I was present the whole time as the first one was on in a bar a couple years ago, but I was paying minimal attention at the start and was unable to by the end. It was the TRON: Legacy of its day! Ha. And they both have Bridges. Maybe that’s his thing now — he’s either drunk himself or he’s there while you are.
But really, all these comic-book movies, coming along a couple decades too late for me to be that excited. Ant-Man? They’re really clearing out the ranks of the C-list. What does that leave? “David Strathairn IS Doctor Strange”?
Jeff Bridges came to the place I work during the filming of “Iron Man”. His ostensible goal was to shadow our boss for a day or two and get a sense of how the CEO of a major defense contractor acts, works, and behaves.
He apparently paid attention very well, because he was quite authentically full of shit.
I found out about this because, one morning, the company website had a picture of the CEO and some of the Upper Crust hanging out with this weird bald dude. Inset was a tiny picture of Jeff Bridges. I did not make the connection between Weird Bald Dude and Jeff Bridges until I read the article.
Agree, the first movie is much better. The last line of it made me laugh out loud in the theater.
But on the other hand, the sequel has John Slattery in those cool retro kinda-Walt-Disney-kinda-Dr.-Jonas-Venture film strips. And he is a silver fox.
Part of the problem with Iron Man is his Rogue’s Gallery isn’t the strongest. several of them are ganked from other heroes (Dr. Doom, etc.), others are such refugees from communism that need a total rework to make viable (Crimson Dynamo, etc.), and several others need so much backstory and have such high “comic book” elements that they’re hard to bring to the film (AIM, Hydra, etc.).
I liked the first one better because Stane is a better villain than Whiplash (who was always a B-to-C lister) and Justin Hammer is played for comedy relief. But the casting in both movies is stellar (even with the recast of Rhodey) and they’re definitely fun. Favreau is respectful of the material without being slavish, goes for the “wahoo cool!” moments while keeping a plot rolling, and generally makes it fun.
I loved the first. Downey brought so much to it, in my view, from a psychological angle – he shows that before his kidnapping, Tony is so BORED – so brilliant, so rich, nothing has ever been a challenge, and he’s getting increasingly self-destructive. He really sells the crisis that makes Tony put on the suit.
See the first one.
“David Strathairn IS Doctor Strange”?
Hey, I would TOTALLY see that movie. And I agree with Sarahnova.
@Todd K: I don’t really get the whole Ant-Man idea either, but then, I’ve never been a reader of The Avengers and thus I have no connection to Hank Pym. (I only know his name NOW because I started watching the cartoon.) I can’t tell whether the talk of an Ant-Man movie represents a sincere interest on the part of someone, or if it’s the product of some misguided notion that each of the Avengers needs to have a solo movie to introduce him/her. My response to that notion: no, they do not, not when it’s Ant-Man, for crying out loud.
(Although, to be honest: a few years ago, I was extremely dubious about the idea that you could do either a Thor movie, or a Captain America movie, and really sell it. I thought that both had conceptual problems with the central hero that might be too hard to overcome in a way that would strike audiences as “cool” rather than “silly”. Yet, here they come this summer, and their trailers, at least, look… plausible. We’ll see how they pan out. I’m just impressed because I personally thought that both Thor and Cap had two of the more difficult costumes to deal with, without their coming across as utterly ridiculous, and so far they don’t look as silly as I thought they would.)
(However, I stand by the assertion: Ant-Man? Really? No.)
…What’s that movie where the guy is pitching a movie about a half-man, half-ant called “Mant”?
…What’s that movie where the guy is pitching a movie about a half-man, half-ant called “Mant”?
Well, now, that sounds like a reworking of “Metamorphosis” as seen by Charlie Kaufman.
Is it reassuring to know that Marvel’s “Ant-Man” isn’t half-man, half-ant? It’s just that (if I understand correctly) the guy can make himself as small as an ant; very possibly when he does, he has the proportional strength of an ant; and he wears a helmet with vaguely ant-like antennae with which (again, IIUC) he can communicate with (control?) actual ants. This appears to come into play a lot by having huge swarms of ants appear and they do a bang-up job getting all up into pieces of technology, chewing the wiring apart and so on.
However, it’s extremely confusing, because the same guy is also “Giant-Man”, so in one breath he’s all tiny and riding on winged ants and directing ant hordes, and in the next breath suddenly he has changed head-gear and he’s as tall as a 5-story building. I have yet to figure out what these powers have to do with each other, if anything, or why one guy has BOTH.
Being a comics nerd, I understand that people form emotional attachments to various characters, even the C-rate characters who fill out a team’s roster, and god forbid you should contemplate making a movie that leaves them out. Personally, I would probably choose from others on the Avengers roster before I’d put Ant-Man in the movie (any movie), but as I say, I have no attachment to him. (I risk the wrath of his fans by even saying this. I presume he does have fans in his own right.)
Unfortunately, he is also the husband of the Wasp, who is one of those rare and popular female characters whom the movie really should include, and I guess her husband comes as part of the package deal.
Er… in closing, I add to the chorus of “Liked the first Iron Man movie better, you should consider watching it”. (Although I didn’t hate the second one.)
‘Mant’ was from Matinee: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107529/
Wow, Joe Dante, what happened to him?
And Iron Man is just more of Downey being really, really, charming. Bonus evil Jeff Bridges.
@HollyH: In the comic books, wasn’t there the rather amusing conceit of making The Wasp also…the WASP? She came from money; she was very refined and witty and a bit of a snob; she’d see the way someone was dressed and be all “Oh, this will not do”; she would drag another superheroine to a trendy Manhattan salon to have her ‘do updated (when all the artists had been drawing it the same way since the 1960s)?
Much of the humor in the characterization was too adult for me to fully appreciate at the time; I just thought she was odd. But now I think back on it and imagine she must have been fun to write (and to read, if the reader were a little older). They should definitely give her a prominent role if an Ant-Man movie must happen. The right actress could have a ball with it.
@HollyH: I think it’s hard to have credibility with fans for an Avengers movie if you leave out one of the founders, and regardless of how annoying, dumb, absurd, or assholic Hank Pym/Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Yellowjacket has been over the years he’s still a founding member. And how do you leave him out and keep the Wasp (who admittedly is a better character in most every way)?
Bit of a dearth of female Avengers from the early years, sad to say.
It will be interesting to see how they pull it off. I’m a little skeptical of the Thor movie (though I’m hoping for the best), but the Captain America movie should be a bit easier to pull off.