ohmygodgtaissomuchfun ok ok, to the matter at hand: Last night, thanks to the independently adjudicated generosity of one David Maybury, I was at the movies.ie preview of Iron Man. Capsule review: very cool.
It occurred to me yesterday that Iron Man is essentially the Marvel Batman: no superpowers to speak of, but he gets by on his ingenuity, determination and fabulous wealth. I can imagine Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne being drinking buddies. Or at least, I can imagine Robery Downey Jr and Christian Bale being drinking buddies. That is a cocktail party I would gladly attend.
Anyway… my point is, Iron Man is a hero I can get behind.
As everyone assumably knows by now, RDJ makes a perfect Tony Stark. Some people, myself included, worried that the eventual transformation into Iron Man and the attendant action extravaganziaaa would take away from the charming brilliance of the character as seen in the trailer. This is not remotely the case. If you’re sceptical… well, just wait until you see the amazing comedy double act that is Robert Downey Jr and a fire extinguisher.
Where it succeeds most of all is in its subtlety. The Spiderman and X-Men films beat you over the head with spectacle and hammy emotion, but this is much more finely tuned. There’s just the right amount of (very well shot and choreographed) action and just the right amount of character development. The film is aware of the wider Iron Man/Marvel mythology, but it brings it in gradually and realistically rather than just throwing in some nudge-wink moments. And in a supremely tasteful move, it puts the insert sequel here moment at least twenty minutes from the end.
Finally: watch out for the Stan Lee cameo. It’s a good one.
Ahoy ahoy. Seeing as you have an XBox already, can I have the movies.ie one – provided you win of course.
It would be a miracle if I win it, as I haven’t entered the competition. Have you?
i wanted to go see it last night but was outvoted and ended up seeing Forgetting Sarah Marshall instead. which was alright, because i still got to mix the chocolate in with the popcorn and make a pig of myself, but it wasn’t Ironman.
The movie was everything I was expecting, that is to say I was expecting EXACTLY that amount of fun. I even expected the inexplicable attraction to a freckled, ginger Gwyneth Paltrow, so there I go. And the sequel nod is genius, considering that any other Marvel movie would have had *spoiler* making a *spoiler* and putting a *spoiler* on *spoiler*self called *spoiler* *spoiler*.
And Jeff Daniels must be commended for having the best beard-to-bald ratio ever.
Spoiler? I barely knew ‘er!
Jeff Daniels was pretty rockin’ all right. It took me a while to realise it was him.
Rosie: Sarah Marshall gets a thumbs up from me. Also, chocolopcorn? Popcolate? I’m intrigued.
the best introduction to it would be to empty a packet of malteasers into your slightly warm popcorn and give it a shake – they’ll melt just a little bit and get a nice salty coating. sounds mank but is in fact the best thing since sliced bread.
if you want to be gourmet about it, try my newest combo of these mixed in with a bucket of the Savoy’s finest. life changing.
chocolopcorn! (can i steal that?)
PATENT PENDING
although you have the recipe so that would be short-sighted of me. Steal away.
Rosie – may I recommend white chocolate maltesers? The best bit is that they’re the same colour as the popcorn so it’s a stealthy mixture.
This is becoming a choclopcorn (genius!) addicts’ support group eh?