Iron Man

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 04 May 2008 00:22

Iron Man (2008)
Genre: Live Action Film – Action Adventure

This summer movie season starts with a surprisingly strong comic book adaptation from director Jon Favreau and starring the unlikely Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. This time Marvel Studios offers up one of their lesser known super heroes but like his namesake Iron Man is a near bulletproof film that leaves recent offerings from bigger superheroes like Spider Man and Superman coughing on his contrails.

Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, unscrupulous weapons manufacturer and charming billionaire ladies man. Stark runs afoul of terrorists armed with his own goods during a sale in Afghanistan, who then kidnap Stark and force him to build more weapons. With help from fellow captive Yinsen (Shaun Toub), Stark builds a crude armored suit to escape, but Yinsen dies aiding him. Once safely back home, Stark becomes a changed man and has a mind to refine his armored suit for more noble purposes, but neither his witty assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) nor his executive partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) are happy with the consequences of Stark’s new found conscience.

Iron Man may not be the smartest or most believable super hero film ever made, but it’s easily one of the finest. Director Jon Favreau was wise indeed to rely heavily upon a well-paced script, gut-pleasing humor and a strong lead to position his comic book film far above the competition. The special effects are well-crafted rather than innovative and it is this diligent filmmaking appearing in all aspects of the production that ultimately makes Iron Man a success. The film can feel a bit predictable and a little contrived at times, but who even cares when a movie is this much fun?

Fortunately, Iron Man also benefits from a lead as finely crafted as the mechanical suit itself. Robert Downey Jr. completely owns his role as Tony Stark, aggressively devouring the moral repulsiveness of the character as equally as he does Stark’s drive and professionalism. The charm and humor of Downey’s Stark draw us into what is an initially despicable character, but it is the unapologetic ambition of Stark that allows the audience to appreciate his flaws that in turn prove to be virtues. Helping Downey along the way is an impressive cast of actors that all add strong performances in each role, including a lovable turn from Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes (and a not-so-subtle nod to Rhode's future role as War Machine). The film remains a wonderful thrill ride with plenty of laughs from start to finish and is never dull despite running a little over two hours.

Rating: 4 out of 5. While Iron Man sometimes offers what we’ve seen before, it offers what it has with a proficiency few films have dared attempt. Within that small group of the best cinematic super hero adventures, Iron Man is proudly counted among them

"Can" you feel it?

orald · Post by **orald** » 04 May 2008 01:29

So I should add another movie to my d/l list?

Edit: Lots of sources, it's downloading fast(well, for the usual speeds I get), I might even get it done tonight.

inhuien · Post by **inhuien** » 04 May 2008 06:02

Nice write up GamePlayer, thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.

orald · Post by **orald** » 04 May 2008 13:51

Still a few more hours left.

Edit: A few more hours, sometime during the night. But it might be porn* or curropted according to some comments that popped up now...started another d/l just to be sure.

*Well, that wouldn't be a total loss.

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 04 May 2008 18:48

Yeah, the reviews are good all around. I just had a blast. The movie hit all the right beats at all the right times and was interesting and funny with plenty of action and fine performances all around, especially our hero. Great start to the summer season.

Robspierre · Post by **Robspierre** » 04 May 2008 19:20

GamePlayer wrote:Yeah, the reviews are good all around. I just had a blast. The movie hit all the right beats at all the right times and was interesting and funny with plenty of action and fine performances all around, especially our hero. Great start to the summer season.

This summer has a strong slate, next week there is Speed Racer, the week after Narnia, and for Memorial Day weekend Indy 4. Add in Wall-E, Kung-Fu Panda and Batman and there will be some good flicks taking movie goers into July this year.

Rob

Spicelon · Post by **Spicelon** » 04 May 2008 21:10

I'm a recent convert to the whole comic book/graphic novel screen adaptations. I don't read graphic novels, but 300 and V were great. I'll be checking this one out.

Nekhrun · Post by **Nekhrun** » 04 May 2008 22:00

Just got back from watching Iron Man. I had a great time and it was fun to see so many people laughing and clapping and having a fun movie-going experience again.

Rob-thanks for the tip on staying after the credits. Even though my bladder was telling me to leave, it was worth it.

Robspierre · Post by **Robspierre** » 04 May 2008 23:47

Nekhrun wrote:Just got back from watching Iron Man. I had a great time and it was fun to see so many people laughing and clapping and having a fun movie-going experience again.

Rob-thanks for the tip on staying after the credits. Even though my bladder was telling me to leave, it was worth it.

You're welcome

Opening night we're waiting for the last of the geeks to clear out to clean and the final bit comes on, one of the guys exclaims"I'm going to have an orgasm!!" to which I responded "you better clean up after yourself!" Its bad enough only 3% of movie goers throw away their own trash....

Rob

orald · Post by **orald** » 05 May 2008 09:49

First download was porn, Spanish I think from the credits that popped up.
Second was not very high quality(well, I can't expect much from piratical recording in the cinema) and not in English.

2 more downloads now, both with "English" clearly on their title.

I expect they'll be English dubs of the porn flick. >_>

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 05 May 2008 14:07

Nekhrun wrote:Just got back from watching Iron Man. I had a great time and it was fun to see so many people laughing and clapping and having a fun movie-going experience again.

Yeah, this is exactly my experience as well. The audience was having a great time. The theatre was roaring with laughter and cheers; an all too rare occurance.

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » 05 May 2008 14:20

I want to see this movie so much! I hope it comes to a theater near here.. and not the drive in.

orald · Post by **orald** » 05 May 2008 14:30

Theaters...last time I was in one it was the begining of 2004(or end of 2003?) and LoTR: RoTK just came out.
I was so embarassed to see some of the cheesiness in it, but it was good overall.
I still don't know what people like so much about the cinema, watching on a TV or PC screen is much more convinient.

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 05 May 2008 19:01

Well, for me at least:

1. Big screen

2. Big sound

3. Getting out of the fricking house for a change

4. Watching people

(Even though I'm a misanthrope, I still find people fascinating.

)

orald · Post by **orald** » 05 May 2008 21:29

SandChigger wrote:Well, for me at least:

1. Big screen

2. Big sound

I understand that these are the main reasons most people mention first about pro's of cinema going, but never cared for myself.

3. Getting out of the fricking house for a change

B...b...but it's full of PEOPLE out there!

4. Watching people

(Even though I'm a misanthrope, I still find people fascinating. )

Eww, people? That's...perverse!

Robspierre · Post by **Robspierre** » 06 May 2008 00:46

Some movies are just better when seen with a lot of people, the energy of the crowd adds to the experience. I have a good home theater set up but the new digital systems are bloody amazing.

Rob

Post by **Freakzilla** » 06 May 2008 05:25

Robspierre wrote:Some movies are just better when seen with a lot of people, the energy of the crowd adds to the experience. I have a good home theater set up but the new digital systems are bloody amazing.

Rob

No matter how big the crowd, they never appreciate me drinking beer in my underwear.

orald · Post by **orald** » 06 May 2008 05:41

Well then you're now in the right crowd.

Robspierre · Post by **Robspierre** » 06 May 2008 22:22

Freakzilla wrote:
Robspierre wrote:Some movies are just better when seen with a lot of people, the energy of the crowd adds to the experience. I have a good home theater set up but the new digital systems are bloody amazing.

Rob
No matter how big the crowd, they never appreciate me drinking beer in my underwear.

What about no underwear?

Rob

inhuien · Post by **inhuien** » 07 May 2008 05:48

Robspierre wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
Robspierre wrote:Some movies are just better when seen with a lot of people, the energy of the crowd adds to the experience. I have a good home theater set up but the new digital systems are bloody amazing.

Rob
No matter how big the crowd, they never appreciate me drinking beer in my underwear.

What about no underwear?

Rob

Freak, the picture of you sucking beer from the sodden gusset of your underpants will never leave me and chill me to the end

)

orald · Post by **orald** » 07 May 2008 05:51

That might get him too much attention in the right crowd.

Got 2 more Iron Man files, one was appearantly some program and the other seems to be only viewable using some obscure program, and they urge me to go vsit their site and use it...I think not.

*How about those smilies I put on the smiley thread? The "rockbrow" in particular would come in handy right now*

How long does it take for such blockbuster movies to come out on DVD? I'll wait until then(if I remember it) to try and get it. DVD rips FTW.

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 07 May 2008 07:34

inhuien wrote:
Freakzilla wrote: No matter how big the crowd, they never appreciate me drinking beer in my underwear.

Freak, the picture of you sucking beer from the sodden gusset of your underpants will never leave me and chill me to the end )

Now THAT was funny!

Robspierre · Post by **Robspierre** » 07 May 2008 12:56

Orald, usually 3-6 months is the wait time to dvd.

Rob

orald · Post by **orald** » 07 May 2008 15:38

bryanvdk wrote:hey orald, heres a site with streaming flash files of it.

Thanks. If it's OK-ish quality then I wouldn't bother downloading it later.
Unless it's super awsome that is, like Conan.

EDIT: Yea, started watching, that looks nice enough for me.

EDIT 2: Done watching, good movie, will have to wait for DVD rips to watch it in better quality, and see what's this "after credits" thing you guys mentioned(a-la X Men 3's Xavier hijacking a dead brain twist ending?).

The dressing up scenes remind me of Starcraft 2's trailer ("Hell, it's about time!"), though I found the trailer's dressing to be cooler...probably because it was less high-techish and polished).

But all in all I think it was a waste of time, because I didn't get to see Gwyneth undressed.

orald · Post by **orald** » 08 May 2008 13:29

It's a great comic BTW.