Iron Man 2 Discussion Thread

[The Josh]

As someone once told me and these were my exact sentiments, "Dark Knight worked so hard to be realistic and serious, that it forgot to be fun". I've had a lot of fun watching Iron Man 1 & 2.

Well, I know who said that and I have to say I totally disagree with both of you. TDK did a fantastic job of blending being serious/realistic which is more the niche for Batman. He's a dark character with lots of issues as a person that he's trying to make up for with some enemies that have dark backgrounds. I had a lot of fun watching TDK and do every time I plop in my blu ray.

The Iron Man films are totally different. Different character with issues but done in a different way. They aren't approaching it the same way though they did a bit in 2. All while at the same time being a crap load of fun.

I wonder outloud how much of this is a DC vs Marvel dislike type thing? As someone who is just a fan of both I will say I like Iron Man more than Batman and like the Iron Man series more than the Batman series. I enjoy both for being what they are awesome films, which are fun, serious, and a good ride.

 

[The Josh]

If I had to rate some of these films.

Iron Man
Iron Man 2
TDK
Spider-Man
Batman Begins
Batman (Keaton)
X-Men
X2
Watchmen
Spiderman 2

Haven't seen kick ass and honestly I dont know if I will. May rent it cause it just honestly doesn't look all that impressive to me.

 

[OSCORP]

Not as good as the first 7.5/10

 

[The Mike]

Did the Mike post any review of this? Going to see it only on Monday.

According to his Facebook status, he was seeing it earlier this evening. I expect he'll be posting something shortly.

"All right, its good to be back"

This film is a solid 8/10.

I guess I should put the rest in spoilers since its still opening weekend and so I can talk freely:

Spoiler

I loved how this began right at the end of Iron Man 1, especially since it was partially refilmed, the line at the end of Iron Man 1 is "I'm not the Hero Type, clearly" whereas here its "I'm not the heroic type". It was a quick "remember this" that I enjoyed because it put everything into perspective. Downey was perfect as Stark again but Cheadle in my opinion fell short as Rhodes. It didn't seem natural and it took a while to get used to especially in parts like the party scene where he looked to have phoned it in. Even lines that were supposed to be funny like "Its called being baddass" could have worked with Howard but seemed odd with Cheadle which is weird because I've seen Cheadle be funny...the supporting cast was great but my only real complaint was Happy Hogan. Favreau must have really wanted to be in this picture because the Monaco scene and the MMA training scenes worked but honestly he didn't need to be in any more of the picture, his scenes with Black Widow at the end were only not needed but borderlined retarded. I loved the Stark Expo aspect and the idea of innovation and I'm surprised more people haven't caught onto the fact that John Slattery (Howard Stark) was doing a Walt Disney impersonation down to gestures and voice inflections and parts of the speeches felt like Wonderful World of Disney. Hell the first Stark Expo looked like the original prototype for EPCOT.

I don't understand the Avengers .5 complaints because realistically other than knowing who Black Widow was already and the few scenes Nick was in I don't understand the hullaballoo. The little Cap nod was cool and the rumors are that the blurry blonde being arrested in Monaco is supposed to be Donald Blake with that scene being in Thor filmed properly with Hemsworth. It was done generic apparently because casting wasn't finalized? Who knows but it'd be cool especially because those paying attention would have noticed that the report on the screens while Stark was being debriefed by Fury was the exact one from The Incredible Hulk. The Culver University Incident where Blonsky first fight him. Which puts it perfectly in timeline as the end of Iron Man 2 is the middle of The Incredible Hulk. Which would put Stark's consultant role making sense in him talking to Ross.

Honestly one of the biggest flaws in the film was the fact that Justin Hammer's storyline and Vanko's were two different films melded into one that gave weird Spider-Man 3 vibes but not as horrific. War Machine was given to Hammer, those drones could have easily just malfunctioned and that could have been ended saving Vanko/Whiplash to himself for another film. The final scene with the armored Whiplash was a waste, rushed and felt as inserted and unnecessary as the Venom scene in Spider-Man 3. Although my assumption a few pages back was dead on. The relationship with Pepper and Tony progressed nicely and Scarlett did fine as Black Widow (not sure if people were expecting Shakespearan styled deliveries, she was as good as she is in anything she has done) and her fight scenes were some of the most impressive.

The graphics were actually though taken down a notch. In the first film Iron Man looked real while here you could tell the CGI was present, not to mention in the first film you had impressive graphics over Tony's face and impressive Jarvis renders while here you had pretty much a black screen with a couple of things. Plus, Tony's tech was reduced from innovative to simply touch, expand and move everything in hologram and nothing more. When he created his element it was the first time that I actually got the vibes from the first film but it was just a hiccup overall. I appreciated the continuing of Stark's persona and thought it was essential to the story especially with the Howard Stark moments.

I didn't like no mention of the Mark VI rendering, I didn't like the fact that it looked different from scene to scene removing the gold accents from the chest region but I liked how Jarvis labeled the Mark III as Battle Damaged.

As for Vanko, someone posted "Oh we'll shoot each other and then we'll win" when that's not how it went down. They mimicked their Mark II/Mark IV fight where the repulsor ray blowback rendered everything inactive for a bit giving them the upper hand. What happened is after they did it Vanko said "____ it I'll just blow myself up" and there you go. A lot of the one-liners from trailers were removed and not for the better but I was loving how Fury spoke directly about knowing Howard Stark indicating his involvement in SHIELD and maybe slowly setting up his involvement in Cap with the serum that keeps him young.

It was cringe worthy how Rhodey already knew how to suit up and use the suit only stumbling a couple of time, he flew like a champion right away, but I did like Fury/Natalia pointing out that Stark let him take it.

I'm sure there is more but its been a busy night so my mind hasn't recallibrated yet. I'm sure questions and comments will prompt more. My wife liked it better than the first while I thought it was about the same if not just marginally less than. Good time, excellent feel of connection to the first and really fun all the way around. If you are expecting Shakespeare or even a TDK layering of a comic movie trying not to be a comic movie you were wasting your time with the first one let alone this. I can't wait for the next Marvel films and hopefully 3 really lets it loose now that Tony has established himself into Fury's world and is setting up to deal with something bigger than business associates with axes to grind. Bring on the Mandarin!

 

[OSCORP]

Where was that scene from the trailer of Potts kissing the helmet throwing it out the plane and him flying after it? Cut? didn't see it.

 

[jrice73]

Loved IM2! Seen it twice now and the second go around was even better. 10/10 for me.

 

[Karma]

As someone once told me and these were my exact sentiments, "Dark Knight worked so hard to be realistic and serious, that it forgot to be fun". I've had a lot of fun watching Iron Man 1 & 2.

 

[The Entity]

Where was that scene from the trailer of Potts kissing the helmet throwing it out the plane and him flying after it? Cut? didn't see it.

Yes, it was cut. Too bad actually, because it was an awesome and funny scene.

 

[Calcifer]

Where was that scene from the trailer of Potts kissing the helmet throwing it out the plane and him flying after it? Cut? didn't see it.

When you think about it ..it had to be cut because later on in the film pepper tells tony the stark expo is just an extension of his ego ..so with her having this attitude it would not make sense to have her saying "go get em boss" and kiss his helmet b4 the expo.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

Spoiler

anybody else see the captain america comic in the trunk tony gets from fury?

 

[DinoLast]

How can anybody leave out Superman 2 in a Superhero movie list?

Anyway I'm going to see this awesome movie again tonight.

 

[DinoLast]

The way the helmet is applied to Tony's head, would have made it impossible for him to do it while plummeting to the ground (It has to go on and come off in three parts).
Glad it was cut.
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[jye4ever]

When you think about it ..it had to be cut because later on in the film pepper tells tony the stark expo is just an extension of his ego ..so with her having this attitude it would not make sense to have her saying "go get em boss" and kiss his helmet b4 the expo.

I agree, and him also saying "you complete me" wouldn't fit in at that junction of the story either.

 

[jye4ever]

How can anybody leave out Superman 2 in a Superhero movie list?

Anyway I'm going to see this awesome movie again tonight.

That's why I left the 10th spot open.

And it depends which S2 you're referring to, the Lester or Donner cut?

2 very different movies.

For me it's the Donner cut, I would add that to my top 10.

 

[jye4ever]

Some are complaining that Stark-IM's mortality was never really in jeapardy because the infection-vanko combo never really amounted to any real threat.

I know going into any Marvel or DC movie that no established character will ever die in these movies therefore what I'm really looking to get out of them is an excellent character driven journey combined with lots of solid action and for the most part IM2 delivered that in spades for me and when combined with IM1, it's a powerhouse of enjoyment.

Much more so than when I combine BB and TDK (BB > TDK simply because they made Harvey Dent wear that stupid suit at the end

Only thing that really bugged me in IM2, and it's already been brought up, was when Vanko was able to withstand the large Bentley onslaught.

It was a visciously fun action scene to watch and made for good theater but damn if that didn't cross the line into eye rolling territory!

Listen, most of the Marvel movies have been pretty lame, although I do appreciate and even have had fun with some of them (yeah, i'm looking at you FF1 and DD-DC), so it's an understatement when I say that I'm fortunate to have these 2 IM movies being back to back homeruns!

Here's hoping that Thor, Cap and Avengers come out as good as IM1 and IM2.

Oh, if that was Blake in France, what was his hammer doing in NM?

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Bought some Custom Oakley sunglasses today in Iron Man Colors.

Here's my Iron Man Custom that I have coming.

These look really cool, Josh.

I saw IM2 yesterday and loved it. I actually liked it a bit more than the first one. 9 out of 10 for me.

The only thing I didn't like was that Rhodes was able just to walk down stairs, put on the suit with ease and operate it well enough to fight Stark then pilot it like he'd been flying it for months. That just didn't make sense to me.

Overall a great flick and one that I'll see again before it leaves the theater.

 

[Deckard]

I've heard the Rhodes/suit complaint alot, the first time Stark actually wears the Mk.2, not the Mech Test to sort out problems, but the suit itself, he flies it fine.

A little trouble getting out of the twisting tunnel, but as soon as he's airborne it's no problem he flies it like it's just natural.

The differance is that Rhodey is a skilled long time pilot, of course he would have a natural ability, the suit is voice acitvated, its not like just hopping in the cockpit of a Harrier or Raptor with thousands of switches and controls.

And why would just walking/moving in it present any problem? It's not like heavy Knight Medievil armor he's dragging around, the suit moves with him.

Tony at the party, even fires his repulsor by accident, nearly maiming a few guests, it just goes to show how responsive the suits are.

 

[jye4ever]

These look really cool, Josh.

I saw IM2 yesterday and loved it. I actually liked it a bit more than the first one. 9 out of 10 for me.

The only thing I didn't like was that Rhodes was able just to walk down stairs, put on the suit with ease and operate it well enough to fight Stark then pilot it like he'd been flying it for months. That just didn't make sense to me.

Overall a great flick and one that I'll see again before it leaves the theater.

Mike brought that up as well.

How do we know that lessons were not given to Rhodey in between movies

Hey, I know if I had a flying battle suit in my basement (next to the washer and dryer) and you were tight with me, I would've given you some lessons in my back yard.

 

[DinoLast]

That's why I left the 10th spot open.

And it depends which S2 you're referring to, the Lester or Donner cut?

2 very different movies.

For me it's the Donner cut, I would add that to my top 10.

Donnor cut for me too
And it was not aimed at you, it was just my way of reminding everybody who was adding to the list, not to forget this movie

 

[Agent0028]

Spoiler

I totally picked up on the Disney reference with Howard Stark. Personally I thought that was really awesome. Even the word Expo in the multi-colored squares made me think of the Disneyland sign. And the other signs in the back looked pretty Disney-esque to me as well.

I figure that wasn't the first time Rhodes wore the suit. Tony could have taught him to use it for some reason or other.