Iron Man 2

[WindupAtheist]

Man, I created some kinda meme. As for what was stopping me from logging onto my own account from there:



I wouldn't have been able to post at all if Ali's user info hadn't been saved for this place and I had to do anything more than click okay.

<-- WUA, posting from home once more, albeit with a bit of a hangover and a bad case of the shits.

[Sheepherder]

with a bit of a hangover and a bad case of the shits.

What the hell were you two up to?

[Sir T]

At a guess, playing Iron Man 

[WindupAtheist]

No, see, the Garrette and Alexia characters in the Baldening were based on real people. Garrette I've known ever since I met him in UO in like 2003, and Alexia is his fiancee. But we had never hung out IRL, so I spent this past week up at their place playing games, meeting their friends, and getting falling down drunk. But I still don't know what the fuck happened to my digestive tract.

It was either the hamburgers or the chicken and cream cheese chip dip. I don't think it was the former, because one of the more sober people chased me and Garrette away from the grill rather than watch us burn the neighborhood down, and he wouldn't have made them too raw. But if it was the latter then that's pretty hilarious, because I only ate a little, while this 6'8" MMA dude who works as a security guard with Garrette ate like half the bowl with a fork and has probably killed several people in some sort of shit explosion by now.

So anyway yeah, how about that Iron Man 2?

[Velorath]

The rumors that Joss Whedon is going to be directing the Avengers movie are apparently getting closer to reality.

[taolurker]

New clip of Iron Man vs Whiplash, that might have leaked out... Hopefully this link and clip will still work in a couple of days:
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=17410

[LK]

OK, so they were logical about the circumstances. Tony's beams have a charge-up period, mid-range encounter, missing systems that probably aid maneuverability...

[Mattemeo]

Just got home after seeing this at the Think Tank IMAX in Birmingham. I'm an old school Iron Man fan, and I loved the first film, so to be honest I felt so long as they didn't completely jump the shark I was going to be reasonably happy.

Needn't have worried, it's bigger, bolder, better. I'll keep this first impression spoiler-free.

They've sussed the Iron Man fights - short and sharp - the dialogue is once again top notch with some seriously cringeworthy (deliberately so) puns/one-liners between Iron Man and War Machine and RDJ in pure, ubridled ego-mode. It's fair to say Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer steals the show, so odious and pathetic yet so very similar to Stark, his desperation to be loved as much as Tony is palpable, he just doesn't have that charismatic je ne sais quoi. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is my only complaint, looking back. And the only reason I'm complaining is because I could have done with at least twice as much screen time with her again. She's unknowable, ruthlessly efficient and effortlessly sexy.

The action is a deal more savage this time around, as I said earlier, short and sharp - no fucking around - the fight scene at the Monaco GP discussed in the thread is incredibly tense; but when Iron Man hits something, it tends to stay down. The final fight is a measurable success in comparison to the one vs. Ironmonger at the end of the first movie for similar reasons, and ties in nicely with an earlier moment. Also of note, a certain guy with an eyepatch gets a little more to say this time, and there's a teaser at the end of the credits roll, so stick around.

[sickrubik]

Also of note, a certain guy with an eyepatch gets a little more to say this time, and there's a teaser at the end of the credits roll, so stick around.

Quick note on that. If you don't want to be spoiled, stay away from Movie Blogs for the time being. I got spoiled sadly, because I read everything in Google Reader, so there was no "Don't read after the jump" warning, it was just there, the image, spoiled. Stupidly, in the full context of the article, before they do a bunch of line breaks before the images, Collider spells out the spoiler about two or three paragraphs above. now, several blogs are just saying it in stories about IM2, so be careful.

[NowhereMan]

Ok saw it last night and it's exactly what a sequel should be. They've taken what made the first movie awesome and done more of it. The Justin Hammer character was also awesome, for some reason he really reminded me of Austin Powers.

[Megrim]

Saw it as well - nice movie but i think i was dissapointed on two points. The fact that the excellent villain went out like a chump (and didn't get enough screen time, or development), and that SPOILER Iron Man ends up fighting pretty much the same thing he fought in the end of the first film. Like really, couldn't they think of something more engaging?

[SurfD]

All I want to know is if there are any more good Easter Eggs / Potential hints at stuff for next movie in it.  Like do we see any more Mandarin Power Rings show up in 2?

[NowhereMan]

 So some subtle hints about future films.

[Ironwood]

Just a continuation of the scenes in the first film and Hulk really.

[Evil Elvis]

I thought the movie was okay, but not as good as IM1.

If it wasn't for Downey, Tony's birthday would have ended up being this film's emo-Peter-Parker-lounge-act scene.   The whole Shield thing didn't really add anything to the movie.  But Sam Jackson's constant yelling didn't really bother me for the first time in years, so that's a plus.

It definitely ended on a high note though.  The last 20 minutes or so were great.

[Lakov_Sanite]

After the credits.

[Vaiti]

Think Ironwood was saying that the end credit continued the theme established in the Hulk movie and the first Iron Man.

There was an after credits scene in The Incredible Hulk as well that hints at future movies.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, Marvel are building up the Avengers hype in multiple films.

[Velorath]

Yeah, Marvel are building up the Avengers hype in multiple films.

Yep.  I think they might end up running into a bit of superhero fatigue from the audiences though by that point.  While Iron Man 2 is the only superhero movie I can think of off-hand for this summer, next summer brings us two Avengers set-up movies in Thor and Captain America, as well as Green Lantern, and the going to get rushed into production X-Men: First Class.

The year after that has the Avengers in May, and then the Spider-man reboot and the next Batman movie both in July.

[Lakov_Sanite]

It has less to do with super hero fatigue so much as the strength of thor and captain america.

[Ironwood]

Yeah.  Modern Audiences are going to struggle with Captain America, I think and frankly just fall over and die over someone like Thor.

Further, I'm not sure I'm even seeing the point.  That Animated one based on the Ultimates was fine.

[Evildrider]

Yeah.  Modern Audiences are going to struggle with Captain America, I think and frankly just fall over and die over someone like Thor.

Further, I'm not sure I'm even seeing the point.  That Animated one based on the Ultimates was fine.

Well I just saw Iron Man 2 and it was a packed theater at a 1:30 pm showing.

From reactions during certain scenes and the after credit scene, I can tell you that there is going to be a pretty decent fan base for those movies.

Also loved the movie, I think it was a great sequel.   

[Merusk]

Bob Mondello's review on NPR was both useless and more reflective of his fear at entering the 'AARP' age-bracket than anything.  Glad to see the reviews here are positive.

[Murgos]

Fucking loved it.  At least as much as the first one.  I will almost certainly see it again in the theater.

[Merusk]

Yeah, it was really very good.  It's hard to pull off the 2nd superhero movie because you can't tie up a lot of time with the origin story.  You already know the world and the setting and have to 'get on with it' from the beginning.  The movie did it well and kept a great pace.

There was only one moment I felt it was slow/ dragging and that was when we saw too much of Hammer in the lab areas.  I don't think I've ever wanted to physically assault a movie character, but I just couldn't stand seeing the oily bastard on screen. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

Yeah, it was really very good.  It's hard to pull off the 2nd superhero movie because you can't tie up a lot of time with the origin story.  You already know the world and the setting and have to 'get on with it' from the beginning.  The movie did it well and kept a great pace.

There was only one moment I felt it was slow/ dragging and that was when we saw too much of Hammer in the lab areas.  I don't think I've ever wanted to physically assault a movie character, but I just couldn't stand seeing the oily bastard on screen. 

The character kind of oozed a sleaze that you know you can't trust. It was very palpable to me in that here was a guy that would be as sweet and chamring as he could in public but if he had a chance and you were alone he would do all he could to fuck you over. 

In that sense, it was very well acted.

[Teleku]

Yeah, the Hammer character annoyed the shit out of me the entire movie, but I actually thought he was a great character.  That's what he is, an annoying as fuck egomaniac CEO.

Saw the movie last night and really enjoyed it.  I wouldn't say its perfect, but definitely a good movie.  I might have worked on the pacing a bit, and had a better spread of action, but that's about it.  I agree they should have done more with the final boss fight, since it was rather short, but I guess leading up to that we already had a long battle sequence with all the droids.

I think they could do very good Thor and Captain America movies.  But it's going to be hard, as both those characters are inherently corny when you take them out of the comic book universe and try to stick them into a realistic universe.  If they look at what the ultimate universe did, and try to keep it edgy but not over the top, it could turn out very well.   If they take the Ultimate Captain America along with the Captain America of Brubaker's run and put them together, they could make a legitimately good movie.  But if they miss, then it could be a very bad movie.  No room for middle ground really.  Captain America is has an even bigger danger than Thor of coming out bad, because they are going to have to find a way to keep the "America Fuck Yeah!" levels down, despite the pressure to up them.

[Lakov_Sanite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbbtIoUceI

[Merusk]

Yeah, it was really very good.  It's hard to pull off the 2nd superhero movie because you can't tie up a lot of time with the origin story.  You already know the world and the setting and have to 'get on with it' from the beginning.  The movie did it well and kept a great pace.

There was only one moment I felt it was slow/ dragging and that was when we saw too much of Hammer in the lab areas.  I don't think I've ever wanted to physically assault a movie character, but I just couldn't stand seeing the oily bastard on screen. 

The character kind of oozed a sleaze that you know you can't trust. It was very palpable to me in that here was a guy that would be as sweet and chamring as he could in public but if he had a chance and you were alone he would do all he could to fuck you over. 

In that sense, it was very well acted.

Oh yeah, in no way was I knocking the actor.  It's the character I couldn't stand and for exactly the reasons you outlined.  Fantastic job writing and portraying a complete scumbag.

The only real criticism I could make is that he had NO redeeming qualities, pushing him nearly into the "I can't take you seriously" mustache-twirling cartoon villain category.  Even Senator Douchebag showed he had some redeeming qualities, he just had a problem with Stark and not turning-over the IM suit.

[Teleku]

Yeah, it was really very good.  It's hard to pull off the 2nd superhero movie because you can't tie up a lot of time with the origin story.  You already know the world and the setting and have to 'get on with it' from the beginning.  The movie did it well and kept a great pace.

There was only one moment I felt it was slow/ dragging and that was when we saw too much of Hammer in the lab areas.  I don't think I've ever wanted to physically assault a movie character, but I just couldn't stand seeing the oily bastard on screen. 

The character kind of oozed a sleaze that you know you can't trust. It was very palpable to me in that here was a guy that would be as sweet and chamring as he could in public but if he had a chance and you were alone he would do all he could to fuck you over. 

In that sense, it was very well acted.

Oh yeah, in no way was I knocking the actor.  It's the character I couldn't stand and for exactly the reasons you outlined.  Fantastic job writing and portraying a complete scumbag.

The only real criticism I could make is that he had NO redeeming qualities, pushing him nearly into the "I can't take you seriously" mustache-twirling cartoon villain category.  Even Senator Douchebag showed he had some redeeming qualities, he just had a problem with Stark and not turning-over the IM suit.

Hmm, yeah, I'll agree with that.  I did find myself wishing they'd make him competent at something.  However all his creations were failures, and he was a total douchebag.  Would have been better if they'd made him seem a bit more of a smarter/cut throat CEO rather than somebody who seemed nothing but a fuckup most of the time.  An evil Bill Gates would have been more believable.  As I said, I liked the character, but I think your right about that criticism.

[Velorath]

Captain America is has an even bigger danger than Thor of coming out bad, because they are going to have to find a way to keep the "America Fuck Yeah!" levels down, despite the pressure to up them.

I don't really see that as being a problem, largely because of the era it takes place in.  It's ok to be patriotic when you're talking about a teenager that really wants to join the Army to fight in WWII, but can't because he physically unfit.

Still, I'm a little more optimistic about the Thor movie right now than I am about Cap even though I've grown to like Cap as a character whereas Thor has never really connected with me.  Captain America is being directed by Joe Johnston, best known for Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, and Jumanji.  Those are what people might somewhat generously refer to as his good movies.  In the last decade, he's directed the Wolfman (which had some well publicized problems), Hidalgo, and Jurassic Park 3.  Also I think casting Chris Evans, the former Human Torch as Cap might not have been the greatest choice.  The writing team behind Captain America are the same people who did the screenplays for the recent Narnia movies (including the third one which comes out at the end of the year).

[eldaec]

Wasn't bad - like the other one, begins well, but then sort of gets lost when everything starts blowing up.

I agree with this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYRN1cDk17A

[NowhereMan]

I think the Cap movie, set in WWII could be really, really awesome. They can do a lot of Ra-Ra jingoistic stuff, followed by Cap actually getting dropped into combat and watching men die and being emotionally harrowed with a nice finale involving punching a Nazi Baron in the face and getting frozen. It could be great with just enough emotional nuance to give us a feel for the character as a naive idealist getting dropped into something far bigger than he could ever have expected and coming to fill the role.

I'm not expecting anything great from the creative team on this one coming up. They've revealed a shot of the Thor costume and that at least looks pretty good. Since it's going to be set mostly in Asgard it could well make a pretty good fantasy movie, hopefully with just enough real world stuff happening that Thor doesn't just feel like he's been utterly transplanted into the rest of the franchises to be in the Avengers.

[MuffinMan]

My hope with Thor in the Avengers movie was that they would pull from the Ultimates storyline with the is he/isn't he crazy questioning his godhood. With a standalone movie especially if it's going to be in Asgard that makes it that much harder to do I guess.

[NowhereMan]

I certainly don't like Ultimates more than the regular Marvel stuff but it would have made a far better basis for an Avengers style movie than any regular stuff would. The only problem with it was that it seemed clear Marvel (or movie studio or whoever's making money off this) wanted a number of individual movies to transition into the Avengers franchise. They're making money by building up the universe with individual films and then probably hoping to have an Avengers trilogy.