*** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I've seen several reviews that rank this flick alongside Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins as one of the best superhero movies ever made. The 94% rating at RT certainly helps to corroborate that. I can't wait to see it this weekend.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

James Bs review.He really gives the film alot of praise....

ReelViews Movie Review: Iron Man

Stick around after the credits......
(Rumored mild spoiler)
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

8.5/10

Likes:

-RDJ as Stark
-Anything involving any suit
-the prologue
-Paltrow in non-action scenes
-Jeff Bridges
-Howard

Dislikes:

-the score
-Paltrow in any action scene
-Stark's one-dimensional transformation (some may say sissification) concerning his company's weapons development
-the suspension of disbelief necessary to believe he could actually develop the first suit in the covert way he did and with the materials he would need

A solid comic book movie, but not one of my all time favorites. I would put it in the same league as the first X-Men or first Spider-Man movies. Nice, fun origin stories but not genre busters. I look forward to the sequel.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Wow its at 95% at RT. The only other film like this that I can remember such a high rating is The Incredibles.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I understand the high rating, but I would bet that The Incredibles (and most Pixar films) was primarily getting it's percentages with 4 star reviews, and Iron Man is doing it with 3 star reviews. Same effect at RT. And deserved.

Iron Man is certainly better than each of the blockbuster event films from last summer (unless you count The Bourne Ultimatum), and it's been a while since there was a BIG FUN film.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I thought it was fun and a nice origin story, but I don't get comments like "best comic book movie ever" or "On the level of Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins." It's clearly not, it was good--but light. They have a really solid ground to work with now and I look forward to at least one good sequel.


I'm surprised by this, you said you enjoyed the film, you don't think Favreau had anything at all to do with that? I, like a lot of people, had problems with the direction in Batman Begins, but I sure as hell didn't want the director replaced.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Clearly to you, maybe. For me, it is on their level. I know I have no interest in watching Spider-Man 2 ever again. That whole series is sour now.

Superman and X2 have been the high water mark for me and Iron Man easily sits alongside those as one of the best comic book features I have ever seen.

I think what sets it apart from most other comic book films is that all involved in its production took it seriously. The material was well-written. Moreover, there is respect there. It looks great. The performances are uniformly excellent. The film is exuberant . Ghost Rider and Fantastic Four (both of them) pale in comparison -- they are trash. Batman Begins, while tonally the polar opposite, has the same exuberance -- great writing, design, and performances.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Favreau and Downey hit it out of the park. Best comic book movie I've seen since Batman Begins. More please.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

For me, I enjoyed the directorial tone and effort much more by Nolan on Batman Begins, than Jon Favreau. There's this thing missing in Iron Man, it's the way the action scenes are cut together that don't quite provide tension and suspense given the amount of firepower and capabilities that the suit gives Tony Stark (plus the camera doesn't move as fluidly as I'd like), and even the early escape sequence wasn't shot or put together all that well. Favreau just doesn't quite have the pacing and editing panache to make really gripping cinema to my eyes. Nolan's just operating on a different playing field. I've loved to see what Alfonso Cuaron could do with a nice-sized budget on the next Iron Man.

I didn't like the "world" of Tony Stark when he interacts with the real world, it had the same blandness of the scenes from the Fantastic Four films, it just feels false. It's the little touches that separate films that feel like they are in their own headspace when you watch them, versus ones that are too concentrated in the principle characters, so much so that the rest of the backdrop feels inert and lifeless.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I agree about the look of the film, it just doesn't have any style. And I don't think Favreau is the greatest director, he's always been competent but uninspired. I kind of think he just got lucky when Swingers was a hit. Still, he's lightyears ahead of Tim Story IMO, and I know that he's not just a schlock for hire-- from the sound of it he takes great care with his projects.

Also, Favreau was on an episode of Monk a season or two ago as a dentist. He must have weighed 100 pounds more then. So props to him for losing all that weight and finding all that hair.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Doh! Can someone describe to me in detail what that last scene was? I left too early!

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I liked it.

Not as good as Superman, Batman Begins,X2, Spiderman2 or Superman Returns but better than most.

I agree with those saying its about even with the first Spiderman.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Thanks, Richard! Man, I gotta start staying through the whole credits!

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Best final line (not counting the post-credits scene I missed) ever. And completely keeping with the tone of the film. I genuinely did not see that coming.

This thing was structurally probably the best superhero movie ever. Every action scene gave you a reason to care about what was going on. Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) And the pacing was dead on. Everything played out at exactly the speed it should. I didn't need wall-to-wall action because the stuff going on in between was actually more interesting.

Most importantly, as Chuck said, it was FUN. Last summer was full of bloated popcorn movies that took themselves to seriously. This movie kept it to just the right length and never stopped being fun. I liked every character in this film.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Just came back from the movie. Great effects! I liked the story, but I thought it could have spend a little more time in the final battle, or had more than one battle with Obadiah. Good movie to take the kids to.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Don't we need a new thread to review the movie?

It was great. Fun, well paced and it made sense. So much better than Spiderman 3. I am just aggravated because the print or camera was dirty. I spend the extra money to go to a Muvico and still get hair, smudges and dirt. I saw the 10:00 show on the first day, so the print should be nearly perfect!!!

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

[sarcasm]Great way of selling the movie![/sarcasm]

I refuse to watch someone else's camcorder recording of the movie (even if it's only that scene)! This movie needs to be seen on the big screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Ric saw the movie.

As for a great way to sell it, I convinced about 3 people at work and and 2 friends to go see it. Im going again today and taking my brother. Im going again with another friend who cant make the time until weds.

Im actually suprised how few people know about it, as a bunch of comic book fans were walking about I mentioned to them they would want to stick around and they all sat back down, cheered when it was over and then thanked me for telling them.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Why are some of you dogging out Favreau? He directed maybe four theatrical films in his entire career and I consider this a very good effort on his part and if he sticks to directing, he will get better at it.





Crawdaddy

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

I agree. He's not a terribly showy director, but that's not a bad thing. He did a great job of keeping the audience invested through a movie that wasn't terribly action packed. He understands how to edit to increase tension.

Re: Iron Man (New Line sets 2005 release date)

Haven't seen Made yet but both Elf and Iron Man are really good films. I think people forget how enjoyable Elf is. His only stumble so far, for me, has been Zathura which wanted to be an 80s Amblin/Spielberg film but just couldn't capture any of that magic.

Re: *** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

I've seen the film twice, but didn't notice a Swank cameo, though I did spot a woman who looked similar to Swank in the craps table scene, she blew on Tony's dice before he rolled snakes eyes. So, where exactly does Swank show up in the film?

BTW, anyone else notice the nice Robocop homage during the Iron Man Mark I suit escape sequence as he is flaming up the place, but the bad guys get the drop on Iron Man, and he's on his knees trying to move from left to right on the screen, probably just before he kicks in the flight boost to make his escape. It looked just like the scene in Robocop. I also noticed that some of the hydraulic sounds when Iron Man walks sound like Robocop.

Re: *** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

Acoording to BOmojo

Domestic: $104,250,000 51.9%
+ Foreign: $96,750,000 48.1%
= Worldwide: $201,000,000

Re: *** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

I am really enjoying this experiment on behalf of Marvel. By producing their own movies they have more control over how they might interact in the future (Avengers!?!) as well as general control over content to avoid a studio uninterested in character or story details getting their mitts too far into the production.

Does Marvel Studios now have the rights to their already produced characters, like Spidey or the X-Men? I know they have plenty of other films to do (Cap, Ant Man, Thor, etc.) but it would be nice to see their version of Fantastic Four or Daredevil vs. the somewhat lame studio versions. Or would there have been any difference? Favreau's Iron Man just feels more like a Marvel Supers movie should and I don't know if it is coincidence or the more direct involvement of their parent company.

Any thoughts or good links to stories about this? I hope that Box Office blows this budget out of the water so we can be assured of future movies with Iron Man in it as well as the promise that post-credit scene hints at.

Re: *** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

Jon Favreau may not possess fantastic visual style, but his strengths as a filmmaker have given Iron Man more substance than most popcorn films. He may be no Christopher Nolan or Bryan Singer, but like them, he understands the titular character and that's the reason the film works. I've read a decade's worth of Iron Man comics (mid-80s to mid-90s) and Favreau got it right, from the characterizations to small things, like "Jarvis" and a Malibu mansion that looks like it was taken from the comics.

Robert Downey Jr., one of our finest living actors, does an impressive job making Tony Stark likeable; I just can't see anybody else doing a better job in the role. If you need somebody to play a tortured-yet-glib eccentric, Downey's your man.

Re: *** Official IRON MAN Discussion Thread

No, As long as Fox keeps makign X-Men movies, they'll keep the license. Sony either has the same setup, or a 7 movie deal - can't remember on that one.

They could try to buy it back, but I can't see them being successful there.

Hopefully they luck out after getting Hulk back (since I'm a long time shareholder)