IRON MAN ROXXORZ!!!!
OK, thing 1 ... no spoilers. Thing 2 ... TOTAL geek factor, no crap.
My biggest beef with the majority of movie renditions of my childhood comic book heroes goes like this;
Stop stuffing 10 years of plot and story into a 90 minute animation!
Happily, Iron Man does not! Short timeline, action packed, love-hate characters, and a Gwennie! You will notice her eyes are never the same color twice tho... odd that. In a movie I mean - my own eyes change significantly with mood, lighting, etc.. Aaaaanyway, this version of the movie *does* encompass several lengthy design version changes of Iron Man, probably spanning a couple decades of Golden Age comicery. This, I feel, is an acceptable, and significant, modernization to the storyline, not a detraction.
The original Iron Man was 'technologically advanced' in an era when engines were iron, and aerodynamics were voodoo. Time and place of the movie is now, so I find it completely understandable to make a few story mods allowing for more rapid design and implementation in our increasingly technology-driven world. The story is also changed to more relevantly reflect our socio-economic climate, as well as replacing a few baddies with more current and instantly recognisable versions. The cinematics are stunning, the CGI is impeccable, and the soundtrack only leaves one little thing out. And dear GAWD I wants it! We Musst have that HUD!!!!
Together, the purists might be offended, but in my mind, this is a well executed revamp of one of my favorite childhood characters! I have a rather extensive Iron Man comic collection - minus the older ones from pre ... well, pre-me. Other Marvel-based stories have tried to develop too much of a base timeline within the initial movie, leaving one's head spinning trying to understand how Peter and M.J.'s relationship blossomed so quickly, when it took my entire childhood for the action to evolve in the Marvel Universe I remember! Iron Man does less of that, being slightly condensed from the original Tony Stark Learns His Lessons timeline, but falls neatly into the Iron Man / Young Tony from the premium comics. I am quite happy there was no attempt to stuff Rhodie in the suit, or to make Tony pre-paralyzed, or any of the other life-change elements (like the remote suit, and the inter-planet suit designed for the wars in Crossover) all happening in the span of the movie - in this one, the storyline and timeleine changes are understandable and realistic. In whatever way a sci-fi Marvel character would be realistic.
Prior to joining the multi-generational throng for opening night, I had people asking why they would want to use a purportedly womanizing, playboy lush like R.D.J. as the blundering hero-in-development ... well, who better to portray the womanizing playboy lush Tony Stark? I mean really, IRL Stark was an ass. If he was bigger he'd probably have been just like the pro-ballers we hear about crashing their exotic cars after a night of debauchery. While being chased by the po-po. While enjoying the affections of an expensive call girl. Who isn't their wife. R.D.J. is in good physical shape for this movie, and while maybe not quite as tall as the M.U. Stark would be, well, who could ever match the comic book physical proportions of most any character? The M.U. Stark is a relatively regular guy, physically, who just happened to be a genius, a tad crazy, and loves to party and showboat. All played impressively by Mr. Downey.
Also a wonderful part of this move, is the R&D 'behind the scenes' included to advance the story. Elements have been brought in that are not possible in static print, and had the entire theater LOLing! I do believe all of us had "those great ideas" that weren't quite so smart when we attempted to implement them. Like trying the roof-jump because it should be just like our little toy parachute guys! Everyone had at least one. Very well portrayed in this movie.
Overall, I say go see this one! I plan to use this movie to test gearheads - I might even play clips on my TV show "Motorhead" - see for yourself if you can tell who built the bikes, or who's tuning package is on one of the cars! Even if you were never an Iron Man fan, if you just like Action Movies, or maybe you just want to see R.D.J. or Gwennie on the screen - definitely worth seeing! I am adding the DVD to my collection when it happens, alongside Ghost Rider, in the 'watch it again and again' section.
P.S. It's worth the moola to see it on the big screen, loud, unless you sit 6 feet from your 50-inch with the 7.1 cranked, this is a theater movie for sure!
My biggest beef with the majority of movie renditions of my childhood comic book heroes goes like this;
Stop stuffing 10 years of plot and story into a 90 minute animation!
Happily, Iron Man does not! Short timeline, action packed, love-hate characters, and a Gwennie! You will notice her eyes are never the same color twice tho... odd that. In a movie I mean - my own eyes change significantly with mood, lighting, etc.. Aaaaanyway, this version of the movie *does* encompass several lengthy design version changes of Iron Man, probably spanning a couple decades of Golden Age comicery. This, I feel, is an acceptable, and significant, modernization to the storyline, not a detraction.
The original Iron Man was 'technologically advanced' in an era when engines were iron, and aerodynamics were voodoo. Time and place of the movie is now, so I find it completely understandable to make a few story mods allowing for more rapid design and implementation in our increasingly technology-driven world. The story is also changed to more relevantly reflect our socio-economic climate, as well as replacing a few baddies with more current and instantly recognisable versions. The cinematics are stunning, the CGI is impeccable, and the soundtrack only leaves one little thing out. And dear GAWD I wants it! We Musst have that HUD!!!!
Together, the purists might be offended, but in my mind, this is a well executed revamp of one of my favorite childhood characters! I have a rather extensive Iron Man comic collection - minus the older ones from pre ... well, pre-me. Other Marvel-based stories have tried to develop too much of a base timeline within the initial movie, leaving one's head spinning trying to understand how Peter and M.J.'s relationship blossomed so quickly, when it took my entire childhood for the action to evolve in the Marvel Universe I remember! Iron Man does less of that, being slightly condensed from the original Tony Stark Learns His Lessons timeline, but falls neatly into the Iron Man / Young Tony from the premium comics. I am quite happy there was no attempt to stuff Rhodie in the suit, or to make Tony pre-paralyzed, or any of the other life-change elements (like the remote suit, and the inter-planet suit designed for the wars in Crossover) all happening in the span of the movie - in this one, the storyline and timeleine changes are understandable and realistic. In whatever way a sci-fi Marvel character would be realistic.
Prior to joining the multi-generational throng for opening night, I had people asking why they would want to use a purportedly womanizing, playboy lush like R.D.J. as the blundering hero-in-development ... well, who better to portray the womanizing playboy lush Tony Stark? I mean really, IRL Stark was an ass. If he was bigger he'd probably have been just like the pro-ballers we hear about crashing their exotic cars after a night of debauchery. While being chased by the po-po. While enjoying the affections of an expensive call girl. Who isn't their wife. R.D.J. is in good physical shape for this movie, and while maybe not quite as tall as the M.U. Stark would be, well, who could ever match the comic book physical proportions of most any character? The M.U. Stark is a relatively regular guy, physically, who just happened to be a genius, a tad crazy, and loves to party and showboat. All played impressively by Mr. Downey.
Also a wonderful part of this move, is the R&D 'behind the scenes' included to advance the story. Elements have been brought in that are not possible in static print, and had the entire theater LOLing! I do believe all of us had "those great ideas" that weren't quite so smart when we attempted to implement them. Like trying the roof-jump because it should be just like our little toy parachute guys! Everyone had at least one. Very well portrayed in this movie.
Overall, I say go see this one! I plan to use this movie to test gearheads - I might even play clips on my TV show "Motorhead" - see for yourself if you can tell who built the bikes, or who's tuning package is on one of the cars! Even if you were never an Iron Man fan, if you just like Action Movies, or maybe you just want to see R.D.J. or Gwennie on the screen - definitely worth seeing! I am adding the DVD to my collection when it happens, alongside Ghost Rider, in the 'watch it again and again' section.
P.S. It's worth the moola to see it on the big screen, loud, unless you sit 6 feet from your 50-inch with the 7.1 cranked, this is a theater movie for sure!