You owe me a plane
Aug. 6th, 2008 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynFinally, finally saw Iron Man -- I know, I'm like the last fangirl in America to go see this. I enjoyed it for the most part. Like all of the blockbuster comics-based movies, the fight scenes tend to bore me at this point, but I give them props for not relying too much on bloated action sequences and sticking to a more emotional storyline.
Of course, I don't expect that the sequel will allow for the same kind of treatment and it will be even more bloated next time. Which would be a shame, to me, because I liked how complicated Tony's feelings were, and I liked how mixed up in his mixed-upness everyone else is, as well. It would lend an excellent bit of gravitas to the next story to deal with what happens when Tony is off superheroing around and Rhodey has to walk the line on what that means as a spit-and-polish colonel in the military.
ETA: I forgot this! After the movie went back to the 36-hour backfill, I had a hard time getting back into the jazzy Robert Downey patter because I couldn't stop obsessing on the huge glaring error on one of the magazine covers. They actually had Business Week using "takes the reigns" on their cover. BW would never make such a huge, stupid editing error. Ever. I just couldn't believe that a major movie would do something like that. And why haven't they fixed it, after all these months in release? Idiots.
I didn't hate Gwyneth Paltrow as much as I usually do. Kind of a nice surprise. Although, of course, she's just window dressing on the story as women always are. I liked how they updated the story to today, though. It's been a very long time, as in I was just a young'un, since I saw the comics, but what I do remember of it, I think was handled well overall with the topicality of today's issues as opposed to Vietnam's. And oddly, one of the small characters I liked best was Agent Coulson. It was very refreshing to see someone from a shady government agency with a surface coating of smarm and the unctiousness of a Homeland Security type portrayed as not quite as dumb as you'd think, not to mention actually on the hero's side and helpful in a pinch. I loved that Pepper recognized his value.
And I loved that Tony is willing to admit he really doesn't have anyone but her. While I adore the tight-lipped type, and you can by no means call Downey's version of Stark tight-lipped, it was a nice change of pace to allow us to see what's working on the hero's mind and heart. I think a lot of that has to do with John Favreau, honestly. People tend to think of him as the Swingers guy, someone with a cool eye and jaded outlook. But I think anyone who's seen Elf, or watched his performances in movies he didn't do, knows that he has a big soft heart. He's a family guy and I think that really comes out here -- the frat boy, ultra-cool Swingers, smart-ass qualities he often brings to things are all there in abundance, but so is the sweet and the lonely and the learning a valuable lesson stuff he also throws in. I am a huge Favreau fan, in case you didn't notice, and I believe his participation and the way Downey really is like a perfect representation of the things Favreau often writes about make for a perfect combo.
Note to self: Do not stick finger in eye to adjust contact lens when just finished zesting a lemon.
Of course, I don't expect that the sequel will allow for the same kind of treatment and it will be even more bloated next time. Which would be a shame, to me, because I liked how complicated Tony's feelings were, and I liked how mixed up in his mixed-upness everyone else is, as well. It would lend an excellent bit of gravitas to the next story to deal with what happens when Tony is off superheroing around and Rhodey has to walk the line on what that means as a spit-and-polish colonel in the military.
ETA: I forgot this! After the movie went back to the 36-hour backfill, I had a hard time getting back into the jazzy Robert Downey patter because I couldn't stop obsessing on the huge glaring error on one of the magazine covers. They actually had Business Week using "takes the reigns" on their cover. BW would never make such a huge, stupid editing error. Ever. I just couldn't believe that a major movie would do something like that. And why haven't they fixed it, after all these months in release? Idiots.
I didn't hate Gwyneth Paltrow as much as I usually do. Kind of a nice surprise. Although, of course, she's just window dressing on the story as women always are. I liked how they updated the story to today, though. It's been a very long time, as in I was just a young'un, since I saw the comics, but what I do remember of it, I think was handled well overall with the topicality of today's issues as opposed to Vietnam's. And oddly, one of the small characters I liked best was Agent Coulson. It was very refreshing to see someone from a shady government agency with a surface coating of smarm and the unctiousness of a Homeland Security type portrayed as not quite as dumb as you'd think, not to mention actually on the hero's side and helpful in a pinch. I loved that Pepper recognized his value.
And I loved that Tony is willing to admit he really doesn't have anyone but her. While I adore the tight-lipped type, and you can by no means call Downey's version of Stark tight-lipped, it was a nice change of pace to allow us to see what's working on the hero's mind and heart. I think a lot of that has to do with John Favreau, honestly. People tend to think of him as the Swingers guy, someone with a cool eye and jaded outlook. But I think anyone who's seen Elf, or watched his performances in movies he didn't do, knows that he has a big soft heart. He's a family guy and I think that really comes out here -- the frat boy, ultra-cool Swingers, smart-ass qualities he often brings to things are all there in abundance, but so is the sweet and the lonely and the learning a valuable lesson stuff he also throws in. I am a huge Favreau fan, in case you didn't notice, and I believe his participation and the way Downey really is like a perfect representation of the things Favreau often writes about make for a perfect combo.
Note to self: Do not stick finger in eye to adjust contact lens when just finished zesting a lemon.
