oh. my. god.
i don't care if you've never heard of Iron Man, never read a comic book (what are you, a philistine?), never even knew comic books existed and don't give a crap who Stan Lee is. i don't care if your boyfriend owns all these weird dolls (oh, action figures) and they're taking over your apartment and all you want to do is pile them in the backyard and set them on fire.
this movie is teh bomb.
it's better than the X-Men movies (not that hard); better than Spiderman and his tired adolescent angst; and gives the recent Batman a serious run for its money, if not totally surpassing it with the quality of the script, acting and action. this movie made a man encased in titanium erotic. hello!
favorite bits:
1. Robert Downey, Jr. - how hot is he? how funny and witty and sad can he be? and when his eyes get all teary and he's regretting all his life decisions in a cave in Afghanistan? sigh.
2. The bromance - at last, masculine friendship that isn't totally about measuring the size of one's dick.
3. The pacing - hail to Jon Favreau for making a movie that actually captures the 'ohmygod what's going to happen now???' spirit of comic books. every beat in the story was struck blam blam blamblamBLAM!
4. The script - wow. dialogue that was actually character-driven and not merely 'cartoony.' it was sly, spry and wry. loved it.
5. Women I could like - ok, there's only one woman who really matters and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) wasn't a screamer, a frail chick who needed to be rescued or a belligerent neurotic with issues. she was capable, supportive, knowing and decidedly not foolish. (the other woman in the movie just needed to be recast. the actress was awful and bland.)
6. Humor - at last! a comic book movie with a sense of humor! i'll chalk this up to Favreau and Downey's snarky sensibilities. yeah, the Christian Bale Batman has a certain hangman's noose humor about it, but it's so...heavy. blah. and the X-Men movies? pullease. dour, overbearing and way too earnest about its own allegory. give me the wink and the sharp quip delivered by a guy you can actually believe can carry it off.
7. Robert Downey, Jr. - sigh. really. he is just so...yummy. sure, he's short; he's in his 40's; he's a little worn on the edges. that's history, baby! and sure, when he takes off as Iron Man there's a little balletic grace to that little hand flip he gives that might not be really very macho. but i don't care! he's hot!
i'm about to start babbling about this movie. i should stop.
but one more thing!
now i'm gonna have to start reading Iron Man - and isn't *that* the measure of success for a comic-based movie?
(thank goodness saturday is Free Comics Day.)
9 comments:
Yay! I'm glad to hear it's good. My husband and kid want to see it because it's a superhero movie, and I want to see it because of Robert Downey, Jr. Win-win!
You will definitely like it.
Last night, going home, Roomie and I were talking about how ‘modern’ this Iron Man felt and I said that while I liked the origin stories of Batman and Spiderman, this one was the best of all.
I couldn’t express what it was that felt stifled about the origin stories of Batman (daddy and anger issues), Spiderman (adolescent angst) and Superman (Christ complex) but AO Scott, of course, says it for me:
What is less expected is that Mr. Favreau, somewhat in the manner of those sly studio-era craftsmen who kept their artistry close to the vest so the bosses wouldn’t confiscate it, wears the genre paradigm as a light cloak rather than a suit of iron. Instead of the tedious, moralizing, pop-Freudian origin story we often get in the first installments of comic-book-franchise movies — childhood trauma; identity crisis; longing for justice versus thirst for revenge; wake me up when the explosions start — “Iron Man” plunges us immediately into a world that crackles with character and incident.
I saw it yesterday too, and afterwards I immediately dashed across the NJ strip mall parking lot to Target, where I bought this.
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/dragonballzcentral_2001_661145051
I bought it for my nearly-4-year-old daughter, of course. Not for me.
-Lee
P.S. Don't bother with the comic book version of IM, who is just a tool. As opposed to this guy - have you had a chance to read this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_Machina_(comics)
Huh, if it's good maybe I *will* go see it with Mr. B.....
I've been reading Ex Machina for a while now! (I read them in trades, though. For my apartment's sake, I can't allow myself singles anymore. I have to wait for the TPBs.)
I've really been loving the inside view of city politics in that book. It's great, isn't it?
Yeah, I can see the toolness of IM; I mean, he's such a straight arrow, in a way, you know? Very pro-govt and such. I mean, Captain America thought he was tool! (RIP, Cap.)
(cough) Anyway...before my comic book dorkiness gets to be too much...
And, Bitch - yes, go see it with Mr. B. Go to one of those terrific LA theaters with awesome sound and picture and an unobstructed view and get lost in the boozy awesomeness of Robert Downey Jr. It's totally worth it.
ok, Lee, i just clicked on your link and had to crack up.
shameless, dude.
(though now i know what to get my roommate for her birthday.)
It's very funny to me that Bitch, Ph.D.'s husband has been given the name "Mr. B." Why? Because it reminds me of the scene in the movie "Election" when Matthew Broderick's character is trying laboriously to impregnate his wife, and he sees a little head balloon of Tracy Flick in his mind's eye saying cheerfully, "Fill me up, Mr. B!" My wife actually said this to me once jokingly, uh, in flagrante, when we were trying to have our kid.
Too much information. Sorry.
I'm glad you like "Ex Machina." I'm reading the trades, too, and am also anxiously awaiting the day when my library gets a copy of the last trade installment of "Y: the Last Man."
-Lee
ding,
I went to see IRON MAN based SOLELY on your recommendation. I loved it...but I've loved Robert DJ for more than a quarter-century.
Today, however, I found a new love. I went to see FORGETTING SARAH MARSHAL. A British comedian named Russell Brand stole the movie. I predict a two-week crush on him. (My last two-week crush was on Peter Dinklage, but so many of his roles are ...um. problematic...his gay men are really troubling).
Are you familiar with Russell?
Doris
I actually thought the British guy was hilarious! I didn't know who he was but I could see a 2-week crush on him. Totally.
'Sarah Marshall' was sort of sweet, huh? (Though that pity blow job scene was a little too, uh, real, man.)
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