DVDs and Films You Have Watched Recently #2

[Mr. Seven]

A lot of reviews are saying the second act is death and that basically Iron Man does nothing for the entire film.

[Harvey Dent]

A lot of reviews are saying the second act is death and that basically Iron Man does nothing for the entire film.

 

 

Don't what film they were watching. The focus of the film is Tony Stark, not just Iron Man blowing shit up CGI style. There's a bit of that, but what sets Iron Man apart is its not just a load of effects wankery. The character development is great in this movie, the action in it is better than the first film, but it's really really the emotions of Stark and the excellent characters connected to him that drive the movie. Sam Rockwell provides excellent foil as Tony's rival Justin Hammer.

[Smeg_&_The_Heads]

Watched Iron Man 2 myself today and thought it was great and I love the fact SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

They are setting up The Avengers Movie from what I know the next few Marvel Movies (Captain America Thor and The next Hulk movie if it goes ahead) will all feature some refrence to either The Advengers or another Superhero

Edited April 29, 2010 by Smeg_&_The_Heads

[Green]

A lot of reviews are saying the second act is death and that basically Iron Man does nothing for the entire film.

Again, they're exaggerating like fuck, but I can see what they're getting at. However, if you're anything like me, then you'll know that the Tony Stark character is actually far more interesting than his superhero alter ego. They devoted quite a lot of time to the dialogue scenes which I guess could put people off as the first one is definitely more actiony but I just felt this worked to the strengths of every character involved really. I don't think Iron Man needs to be flat out action like the Hulk movie needed to be, just a few decent set pieces and a whole lot of Downey Jr. charm as Stark gives the film a lot more re-watchability.

 

There is one out of place moment they can feel free to criticise mind...

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

...the Iron Man karaoke scene.

 

[close spoiler]

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Edited April 29, 2010 by Soilent_Green

[Smeg_&_The_Heads]

A lot of reviews are saying the second act is death and that basically Iron Man does nothing for the entire film.

Again, they're exaggerating like fuck, but I can see what they're getting at. However, if you're anything like me, then you'll know that the Tony Stark character is actually far more interesting than his superhero alter ego. They devoted quite a lot of time to the dialogue scenes which I guess could put people off as the first one is definitely more actiony but I just felt this worked to the strengths of every character involved really.

 

I agree Tony Stark is one of the few Superheros where the person behind the mask is just as intreasting if not more so then their Superhero alter ego

 

BTW

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

I didn't think we would get the Triangle Chest Plate until Iron Man 3 or The Avengers so I was quite happy with that

 

 

There is one out of place moment they can feel free to criticise mind...

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

...the Iron Man karaoke scene.

 

[close spoiler]

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SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

And even that was done to show the start of Tony's drinking getting out of hand

 

Edited April 29, 2010 by Smeg_&_The_Heads

[Dead Mike]

Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call New Orleans - Watched this last night, it stars Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes & Val Kilmer. This film will polarise audiences, I absolutely loved it, when the credits rolled I felt exactly the same as when I walked out of the cinema after seeing Pulp Fiction for the first time. I knew I really enjoyed it, I also knew that I hadn't really seen a film like that before & I definitely shouldn't have been laughing at a lot of the morally questionable shit I'd just seen.

Without heading into spoilers (the less you know about this the better) Cage plays a cop in post-katrina New Orleans. Suffering from constant back-pain & heavily medicated the film follows him on a homicide case. The film is more of a character piece than a detective story but Cage's eccentricity suits the tone of this batshit crazy movie perfectly. I'm already looking forward to watching it again.

[Harvey Dent]

There is one out of place moment they can feel free to criticise mind...

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

...the Iron Man karaoke scene.

 

[close spoiler]

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I was fine with that. It showed Tonys alcholism and was handled well. Again, unlike a certain dancing emo Peter Parker. There are flaws in this film for sure, but they're pretty minor and don't detract from the film being great fun.

[GalaxyV.2]

The dancing scene in Spiderman 3 still remains one of the only moments I've been embarassed sat in a cinema.

 

Well apart from that time with Paul Reubens...

Edited April 30, 2010 by GalaxyV.2

[SteelEdge]

I finally got round to seeing District 9 yesterday when I rented it on LoveFilm. I'd heard mixed reviews from this but I found it brilliant popcorn sci-fi entertainment. Nice to see something different done with the normal alien movie formula, and for the most part it worked really well. The main character came across as a really annoying prick in the first 15-20 minutes but he grew into it, and I really felt for him at the end. Wasn't a fan of the 'TV report' style of the first half hour, would've been better if they'd kept that for the first 10-15 minutes. The aliens looked brilliant as I was expecting as well. I'll probably pick this up on dvd when I see it in the sales, will be a decent addition to the collection. 8/10

Edited April 30, 2010 by SteelEdge

[insert_name_here]

I finally got round to seeing District 9 yesterday when I rented it on LoveFilm. I'd heard mixed reviews from this but I found it brilliant popcorn sci-fi entertainment. Nice to see something different done with the normal alien movie formula, and for the most part it worked really well. The main character came across as a really annoying prick in the first 15-20 minutes but he grew into it, and I really felt for him at the end. Wasn't a fan of the 'TV report' style of the first half hour, would've been better if they'd kept that for the first 10-15 minutes. The aliens looked brilliant as I was expecting as well. I'll probably pick this up on dvd when I see it in the sales, will be a decent addition to the collection. 8/10

I picked this up from ASDA two days ago for

Edited April 30, 2010 by insert_name_here

[Gallybagger]

Saw Iron Man 2 straight after work this evening, as it was soon as I possibly could, and it's a fuckin blast. It's not quite as good as the first one but it's a great couple of hours nonetheless. Downey Jr is one again brilliant as Tony Stark and they really explore his demons well. There's a lot going on in the film but it never decends into a huge mess a la Spiderman 3. It's absolute reference heaven for comic book nerds (make sure to stay after the credits too) and it's really pulled into the whole Marvel universe. It may be a little overly referential if you haven't seen the first one and/or are unfamiliar with the comics. But it's just great fun and once again really well written, acted and directed. The Iron Man series really sets the bar, along with Nolan's Batman films, as how to do a comic book movie.

 

 

What happens after the credits?

[Smeg_&_The_Heads]

Saw Iron Man 2 straight after work this evening, as it was soon as I possibly could, and it's a fuckin blast. It's not quite as good as the first one but it's a great couple of hours nonetheless. Downey Jr is one again brilliant as Tony Stark and they really explore his demons well. There's a lot going on in the film but it never decends into a huge mess a la Spiderman 3. It's absolute reference heaven for comic book nerds (make sure to stay after the credits too) and it's really pulled into the whole Marvel universe. It may be a little overly referential if you haven't seen the first one and/or are unfamiliar with the comics. But it's just great fun and once again really well written, acted and directed. The Iron Man series really sets the bar, along with Nolan's Batman films, as how to do a comic book movie.

 

 

What happens after the credits?

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

You see Mjolnir aka Thor's Hammer in the dessert

 

 

[close spoiler]

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[Mr. Seven]

Went to Iron Man 2 last night. I liked it but I felt the entire second act was so flat and repetitive that it really hurt the movie. It needed another fight with Iron Man and Whiplash, with Whiplash getting the upper hand, to really get across a sense of danger. There is no sense of danger for Iron Man in the film. Even his illness is all too easily sorted out and it doesn't really affect him. It's a shame the second act is so ponderous because everything else is pretty great.

[CoreyVandal]

Went to Iron Man 2 last night. I liked it but I felt the entire second act was so flat and repetitive that it really hurt the movie. It needed another fight with Iron Man and Whiplash, with Whiplash getting the upper hand, to really get across a sense of danger. There is no sense of danger for Iron Man in the film. Even his illness is all too easily sorted out and it doesn't really affect him. It's a shame the second act is so ponderous because everything else is pretty great.

 

I felt almost exactly the same way. For the first 90 minutes or so I was loving every second of it, but the last half an hour was very hard going, and a lot of the climaxes it seemed to be building towards never came. The final fight scene was way too long considering how little danger Iron Man appeared to be in, then just as you thought a bit of peril and tension was about to come in it ended out of nowhere. It was all very weirdly paced. It wasn't quite the 'two different films' that a lot of reviews have been painting it as, but more like a 3 hour+ film with a lot of stuff cut out.

 

Saying that I still really liked it, and with it being so busy I think it'll still be a great rewatch. Downey put in an amazing performance as usual, the guy just IS Tony Stark. He's over-confident to the point of narcissism, riddled with personal demons, yet still extremely magnetic and likeable at the same time. I watched the animated Iron Man movie when I got home and the Stark in that just seemed so dull and sterile compared to the movies. I remember before they cast the first one the main rumour was Tom Cruise was lobbying for the role which would have been horrible.

 

I wasn't fully convinced of Samuel L. Jackson's performance as Nick Fury. He just seemed to play it a little too much like Samuel L. Jackson, and I think it made him loose that air of authority that Fury needs. It's weird considering this version of Fury was created especially for him, but something just didn't click for me.

 

I'm also unsure on how I felt about the Black Widow character. SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

It seemed like they were building towards a turn that just didn't come, and although I'm guessing it's setting that up for The Avengers movie, it still made parts of this movie feel unfinished),

but she did have perhaps the most comic accurate costume of any Marvel movie character which I guess is a plus.

 

Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer was probably one of the best characters in the whole film. He was the man who desperately wanted to be Tony Stark so much, but just kept falling short in every area, and that pushed him to stoop lower and lower to get the upper hand. To me he wasn't necessary a bad guy, he's just a guy that's desperate for at least one win.

 

It was great seeing War Machine on the big screen, and I loved the contrast of the military style machine guns and missiles compared to Iron Man's high-tech lasers and repulsor guns. He really felt like a weapon with some awesome power behind it. I also felt the chemistry between Rhodes and Stark was spot on in this film, and the exchange between them at the beginning of the senate hearing just personified it perfectly.

 

Whiplash I could honestly take or leave. Rourke portrayed him like a man with so much going on beneath the surface, but I felt he just didn't articulate it well enough to really show us who the character was. I'm not quite sure whether it was down to scripting or Rourke's performance, but it felt like so much was left unsaid that perhaps shouldn't have been.

 

There were so many things I loved about this movie. It wasn't without it's flaws, but that didn't stop it being a really good film, and I'm still going to have it rate it higher than Dark Knight.

Edited May 1, 2010 by CoreyVandal

[Mr. Seven]

I think Rourke was note-perfect. The script let him (and other things) down. Also, I fucking loved War Machine. Cheadle was excellent too.