John Berry
5/7/2010
--------Remember the late eighties and nineties when all we had for a continuing super hero movie franchise was the batman movies? We were forced to think of them as good movies because that is all we had. Except of course for Batman and Robin, nobody could pretend that movie had any redeeming qualities. I knew that movie sucked during the first action sequence, I mean whose idea was it to have Batman surf a spaceship door down from 30,000 feet and use his baterang to not splat upon the pavement? Please note I only saw that movie once, on opening day and I never saw it again. I never bought the DVD so I am going off memory. I believe the spaceship was at 30,000 feet when Batman and Robin kicked the doors off and surfed them down to the surface, however I could be off on the numbers. Either way it was as stupid as anything I have seen in a movie and it doesn’t matter if it was only 10,000 feet because it was just silly. Not silly in an acceptable way either but silly in an insulting way. Unfortunately it was all down hill from there. I’ll just say one more thing and move one, Bat-skates.
--------My point is those of us that are really big fans of the superhero genre have had to suck up a lot of crappy movies to get to where we are now. The Superman movies of the seventies and eighties were a bit better; of course they also took a dive at the fourth installment. However now Hollywood has realized that superhero movies are big money, and they are starting to make superhero movies that are truly awesome. Not only are they starting to make super hero movies that are truly awesome, they are starting to string them together to make series that are truly awesome. The Iron Man movies now sit at the top of that pile in my opinion.
--------Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are the only movies that come close. In many ways the latest Batman offerings surpass the Iron Man offerings. Robert Downey Jr. has got to be the best possible actor for the role of Tony Stark and lets face it he does a great job bringing the character to life. He personifies all the most iconic characteristics of the character. He captures the irreverence and charisma, and it seems so easy and natural. However I have to give props to Heath Ledger’s Joker as the most riveting performance in a superhero movie. That being said I still have to give the nod to Iron Man 2 as the better superhero movie. Now The Dark Knight might be a better movie with all its drama and what not, however when compared to the Iron Man movies it is a little light on the “super”.
--------The second movie of a superhero series should be the better one when compared to the first. In the first movie the origin story has to be told which usually takes up half the movie. Since I already know the origin of just about every mainstream superhero, it is difficult for me to generate the excitement about the retelling of a story. Now the second movie gets to explore new territory. The Dark Night, Spider-Man 2, Fantastic Four 2, X-men 2, Superman 2 and The Incredible Hulk (technically a reboot however the origin story is glossed over) are all examples of superhero sequels that exceed the previous movies in my humble opinion. It’s just the nature of the beast. You get to enjoy more action, conflict and character development while sitting through less radioactive spider bites or armored suit constructing. Don’t get me wrong; I get very excited every time a superhero gets a shot at movie greatness. I just get more excited when they get a second movie.
--------Iron Man 2 is no exception to this rule. With the character of Tony Stark firmly realized we were able to immediately set out with exploring the character and universe of Tony Stark. Tony Stark is a very rich character after several decades of regularly published comic books. So there is a lot of complexity to draw upon. Favreau does a great job of picking and choosing. For instance the Whiplash character is really a second stringer. When I heard he was going to be the villain I was a little hesitant. But you know what? Favreau nails it. Couple that with the respect I have for Mickey Rourke as an actor and I was quite pleased. Now of course this whiplash is a composite of Whiplash and The Crimson Dynamo, however we wont get into that.
--------I am not going to lie to you. I was hoping they would do the Mandarin in this one. I really think he is an intriguing and rich character. The D&D geek in me always thought the concept of a kung fu master with a magic ring on every finger is just plain awesome. Now of course the rings are tech and not magic, however they might as well be magic. Who knows, maybe we will get to see the Mandarin in Iron Man 3.
--------One thing that surprised me in this move is how cool The Black Widow was. I never really cared all that much for her character in the comic books. I never hated her. She was just there. But you know I think Scarlett Johansson really brought something to this character. Now I hope we get to see her in the 2012 Avengers movie.
--------Which brings me to the most important aspect of this movie, and that is how it fits into the rest of the Marvel Universe. The expanding pantheon of characters and references to other movies just makes me want to explode with fanboy anticipation. There are several references to the upcoming Avengers movie. A couple items appear from other superheroes that have movies coming out. I just cannot express how awesome it is to see all this coming together. Sadly I did not see any Hulk references.
--------War machine and Nick fury were also cool, but you already knew they would be. So I wont even bother getting into that. What’s the point? Just hand me my SHIELD badge. You know it’s the one that says,”Bad mother fucker” on it. Also this column is getting a little long-winded so I am going to wrap it up here.
--------Oh
yeah and in case you were wondering whether or not to sit through the
credits at the end of the movie, do it!