Iron Man

[Jade Jaguar]

Well, I'm not a big Robert Downey Jr. fan, but I liked it. The special effects are great, story not bad. So, has anyone else seen it?

One thing I should add, if you do go see it, you must stay for the end of the credits. There is another scene there at the end! I always stay through the credits. If you are the sort that walks out on the credits, and you've already seen it, you're SOL.

 

[hypatia]

Several/many movies do that now, it seems. Mostly they are fun/funny but rather trivial additions. I take it this one is significant?

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Well, yes. We see an important Marvel character that wasn't in the film, up to that point, and get a hint as to where the next movie will be headed. I don't want to give spoilers, unannounced...

 

[hypatia]

I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD or on cable, unfortunately. Was it purely an action/adventure? Or was there a bit more character development, as in X-men?

 

[vacantlook]

I heard on the tv this afternoon that they're much further along in preparations for a sequel than most movies that get sequels are this soon after the initial film's release.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD or on cable, unfortunately. Was it purely an action/adventure? Or was there a bit more character development, as in X-men?

They do a good job combining lots of character development with plenty of action. Good special effects, the suit looks good.

 

[Cell]

I did not like that particular credit cookie. I liked the idea, but I didn't like the casting at all. As for the movie proper, I thought it was great. Through and through it was a tremendous movie, except for two things I didn't like, spoilers below,














1) The voices that came from the suits sounded far too weird for my liking

2) The Obadiah suit was too clunky and hokey looking to be effective, I just didn't buy it as any sort of real threat.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I did not like that particular credit cookie. I liked the idea, but I didn't like the casting at all.

Didn't like the casting in that scene? The friend I attended with, and I, both loved the casting! Spoiler below...













You don't like Mace Windu as Nick Fury? :wtf:

 

[Cell]

SPOILERS below,
















I'm a traditionalist in my comics and comics related material. I can deal with small changes, but I have not been a fan of the recent trend of completely re-imagining characters in regards to race or gender. It doesn't matter if it's white to black, black to white, woman to man or man to woman. That's why that casting bugged me, because that is not the character that I know and I know it's the Ultimates version of the character, but that still doesn't make it something I like.

 

[GKarsEye]

Even though I think comic book movies are retarded, and the only ones I really like are the first two Superman movies w/ Christopher Reeve- and that for purely nostalgia- I'm gonna check this out on cable. Robert Downy Jr is cool. And casting a coke-fiend as a superhero? Brilliant.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Well, Cell, there are certainly some changes I don't like, like the complete change in the origin of the Hulk. I wasn't happy about Jessica Alba being cast as Sue Storm. Sue's bland, whitebread, blonde, girl-next-door personality was most of her character, at least to me. But, Nick Fury's white skin has nothing to do with his character, IMO.

The original NIck Fury came out of WWII, so that made him more or less have to be white. In the new Iron Man, Stark develops the armor in the Middle East, not in Viet Nam. Things have been updated, because they didn't want to make a period piece. So, it would make sense for Nick Fury to have gotten his start in Viet Nam, not WWII, in the new Iron Man. Therefore, making him black shouldn't be a problem, IMO, as long as he acts like the Nick Fury we all know. It's not like casting Iago as white...

 

[Cell]

It bothers me because it reeks of stunt changing. If they want to make a strong black character and insert him in the mythos they should be able to do so, they are very talented writers after all. No need to mess with the established mythos and take a short cut in regards to originality in character creation.

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

I saw Iron Man on Friday, and I really liked it. It had a slow build up, but it was never boring. I liked watching the evolution of the armor. Robert Downey Jr. was awesome as Tony Stark, and I really liked Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. The true scene-stealer, however, was the fire extinguisher robot.

I agree with the dominant view of friends, critics, and bloggers who have said that Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, and X-Men 2 are the standard-bearers for superhero movies. I would say Iron Man ranks right up there, even better than X-Men 2. Overall, that is. However, thanks to a nice mix of humor, wit, and snappy dialogue, I think Iron Man may be the best-written superhero movie ever.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Well, to me, making Nick Fury black, under the circumstances I described, isn't really messing with the mythos. But creating a new character, out of whole cloth, just to have a main black character, would be very much messing with the mythos, IMO.

 

[Cell]

Well, to me, making Nick Fury black, under the circumstances I described, isn't really messing with the mythos. But creating a new character, out of whole cloth, just to have a main black character, would be very much messing with the mythos, IMO.

If that character isn't well written as is retconned into the history of the character sure. But comics are just like real life where the heroes meet new people all the time, make new friends and enemies all the time, etc.. With that being the case there is no reason that they couldn't enter a new strong ethnic character into the mix. Or my favorite and most brilliant idea would be for them to stop switching the races of existing characters and instead focus on making the already present ethnic characters strong instead of ignoring them in favor of like I said, stunt changing.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I don't see it as a "stunt." I think they mainly just liked Sam Jackson for the role. I do too.I guess we just have to agree to disagree...

 

[GKarsEye]

I think every movie is written with some sort of Sam Jackson clause. That dude is in everything.

 

[Galahad]

I think every movie is written with some sort of Sam Jackson clause. That dude is in everything.

Hah yeah... even The Bible! This from wiki:

Jackson also provided the voice of God for a New Testament audio book version of the Bible entitled The Bible Experience, which was released in November 2006. He was given the lead role because producers felt his deep, authoritative voice was perfect for the role

Looking at his resume was quite interesting. He apparently doesn't earn asmuch as the guy who voiced Megatron in the original Transformers cartoon... and I didn't realise that he was an usher at MLK's funeral.

It's also worth mentioning that according to that same wiki page... not only is the Marvel Ultimates Nick Fury black, but he was actually modelled on Samuel L Jackson (who gave his consent for Marvel to do that), so Jackson appearing in a movie as Fury... is just events coming full circle.

 

[admiraldave]

I agree with the dominant view of friends, critics, and bloggers who have said that Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, and X-Men 2 are the standard-bearers for superhero movies. I would say Iron Man ranks right up there, even better than X-Men 2. Overall, that is. However, thanks to a nice mix of humor, wit, and snappy dialogue, I think Iron Man may be the best-written superhero movie ever.

Eh, I didn't really like Spiderman 2. X2, however, is my absolute favourite comic book movie, with Batman Begins up there.

As for Iron Man. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't call it best written. Loved the interactions between Tony and Pepper, the sequences of Tony building his suit was a little Wil E. Coyote, but I loved it. That said, the villian was unimpressive, and the movie didn't blow me away. I definitely want a sequel, and I'd love to see Robert Downey Jr. reprise the role in the Avengers movie too.

 

[Jonny_Fever]

I read that Downey has a cameo in the new Hulk movie as Tony Stark.