Iron Man 2 (no spoilers yet)

[Biardo]

Alright let's kick this off, I know that most of you didn't see it yet but in some parts of the world it has been playing for almost a week.

I would ask for the spoilers to be in tags till when most of you have seen it...

The Movie:
I fear it's not the brilliant masterpiece we were all wating for. Don't get me wrong it was the a really good movie and fun to watch, but it's not beter then the first one in my opinion. If I were to rate the first one I would give 8,5 stars and this one would get 8 stars.

The story is solid but could go a litter deeper, I have the feeling they touch on subjects that can easily be developed more but seening as they want it to be a story for all ages the writers didn't go there. That's fine, I have no problems with that but it makes me sometimes want more.
I think the movie is one of the geekiest comic book movies I have ever seen with al the little referrals to the comics but it's done subtle enough.

The acting is good, but who would expect different with such a fine cast. Downey Jr. is of course the perfect Tony Stark in my mind. Mikey Rourke plays with the same kind of lightheartedness and fun that is needed for this kind of movie. Sam Rockwell ... ahem ... Rocks as Justin Hammer and Gwyneth Paltrow is as good as she was last time. The change from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle was forgotten the second time he apeared in a scene (but maybe that's because I like Don Cheadle).A special mention goes to Scarlett Johansson who was, off course, sexy as hell.

The action suffered the same problems like others see in the first movie. I don't mind because in my mind that is how fights in this suits would go, they are really grounded at times, you see people hit eachother with fists and if that isn't enough they get a stick to beat the oppenent with only the stick is a bit heavier and bigger. Now if you have a robotic armor you could do all sorts of wild things but when you are trained in hand to hand combat it makes sence to use that training in your suit, stick to what you know.

So like I said before I give it an 8/10 and I really enjoyed myself, hope you will too.

now for those who already saw it a little spoiler:

Spoiler

I really liked the references to the upcoming Avengers movie, like Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer.
And I'm curious how they will go from the advising position that Stark has now. Will they use War Machine or not?

 

[Joe Johnson]

I'm seeing it on Friday. One of our vendors is holding a meeting. Basically, we have to watch a presentation of their product, and then we watch Iron Man 2. Pretty awesome. I hope they don't pull a bait and switch and have some guy in a cardboard suit come out and re-enact the movie based on internet spoilers.

 

[Soliloquy]

Hey, so long as Robert Downey Jr. is as good as he was in the last one, I want to see this.

My other expectations are fairly low, so it'll be hard for me to be disappointed.

 

[edzepp]

It was fun times. The climactic fight felt rushed though. It's over in less than a few minutes. The acting was uniformly great. RDJ continues to show why he's one of the best actors of the moment. Sam Rockwell was perfectly smarmy, and Scarlett Johansson was born to play a comic book vixen. Rowr.

 

[Norris]

I loved it. The actual final battle was a little rushed but it worked from an in character stand point. Anyhow, two more possible Avengers added (no surprise) and the next three Avengers series flicks foreshadowed (see if you can spot them)! Awesomeness. And, as per usual, stay after the credits.

 

[@Li3n]

The final battle was underwhelming in the first one too... that's actually my only gripe with both films... (ok, the second also didn't

Spoiler

name the new element he made, and it's annoying not knowing if it's adamantium or vibranium

)

 

[Biardo]

Spoiler

wel it's kinda in the shape of a V so let's say vibranium, although when you turn it around it could be adamantium to... you're right they should have named it

when does the movie premieres in the states? today?

 

[Sparhawk]

Spoiler

wel it's kinda in the shape of a V so let's say vibranium, although when you turn it around it could be adamantium to... you're right they should have named it

when does the movie premieres in the states? today?

Spoiler

I would say it would "default" to Vibranium since Adamantium has been previously established in the Marvel Movie-verse in the X-Men and Wolverine movies.

 

[@Li3n]

What the hell?! my post keeps getting included in the quoted parts... time to switch it on top.



Which are still owned by Sony, so are in another continuity... and they might not have mentioned it beind adamantium for exactly that reason.

And it could still be the stuff Cap's shield is made out of... but that's just complicating it imo.

Spoiler

wel it's kinda in the shape of a V so let's say vibranium, although when you turn it around it could be adamantium to... you're right they should have named it

when does the movie premieres in the states? today?

Spoiler

I would say it would "default" to Vibranium since Adamantium has been previously established in the Marvel Movie-verse in the X-Men and Wolverine movies.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Dave]

I disagreed with the after credit ending, though. Instead of

Spoiler

Thor they should have had Stark in his lab working on something, then Captain America comes in, bodily lifts up the particle accelerator and takes his shield. Then right as he leaves he looks over at Stark and shakes his head a little like he's disappointed. Fade to black.

 

[@Li3n]

They're saving that for #3...

 

[Norris]

Spoiler

I would say it would "default" to Vibranium since Adamantium has been previously established in the Marvel Movie-verse in the X-Men and Wolverine movies.

Spoiler

According to the novelization (which is of course not the BEST source, but hey), that's a bingo on the Vibranium. Plus...the metal in the movie exhibits all the properties of Vibranium (IE, crazy energy absorption) and none that are specific to Adamantium.

Why yes, I do have six long boxes worth of comics and am in dire need of 1-2 more. Why do you ask?

 

[@Li3n]

But as i recall the latest canon is that Adamantium was a attempt at synthesizing Vibranium... (or the Vibranium alloy Cap's shield is made out of at least).

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

Christ this movie did nothing for me. I laughed a few times, but man. Everyone other than RDJr was fucking TERRIBLE. Not all bad acting, but a unique blend of bad acting and really stupid characters.

 

[Cajungal]

Not as good as I thought it would be, but i had some fun. I thought there would be more Mickey Rourke;

Spoiler

the last battle DID feel rushed.

I guess the thing that got to me the most was that some of the dialogue that was meant to be funny was muttered in this really soft, quick fashion that reminded me a lot of The Gilmore Girls. And I hate The Gilmore Girls.

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

I guess the thing that got to me the most was that some of the dialogue that was meant to be funny was muttered in this really soft, quick fashion that reminded me a lot of The Gilmore Girls. And I hate The Gilmore Girls.

They had to rush through the actual witty and good parts with Tony/Pepper so they could get more of Don Cheadle and Scarlett J reading their horrible lines in a monotone.

 

[@Li3n]

Not all bad acting, but a unique blend of bad acting and really stupid characters.

Actually i wouldn't say bad acting, just disappointing considering the level of actors involved... Justin Hammer came of as too clichéd as a character etc.

 

[TwoBit]

Seemed to me that Rhodes got the hang of using the suit awfully damn fast. The second he puts on the armor he can control it and fly around as easy as Tony does. Had he used it before? If so I don't remember the movie explaining that.

Anyway, I did like the film, but I also thought it suffered from a lackluster ending like the first movie.

 

[ElJuski]

Man, I loved this movie. I thought Downey and Rockwell were fantastic. It was just a fun romp, yo.

 

[Philosopher B.]

I enjoyed my time in the theatre, even at $10.50 for a ticket. It was billion times more satisfying than Clash of the Titans, at any rate. That said ...

Spoiler

Don Cheadle just didn't do much for me in that role, plus Scarlett Johansson's character was kinda superfluous (if they'd written it so that Vanko didn't take over Cheadle's suit, she wouldn't have been needed for the climax and, by extension, the rest of the film). Though I will say that Jon Favreau's brawl with a single dude while she was getting down was amusing.

I had two problems with the end battle:

1) They beat the shit out of those drones way too easily. Was there ever any doubt they would win?

2) Where were the dying people? With so many explosions and so much carnage, I at least expected to see a few people get their shit seriously fucked up. I mean, I didn't need to see rivers of blood, but still. I guess they figured it would be harder to sympathize with Tony Stark?

The rest was pretty fun, though. Sam Rockwell was a riot.

 

[RealBigNuke]

Spoiler

Don Cheadle just didn't do much for me in that role, plus Scarlett Johansson's character was kinda superfluous (if they'd written it so that Vanko didn't take over Cheadle's suit, she wouldn't have been needed for the climax and, by extension, the rest of the film). Though I will say that Jon Favreau's brawl with a single dude while she was getting down was amusing.

I had two problems with the end battle:

1) They beat the shit out of those drones way too easily. Was there ever any doubt they would win?

2) Where were the dying people? With so many explosions and so much carnage, I at least expected to see a few people get their shit seriously fucked up. I mean, I didn't need to see rivers of blood, but still. I guess they figured it would be harder to sympathize with Tony Stark?

Spoiler

I don't think the drone fight was supposed to be close or anything. It was just a fan service moment. And yeah, Johansson's role was superfluous, but Marvel clearly wants to start making an interconnected movie universe that matches the comics. Black Widow and Nick Fury and Thor and Captain American are probably just the start. Also are you going to argue with her in a skin-tight suit?

Also

Spoiler

HAY GUYS, I MADE A NEW ELEMENT. ITS GOT THREE SIDES SO ITS BETTER THAN ALL YOUR DUMBASS NORMAL ELEMENTS

Also

Spoiler

Anyone who says the Stark/Hammer thing is a Jobs/Gates parallel is an idiot.

 

[Covar]

Spoiler

I would say it would "default" to Vibranium since Adamantium has been previously established in the Marvel Movie-verse in the X-Men and Wolverine movies.

Spoiler

According to the novelization (which is of course not the BEST source, but hey), that's a bingo on the Vibranium. Plus...the metal in the movie exhibits all the properties of Vibranium (IE, crazy energy absorption) and none that are specific to Adamantium.

Why yes, I do have six long boxes worth of comics and am in dire need of 1-2 more. Why do you ask?

[/QUOTE]

Spoiler

When making the vibranium, he uncovers an old Captain America comic book, and an incomplete Captain America shield which was "Just what I need." You ask me there were plenty of clues to it being virbranium.

umm. That last spoiler is mine, not sure why it's doing that. THIS IS COVAR!!!!!!

 

[Shawn]

Saw it last night with the parents. All three of us enjoyed it and thought it was a very decent sequel. I think I enjoyed the writing of the first film better. Many of the character in this film felt way too cookie cutter and didn't seem to fit in with the characters of the first film. Hammer for instance just seemed too incompetent and uncharismatic to be in charge of his own company. Black Widow was indeed sexy but there was little to no depth. S.L Jackson seemed to just be playing more himself than he did the" guy in charge of a government run super agency who knows more than he's telling" Plus there was something about the writing for the already established characters that seemed much more awkward and disjointed. Probably all of those "stumbling over your words" moments that Tony and Pepper were sharing most of the movie.

Supposedly Al Pacino was up for the role of Hammer. I would have preferred him over Rockwell, or at least would have liked to compare the two.

The final issue I had was that Favreau gave himself a much bigger part in this film. Having a cameo in the first film was fine, but was there any need to greatly expand the role of a character that hardly anyone remembers from the first film, even if it is based on Happy Hogan from the Iron Man comics? Only if he wanted to expand his ego from my perspective. Love his directing, but I'd like to see him respect his power a little bit better.
I'm making a prediction that somehow Favreau's character will be wearing an iron man suit by the next film. It may just be for a quick comedic sequence, but he's heading down that path of self acknowledgment. Or will Happy Hogan meet his true destiny as The Freak? Either way I think he should have given the role to someone else had he intended on developing the character.

 

[Dubyamn]

Terrible, Terrible movie.

The 3 major plotlines were just too much for the movie to carry. I mean Rourke should have been written out of the movie early on since the rest of the movie was him attempting to be scary while getting his own design montage ooooooh sppooooky!!!! He fails utterly to be menacing or scary so the final fight doesn't have any kind of emotional response or any suspense about who is going to win.

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

I could go on more but the movie was terrible, stupid and utterly lacking in any redeeming quality.

 

[Snuffleupagus]

Terrible, Terrible movie.

The 3 major plotlines were just too much for the movie to carry. I mean Rourke should have been written out of the movie early on since the rest of the movie was him attempting to be scary while getting his own design montage ooooooh sppooooky!!!! He fails utterly to be menacing or scary so the final fight doesn't have any kind of emotional response or any suspense about who is going to win.

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

I could go on more but the movie was terrible, stupid and utterly lacking in any redeeming quality.

I liked it.

 

[Dubyamn]

Terrible, Terrible movie.

The 3 major plotlines were just too much for the movie to carry. I mean Rourke should have been written out of the movie early on since the rest of the movie was him attempting to be scary while getting his own design montage ooooooh sppooooky!!!! He fails utterly to be menacing or scary so the final fight doesn't have any kind of emotional response or any suspense about who is going to win.

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

I could go on more but the movie was terrible, stupid and utterly lacking in any redeeming quality.

I liked it.[/QUOTE]

You mind me asking why? I'm not trying to put you on the spot and if you tell me to buzz off that's fine but do you see where I'm coming from with my complaints and just assign a different value to them or does it seem like we just watched 2 very different movies?

 

[Snuffleupagus]

Terrible, Terrible movie.

The 3 major plotlines were just too much for the movie to carry. I mean Rourke should have been written out of the movie early on since the rest of the movie was him attempting to be scary while getting his own design montage ooooooh sppooooky!!!! He fails utterly to be menacing or scary so the final fight doesn't have any kind of emotional response or any suspense about who is going to win.

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

I could go on more but the movie was terrible, stupid and utterly lacking in any redeeming quality.

I liked it.[/QUOTE]

You mind me asking why? I'm not trying to put you on the spot and if you tell me to buzz off that's fine but do you see where I'm coming from with my complaints and just assign a different value to them or does it seem like we just watched 2 very different movies?[/QUOTE]

I'm not really sure, I don't consider myself a movie critic of any kind. I just saw the movie. Appreciated it as a sequel and enjoyed my time watching it. I see that you hated it and I'm not mad or anything, but I had fun.

 

[Shegokigo]

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

You've obviously never read an Iron Man comic.

Seriously, the complaints listed in this thread are hilarious. This is a comic book to film movie, it does it DAMN well. The characters being called "flat actors" are "flat characters" in the series. They're job is not to "shine" it's to "support" and that's exactly what they did.

The movie was like reading a comic. Perfection as usual Marvel Production Studios!

 

[Frank]

Other than some very convenient plot holes, I liked it. I like that they continue to build towards the Avengers though it will probably not live up to expectations. Bring on Branaugh's Thor!

 

[Dubyamn]

RDJ destroyed any kind of love I had for Tony Stark. He failed to bring any kind of Charisma to the part. I mean he actually manages to be an insufferable ass when he is interacting with Pepper unlike in the first movie where he seemed perpetually puckish when dealing with Pepper. Also not a single plot line is really solved by Tony Stark being brilliant or good or really though any attribute than being the hero of the movie. He gets handed every solution over him being a little bitch.

You've obviously never read an Iron Man comic.[/quote]

Is it normal for Tony Stark to stumble through life acting like a braindead moron before being handed the answer by somebody smarter than himself?

Kinda think not reading an Iron Man comic was a great move for me then.

---------- Post added at 01:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 AM ----------

I'm not really sure, I don't consider myself a movie critic of any kind. I just saw the movie. Appreciated it as a sequel and enjoyed my time watching it. I see that you hated it and I'm not mad or anything, but I had fun.

Fair enough. I really was just wondering because the way most people talk about the movie I feel like I saw some unpolished cut of the movie.

 

[Shegokigo]

Is it normal for Tony Stark to stumble through life acting like a braindead moron before being handed the answer by somebody smarter than himself?

Kinda think not reading an Iron Man comic was a great move for me then.

During his "drunk years", yes he acted like a complete moron. Like anyone who struggles with alcoholism he made huge mistakes and needed help getting back on his feet. As for him being handed the answer by someone smarter? Fury isn't smarter, he just has access to more resources/secrets. His father was smarter, cause um, he was the one who taught Tony all he knew. So yeah, not sure what you're exactly trying to put down.

 

[Dubyamn]

During his "drunk years", yes he acted like a complete moron. Like anyone who struggles with alcoholism he made huge mistakes and needed help getting back on his feet. As for him being handed the answer by someone smarter? Fury isn't smarter, he just has access to more resources/secrets. His father was smarter, cause um, he was the one who taught Tony all he knew. So yeah, not sure what you're exactly trying to put down.

The dad handing him the answer to the question that Tony had spent 4 minutes of screen time trying to fix. The fact that it was the most idiotic and nonsensical way of handing it to Tony was just annoying. The problem didn't have any drama because Tony didn't actually try to find an alternative core and the dad handing it to him was just a quick way to clip that plot thread.

 

[Shegokigo]

During his "drunk years", yes he acted like a complete moron. Like anyone who struggles with alcoholism he made huge mistakes and needed help getting back on his feet. As for him being handed the answer by someone smarter? Fury isn't smarter, he just has access to more resources/secrets. His father was smarter, cause um, he was the one who taught Tony all he knew. So yeah, not sure what you're exactly trying to put down.

The dad handing him the answer to the question that Tony had spent 4 minutes of screen time trying to fix. The fact that it was the most idiotic and nonsensical way of handing it to Tony was just annoying. The problem didn't have any drama because Tony didn't actually try to find an alternative core and the dad handing it to him was just a quick way to clip that plot thread.[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing you completely zoned out during the part where Tony made it VERY clear he spent YEARS trying to find an alternative to his problem. So yeah, 4 minutes of time

 

[Dubyamn]

I'm guessing you completely zoned out during the part where Tony made it VERY clear he spent YEARS trying to find an alternative to his problem. So yeah, 4 minutes of time

Oh no I heard that one line and then I saw him ask Jeeves to do a scan of the elements and do jack all else.

Really my problem would have been solved with one line of dialogue asking Jeeves to develop a theoretical element. They could have kept the father giving him the formula if they had Tony at least think of it first.

 

[Shegokigo]

Yeah he was gonna do alot of "thinking" binge drinking every night. :slywink: