Yes I finally saw Iron Man, shush
My apartment building air conditioning was on the fritz, so rather than spend an awful evening, I sought comfort at the movie theater. Not the cheapest solution, but it was certainly entertaining. Because yes, I finally saw "Iron Man". Now I understand all the squeeing online. Some of it I even agree on and will encourage at length.
So I'm late to the party. What else is new?
I'll be honest. I'm one of those DC fangirls. Yes those. Marvel has never really held that much appeal for me. The only series I've followed with any curiosity have been X-men and Captain America. So when they told them there was going to be a "Iron Man" movie I said "Eh". My only knowledge of Iron Man/Tony Stark has been recently during the Civil War mess, not exactly his finest hour. Even when everyone raved and loved the movie, I said "But can I like a fairly unlikable character?"
The answer is apparently yes and hell yes, if he's played by Robert Downey Jr.
I hate to do the comparisons thing, because it really is apples and oranges. The Batman movies are more epic and sweeping. "Iron Man" had its dark moments, too, but they never overwhelmed the movie. Honestly I found "Iron Man" a more cohesive plotline whereas both Nolan movies felt like they bounced around. After the unrelenting darkness of "Dark Knight", it was nice to go to a fun superhero movie that still had all the requisite action sequences and giant robots. Also an interesting contrast of the whole "My parents are dead" angst. Bruce took one road and Tony took another. But lord do they both know how to have fun with their money.
One good thing was my unfamiliarity with Iron Man. I didn't have any real preconceptions about his world or secondary characters. So I could just sit back and enjoy the ride, preferably with Jarvis navigating. (I would clearly be a street-level crime fighter. I just don't do heights.)
Things I loved:
The humor. Bring on the self-deprecating snarky humor.
The robots and Jarvis. Yes, I'm a big ole tech geek. I loved the poor little wannabe fire fighter robot. The robot played sad and dejected and "he kicked my puppy". And Jarvis is messing with my brain, because in comics, yes, he's the quintessential British butler type and he's played by Paul Bettany. Does not compute.
Rhodey! I loved Terence Howard in this. Okay, yes, I do love a man in uniform, but he brought a nice easy confidence to complement Tony's swagger. I knew just enough comicsverse to appreciate his little "Next time baby" when he looked at the other suit of armor. And he and Pepper's little "What's he doing?" "How would I know?" exchange, like they've done this before.
Things to think about
The famous Pepper Potts. I usually loathe Gwyneth Paltrow. I halfway liked her in "Shakespeare in Love, but only by a little. So having half my friends list extolling her virtues was a surprise. And she does play ultra-efficient and capable to the nth. She doesn't do the old Ginger Rogers thing -- "she did everything Fred Astaire did but backward and high heels" but pretty close. I'm actually fine with the way things resolved (or didn't). I think a big romantic subplot wouldn't have worked with this movie.
The villains. I know I know, super hero villains are supposed to be over the top, but Jeff Bridges may have played obadiah stane a little too cartoonish. On the one hand, was it really a surprise from the beginning that Stane was bad news? That he was pretty good & pretty ruthless at it at the end was more of a surprise and I wish they'd more than hinted at it.
And look! DVD release! I can watch it again in the relative comfort of home. (Please don't screw up the sequel.)
So I'm late to the party. What else is new?
I'll be honest. I'm one of those DC fangirls. Yes those. Marvel has never really held that much appeal for me. The only series I've followed with any curiosity have been X-men and Captain America. So when they told them there was going to be a "Iron Man" movie I said "Eh". My only knowledge of Iron Man/Tony Stark has been recently during the Civil War mess, not exactly his finest hour. Even when everyone raved and loved the movie, I said "But can I like a fairly unlikable character?"
The answer is apparently yes and hell yes, if he's played by Robert Downey Jr.
I hate to do the comparisons thing, because it really is apples and oranges. The Batman movies are more epic and sweeping. "Iron Man" had its dark moments, too, but they never overwhelmed the movie. Honestly I found "Iron Man" a more cohesive plotline whereas both Nolan movies felt like they bounced around. After the unrelenting darkness of "Dark Knight", it was nice to go to a fun superhero movie that still had all the requisite action sequences and giant robots. Also an interesting contrast of the whole "My parents are dead" angst. Bruce took one road and Tony took another. But lord do they both know how to have fun with their money.
One good thing was my unfamiliarity with Iron Man. I didn't have any real preconceptions about his world or secondary characters. So I could just sit back and enjoy the ride, preferably with Jarvis navigating. (I would clearly be a street-level crime fighter. I just don't do heights.)
Things I loved:
The humor. Bring on the self-deprecating snarky humor.
The robots and Jarvis. Yes, I'm a big ole tech geek. I loved the poor little wannabe fire fighter robot. The robot played sad and dejected and "he kicked my puppy". And Jarvis is messing with my brain, because in comics, yes, he's the quintessential British butler type and he's played by Paul Bettany. Does not compute.
Rhodey! I loved Terence Howard in this. Okay, yes, I do love a man in uniform, but he brought a nice easy confidence to complement Tony's swagger. I knew just enough comicsverse to appreciate his little "Next time baby" when he looked at the other suit of armor. And he and Pepper's little "What's he doing?" "How would I know?" exchange, like they've done this before.
Things to think about
The famous Pepper Potts. I usually loathe Gwyneth Paltrow. I halfway liked her in "Shakespeare in Love, but only by a little. So having half my friends list extolling her virtues was a surprise. And she does play ultra-efficient and capable to the nth. She doesn't do the old Ginger Rogers thing -- "she did everything Fred Astaire did but backward and high heels" but pretty close. I'm actually fine with the way things resolved (or didn't). I think a big romantic subplot wouldn't have worked with this movie.
The villains. I know I know, super hero villains are supposed to be over the top, but Jeff Bridges may have played obadiah stane a little too cartoonish. On the one hand, was it really a surprise from the beginning that Stane was bad news? That he was pretty good & pretty ruthless at it at the end was more of a surprise and I wish they'd more than hinted at it.
And look! DVD release! I can watch it again in the relative comfort of home. (Please don't screw up the sequel.)