231 replies to this topic

[Monkeyfoahead]

Holy Crap! I saw it on Friday, and it was awesome. Even after tearing my ACL playing soccer yesterday, I can still say that I had a great weekend. X10E100 Yeah, I just gave it 50000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 stars...

[Harmsway]

TINTIN will be interesting, definitely one of the most interesting comic book projects. It's on my radar. TINTIN... I like Herge's work, but I'm doubtful as to its ability to work as a film, even with Spielberg and Jackson on board.

You like Tintin? Glad to hear it, although I seem to recall your saying at one point that you didn't. Anyway, not to grill you on this - pleased to know you're onboard.

I did say as much, but came around after picking up a few volumes from my local library. It had been a while since I'd read a Tintin comic, so it was time for re-evaluation. Quite liked 'em, actually, though I have a hard time seeing how they can be made into blockbuster material without losing their essence.

[WC]

Upon reflection, I've been thinking that Batman Begins is the 5th Batman film in recent years and one of numerous attempts to get the character and tone right. It also has a built-in audience, having been around since the 1930s and far more well known than Iron Man. With that in mind, Iron Man is all the more remarkable in both its box office grosses and in its quality as a top superhero movie since he's hardly anywhere as well known and this is his first live action outing in any form.

[sharpshooter]

Just saw Iron Man. Loved it, Downey Jr is one of my favourite actors.

[Loomis]

TINTIN will be interesting, definitely one of the most interesting comic book projects. It's on my radar. TINTIN... I like Herge's work, but I'm doubtful as to its ability to work as a film, even with Spielberg and Jackson on board.

You like Tintin? Glad to hear it, although I seem to recall your saying at one point that you didn't. Anyway, not to grill you on this - pleased to know you're onboard.

I did say as much, but came around after picking up a few volumes from my local library. It had been a while since I'd read a Tintin comic, so it was time for re-evaluation.

Excellent. As with Fleming, the SPY WHO LOVED MEs and the YOU ONLY LIVE TWICEs of the Tintin series come towards the end - THE CASTAFIORE EMERALD, for instance, is something you wouldn't expect from just looking at the earlier books.

And you might want to have a look at FLIGHT 714 TO SYDNEY - one of the gems of late-period Tintin - before you go in to see INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL.

[sharpshooter]

Robert Downey Jr delivers a natural performance as Tony Stark and is genuinely cool.

He is a fast driving, womanising, lazy businessman turn superhero. He is always with a drink in hand and with quick wit at the ready. He puts things off, doesn

[Harmsway]

With that in mind, Iron Man is all the more remarkable in both its box office grosses and in its quality as a top superhero movie since he's hardly anywhere as well known and this is his first live action outing in any form.

Its success is undeniably remarkable.

I enjoyed this performance a lot. It is one of the rare instances where I enjoyed the scenes with the hero out of the suit.

Now that is always a good sign for a comic book film.

That it is. It's rare that character interaction becomes the highlight of a superhero film, and it's what makes IRON MAN stand out above the other MARVEL flicks, if only by a hair.

If some of the other elements (story, action, visuals, score) had really been up to snuff, then we really would have something special.

[Dell Deaton]

I just want to know....

Don't quote me on this....

... I've seen the last couple of trailers and am very psyched for it. Iron Man was my "B" read comic growing up, definitely mainstream, and, as someone pointed out, a good parallel to Batman, who I also absolutely enjoyed. Read an interview recently w/ Robert Downey, Jr., where he talked about his own personal enthusiasm for the role (which is important for me to see in an actor, as opposed to seemingly "above it" or overly intellectual about it). He also expressed humility and appreciation for the fans who wanted him to do this, despite his personal issues of late....

Thought it might be interesting to revisit what each of us was anticipating in this film, now that in hindsight so many of us are calling it a winner. Here's mine!

Edited by Dell Deaton, 06 May 2008 - 06:03 PM.

[dodge]

I loved the film, plain and simple, per my thread in the Craig section. Let me add here: the entire first third of the film, imo, is a masterpiece of structure, pacing, acting. Stark's backstory, his comeuppance and near-fatal wounding, his imprisonment and his Monte Cristo-like escape--construction of the suit while his jailers believe he is building a bomb--Yowza, yowza, yowza!

[HildebrandRarity]

I was anticipating it to kick off the up-to-then forgettable 2008 movie season in style...and it did.

I liked it on Friday...and that didn't change on my second viewing on Saturday (during which I appreciated the adult and other humour even more).

I gave it 8.5 out of 10...but I said it was not Citizen Kane. The rating has not changed and neither has my view that it ain't Citizen Kane. So let's not get carried away.

Those that think Iron Man's score was not good, i'd like to disagree. Try GoldenEye. That's a score and a real dissappointment.

[Harmsway]

Those that think Iron Man's score was not good, i'd like to disagree. Try GoldenEye. That's a score and a real dissappointment.

I'd take a million Eric Serra GOLDENEYE's over a single IRON MAN. Heck, Serra's score isn't even that bad; it has some gorgeous sections and the really terrific pre-titles music.

The IRON MAN score has nothing to offer. It's just forgettable mush with droning guitars... it's like watching a car commercial. Terrible.

[Dell Deaton]

... I said it was not Citizen Kane....

In which 007 film did Mr. Kane appear?

[HildebrandRarity]

Those that think Iron Man's score was not good, i'd like to disagree. Try GoldenEye. That's a score and a real dissappointment.

I'd take a million Eric Serra GOLDENEYE's over a single IRON MAN.

Horses for courses, each to his own, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc.

Did you see GoldenEye at the theatre in 1995? I did. And I was sickened by the "score"...sickened by that horid thing they call 'music' during the Aston/Ferrari tete-a-tete on the twisting roads above Monaco.

I'll take that the guitar (Iron Man = Heavy Metal = Guitar ~ Black Sabbath ~ Iron Man) over the horridly dated synth non-score any day. GoldenEye would have been a great movie if only someone had the guts to suggest an orchestral score with a real symphony. Our Rich Douglas could have done better!

[Harmsway]

Did you see GoldenEye at the theatre in 1995? I did.

Yup. Didn't mind Serra one bit, actually. Still don't.

I'll take that the guitar (Iron Man = Heavy Metal = Guitar ~ Black Sabbath ~ Iron Man) over the horridly dated synth non-score any day.

If it had actually been memorable, awesome guitar it would have worked. But it's not. It's lame, weak guitar without an ounce of the bad-assery of Black Sabbath.

[HildebrandRarity]

Did you see GoldenEye at the theatre in 1995? I did.

Yup. Didn't mind Serra one bit, actually. Still don't.

I'll take that the guitar (Iron Man = Heavy Metal = Guitar ~ Black Sabbath ~ Iron Man) over the horridly dated synth non-score any day.

If it had actually been memorable, awesome guitar it would have worked. But it's not. It's lame, weak guitar without an ounce of the bad-assery of Black Sabbath.

You win.

Can I buy you a cookie?


PS

I still hate GoldenEye's score vis-a-vis Iron Man's!

[Tarl_Cabot]

I didn't mind Iron Man's score at all;in fact I liked the music they play while he's building the first suit. It wasn't exactly John Williams but it worked OK-not a liability but not memorable.


Rumor has it that Mathew McConnahay is the front runner for Captain America? Hmmm...

[HildebrandRarity]

Rumor has it that Mathew McConnahay is the front runner for Captain America? Hmmm...

In the immortal words of Darth Vader, NOOOoooooo!

[Tarl_Cabot]

I think the character is a tough sell regardless of who plays him.

[WC]

Rumor has it that Mathew McConnahay is the front runner for Captain America? Hmmm...

In the immortal words of Darth Vader, NOOOoooooo!

We need someone who seems a little more intelligent than an Matthew McConnahay. We can't have Captain America sounding like Deputy Dawg!

I've seen some casting suggestions for Jason Lewis (of Sex and the City) for the role.



Well he's certainly buff enough and looks like the character, and can act reasonably. However he's not exactly a box office draw, but then maybe it wouldn't be bad to have an unknown.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Why not? I just don't dig this character at all. I wish they'd do Dr Strange instead.

[WC]

I was just thinking that Marvel managed to assemble a pretty solid cast for Iron Man, similar to the calibre of actors for Batman Begins:

Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Paul Bettany, Samuel L Jackson, Jon Favreau, Leslie Bibb.

Batman Begins: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe.

Ok, BB has probably got the more impressive cast in terms of the pure amount of acting talent, but Iron Man isn't bad either.

[tdalton]

I was just thinking that Marvel managed to assemble a pretty solid cast for Iron Man, similar to the calibre of actors for Batman Begins:

Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Paul Bettany, Samuel L Jackson, Jon Favreau, Leslie Bibb.

Batman Begins: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe.

Ok, BB has probably got the more impressive cast in terms of the pure amount of acting talent, but Iron Man isn't bad either.

I think that it's very interesting to see the kinds of casts that studios are putting together for the superhero movies as of late. Look at the casts of recent films, such as IRON MAN and THE DARK KNIGHT, which have names such as Robert Downey Jr., Christian Bale, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Terrence Howard, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, and probably several others that I'm leaving out. Those are some impressive names, and they're all attached to just two films. Hopefully we'll see this trend in casting continue because I don't think that it's a coincidence that the recent superhero films have been exceptionally good for the most part, and that has to do with the lengths producers and actors are willing to go to redefine the characters and plotlines from the comics. I never would have thought back in the 1990s that we would ever see anything like Heath Ledger's Joker or that I'd see Robert Downey Jr. playing a superhero, and it's things like this that is making the superhero film genre at this point in time more exciting than it's been in a long time.

As for IRON MAN, I have to admit that I didn't have much interest in the project in the lead-up to its release, but I was always intrigued by Robert Downey Jr. (an actor who is always great) playing a superhero. Now that I've heard nothing but great reviews for the film, I may have to check it out.

[Harmsway]

As for IRON MAN, I have to admit that I didn't have much interest in the project in the lead-up to its release, but I was always intrigued by Robert Downey Jr. (an actor who is always great) playing a superhero. Now that I've heard nothing but great reviews for the film, I may have to check it out.

By all means, check it out, but temper your expectations. It's not leaps and bounds better than a lot of the prior superhero output, even though Robert Downey Jr. is delightfully entertaining. It's not the kind of thing I'd buy on DVD, but I wouldn't turn it off if it was on TV.

[tdalton]

As for IRON MAN, I have to admit that I didn't have much interest in the project in the lead-up to its release, but I was always intrigued by Robert Downey Jr. (an actor who is always great) playing a superhero. Now that I've heard nothing but great reviews for the film, I may have to check it out.

By all means, check it out, but temper your expectations. It's not leaps and bounds better than a lot of the prior superhero output, even though Robert Downey Jr. is delightfully entertaining. It's not the kind of thing I'd buy on DVD, but I wouldn't turn it off if it was on TV.

I still can't, however, say that I have particularly high expectations for the film simply because I hardly ever agree with the critics on anything. I actually thought going into the release of the film that it would be one of those films where the critics would say something like "Robert Downey Jr. makes a valiant attempt at a film comeback and is fantastic in the role, but everything else pretty much falls short". Also, the idea of a Robert Downey Jr. headlined film that is about one of the "lesser" known superheroes (I say that simply in comparison to the likes of Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man) grossing over 100 million on opening weekend wasn't something that I had thought possible, but the fact that it's happened and the critics appear to be won over by the film, then that merits some attention, in my opinion. It'll definitely be a DVD viewing for me (THE DARK KNIGHT will probably be the only film that I view in a theater this year), but I'm certainly looking forward to it for, if no other reason, the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the big screen.

[sharpshooter]

(THE DARK KNIGHT will probably be the only film that I view in a theater this year)

Surely you will see QoS?

[tdalton]

(THE DARK KNIGHT will probably be the only film that I view in a theater this year)

Surely you will see QoS?

I probably should not have made that statement in my post because I don't want to get this thread off topic, but I stated it just to show how excited I am for THE DARK KNIGHT. I rarely go to the theater anymore to see anything, and haven't been in a very long time as a matter of fact, so it's not that QUANTUM OF SOLACE is something that I'm not interested in seeing, but it's just not the "must-see" film for me that THE DARK KNIGHT is. I've had to wait 3 and 4 years respectively for the last two Bond films, and I think that I can wait the extra 4 1/2 months or so until the DVD release of QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

[Tarl_Cabot]

but it's a BOND movie! And it's gonna be amazing: great cast, fascinating locales, huge action... WTF?

[marktmurphy]

As for IRON MAN, I have to admit that I didn't have much interest in the project in the lead-up to its release, but I was always intrigued by Robert Downey Jr. (an actor who is always great) playing a superhero. Now that I've heard nothing but great reviews for the film, I may have to check it out.

By all means, check it out, but temper your expectations. It's not leaps and bounds better than a lot of the prior superhero output, even though Robert Downey Jr. is delightfully entertaining. It's not the kind of thing I'd buy on DVD, but I wouldn't turn it off if it was on TV.

Yep, I don't disagree with that. It's far from bad, but there will be no reason that anyone will remember it aside from Downey Jr and the rest of the cast.

[dodge]

Re tempering expectations and not kicking IM out of bed(!), here's a nicely put wrap-up to a review in Creative Loafing (one of those hip, counter-cultural giveawag news weeklies):

"Stark's difficulties while creating his new duds provide the film with many of its must amusing moments...Indeed, the expository material is so engaging that the climactic battle...comes as a letdown...Director Jon Favreau turns in a chaotic action climax that could have been lifted from any soulless Jerry Bruckheimer endeavor.
"Still, even this last-inning strike can't tarnish IM's appeal. Just as a Stark needs a device to keep his heart pumping, IM requires Downey's presence to keep the heart of this franchise alive."

I'm with this critic re the final battle, and also on his shrewd observation that RJD's past baggage, his rep as a hard partier, only enhance the character. CR and the new wave BM films are better, so far, in themselves. But IM rocks, by and large, and RJD is priceless!

[Roebuck]

Yep, I don't disagree with that. It's far from bad, but there will be no reason that anyone will remember it aside from Downey Jr and the rest of the cast.

The actions scenes were underwhelming but the cast won me over big time.