Just Saw Iron Man "Spoilers Thread"

[Reinhardt]

just saw it yesterday and thought it was awesome. the humour was very well done and RDJs delivery on some of those lines early in the movie were classic!! effects were very very very well done. the suit looked awesome. I really like how they showed all the intricacies of putting the suit on, and how it literally is "getting made" around him. All the supporting cast was perfect and I really liked how they added a human touch to Stark's "working machines". Probably one of the best moments was when "Butterfingers" hands Stark his backup "heart."

Only minor issue i had was the Iron Monger storyline. IMO it didn't need to be there. the movie was doing so well up until the last 20 minutes or so. It takes RDJ half the movie to figure out how to get into the suit, how to fly in it, and use all of its functions, etc... and Jeff Bridges gets into the Iron Monger suit in seconds, and is already able to fly in it. The end just felt like another typical movie with a "major boss" climax.

Apart from that though, I loved it. Although not that original, the origin story was very well done. The movie was just so much fun. RDJ was incredible and i have no doubt that this movie will restart his career. I will definitely be seeing this again, and then waiting impatiently for the Hot Toys figures.

 

[choopie]

I just got back from seeing it and really loved it. Beyond just the action being cool, I found myself fascinated with his inner transformation into a hero--moreso than even in Spider-Man, where there is a lot of talk about choosing to be a hero, etc., but here there was a great moment in the cave where his fellow prisoner asked if he was going to do something about the unjust situation that he had helped to create, and without any dialogue RDJ just showed us with his eyes that he was going to take personal responsibility and use his talents to make a difference. It was like 45 minutes of Spider-Man angst and Aunt May speeches condensed into a facial expression, lol.

I was stirred by his moments of heroism more in this film than in most other superhero stories--the scene where he intervenes in the war torn village and halts the executions strikes a chord because it's a situation right out of the evening news and not some comic book fantasy supercriminal situation. Rather than being a story of radioactive mutant powers, etc., this (like Batman Begins) was basically about a regular "powerless" human using his position and talents to take a stand against the evils and injustice around him, even without x-ray vision or some other ability that stacks the deck in his favor. This was a story about a self-centered war profiteer finding his soul and dusting off his moral compass, and when you are invested in the character and his journey rather than just sitting there detached and waiting for a big explosion, it makes the action scenes all the more enjoyable.

I am also glad that I didn't know the details of the post-credits scene. I had a big grin on my face when I heard SLJ start to talk and introduce himself.

Well said. It sums up how I felt about Stark's character as well, and kudos to Robert Downey Jr. for convincingly pulling it off.

 

[Dusty]

Great post Tom! My feelings exactly. Although Tony Stark is not a 'good' guy in the way, say, Superman is a 'good'(y-two-shoes) guy, and there are some things about his personality that rub people the wrong way (alcoholism and male chauvinistic 'rockstar' tendencies are a couple), he's still the one we cheer for. To me, his humanity and mistakes make him that much more interesting of a character than the one-note Superman and other superheroes like him. I really really enjoyed watching his transformation to 'hero', even more-so than Spider-Man, who I always found a bit to 'emo' for my taste.

I have always liked Batman a lot for this reason too, but I think I am only 1 of about 2 people in the world who didn't like Batman Begins very much. I only saw BB once and never had a desire to see it again. It started out pretty excellent, but about 2/3 of the the way through it I had totally tuned out. Hated the last battle scene. I will have to watch it again before going to see The Dark Knight - maybe I will like it better this time - I promise to at least try

BUT I will always have a special place in my heart for the first and second Keaton/Burton Batman - maybe because I prefer the 'classic' Bat to the dark Frank Miller version In my opinion, superhero stories should have some fun and humor and light-heartedness in them to balance out the darkness and seriousness (similar to life, in fact - without humor and laughing at ourselves, we would NEVER survive), and I think The Dark Knight will be too.... dark, if you will... for the general audience - although Miller fans will no doubt love it to death... Especially dark with the tragedy surrounding Heath Ledger fresh on peoples' minds.

(Please don't kill me, but I think Batman Begins compared to the Keaton/Burton Batman films is a little like the Star Wars prequels compared to the Original trilogy... takes itself a little TOO seriously, whereas the 'first' had that excellent combo of serious and silly that makes them almost perfect... IMO of course, and coming from a big Burton fan.)

Iron Man is as perfect of a superhero movie as I've ever seen. I guess it all kind of comes down to what you define as 'superhero'... IMO, these types of films shouldn't be TOO realistic or serious - just enough to say, 'Hm, I could see that happening one day maybe' - but not enough to make it stop being fun, entertaining, and joyful escapism from the real world. I've seen IM twice now, and will go back for more soon!! (Maybe for a 'Mother's Day present next weekend... )

 

[Crix]

Great post Tom! My feelings exactly. Although Tony Stark is not a 'good' guy in the way, say, Superman is a 'good'(y-two-shoes) guy, and there are some things about his personality that rub people the wrong way (alcoholism and male chauvinistic 'rockstar' tendencies are a couple), he's still the one we cheer for. To me, his humanity and mistakes make him that much more interesting of a character than the one-note Superman and other superheroes like him.

I agree. I always found characters that were redeemed to be more interesting than characters who were perfect through and through.

 

[Darth Loki]

I agree. I always found characters that were redeemed to be more interesting than characters who were perfect through and through.

One thing I love about IM/Tony Stark is that he isn't a typical 'good guy'. I think it adds a lot more to the character. I love Supes but he is too good at times.

 

[Sick Boy 82]

Only thing that I was really put off on was SLJ as Nick Fury! WTF??!! That makes me angry. The costume and everything was wrong and I just don't like him anymore. He yells to much. And no, that's not the way he talks. lol Really bad choice IMO. I think that there are a multitude of actors that are a better fit for Nick. Oh well, I guess it's already set in stone though.

 

[EVILFACE]

One thing I love about IM/Tony Stark is that he isn't a typical 'good guy'. I think it adds a lot more to the character. I love Supes but he is too good at times.

What I like about Bats is he vow to not kill. Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Two Face, he could take them all out without breaking a sweat, but he chooses not to.

Stark did his own thing.

And I love the ending, "I'm Iron Man" The end

 

[Crix]

One thing I love about IM/Tony Stark is that he isn't a typical 'good guy'. I think it adds a lot more to the character. I love Supes but he is too good at times.

Yes, I loved Downey's Stark! He was so funny, and I loved how at the end he admitted to being Ironman. It was so fresh and different and very Tony.

Characters like Superman are cool but they're a little too bland to fill an entire 2 hour movie with. My favourite superheros are the Punisher and Wolverine, because they not exactly heroes. They just happen to fight villains.

 

[EVILFACE]

I'd say Superman is the hardest character to write because he is so powerful. Punisher movie just needs to be a straight forwars 80's action flick, just like the Thomas Jane one.

 

[jory REX]

just came back from seeing this movie, totally wicked!!! will probably see it again this weekend. i guess it's just me but i thought rhodey sounded weird when he talked

 

[The Mike]

That's just Terrance Howard's speech. Although I will admit that I'm looking forward to seeing him suit up in the sequel.

 

[plasmid303]

Terrence Howard rocks, what's wrong with his speech?

 

[Elder_Predator2]

That's just Terrance Howard's speech. Although I will admit that I'm looking forward to seeing him suit up in the sequel.

Same here.

 

[The Mike]

For me Howard's voice doesn't match his look....he looks like he should have a much deeper and menacing voice. He still rocks though.

 

[galactiboy]

What I like about Bats is he vow to not kill. Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Two Face, he could take them all out without breaking a sweat, but he chooses not to.

Stark did his own thing.

That was one thing that stuck out to me... he sure killed a lot of people in that movie. Not something you typically see in a Superhero movie... but again Stark does his own thing.

 

[Crix]

That's just Terrance Howard's speech. Although I will admit that I'm looking forward to seeing him suit up in the sequel.

Yes, he's very soft-voiced. I wasn't aware that he was playing the guy who would become War Machine until I saw the "next time, baby" scene. I'm not that big an Ironman fan and only knew that the guy in the War Machine armor is black, but I didn't know his real name.

Terrance Howard seems like too sweet a guy to raise hell in the War Machine suit.

 

[The Mike]

That was one thing that stuck out to me... he sure killed a lot of people in that movie. Not something you typically see in a Superhero movie... but again Stark does his own thing.

"But Dey Were All Bad."

 

[DarthNeil]

Yes, he's very soft-voiced. I wasn't aware that he was playing the guy who would become War Machine until I saw the "next time, baby" scene. I'm not that big an Ironman fan and only knew that the guy in the War Machine armor is black, but I didn't know his real name.

Terrance Howard seems like too sweet a guy to raise hell in the War Machine suit.

Not that big an Iron Man fan???... You know he went from stache to pure goatee... That's pretty deep.

I kid.

I'm really hoping that rather than Mandarin or one of the other Iron Man villains they bring Doctor Doom (and not the FOX FF4 version) into the mix and work him into the eventual Avengers movie as well.

 

[The Mike]

They can't. FF, Blade, Spider-Man, Daredevil....all owned by their respective studios with the rights all locked up. Anyone who has appeared in a Marvel film before now will definitely not be showing up anytime soon until those rights are bought out or expire. It'd be neat if they started something in all the films that eventually came out in the Avengers film....like Ultron starting up in IM2 and then weaving bits and pieces only to come out in the Avengers film completely. Or something like that.

 

[LOTRFan]

Great post Tom! My feelings exactly. Although Tony Stark is not a 'good' guy in the way, say, Superman is a 'good'(y-two-shoes) guy, and there are some things about his personality that rub people the wrong way (alcoholism and male chauvinistic 'rockstar' tendencies are a couple), he's still the one we cheer for. To me, his humanity and mistakes make him that much more interesting of a character than the one-note Superman and other superheroes like him. I really really enjoyed watching his transformation to 'hero', even more-so than Spider-Man, who I always found a bit to 'emo' for my taste.

Agreed, and I found Singer's attempt to humanize Superman very forced and uninteresting.