Iron Man 2

[firecat]

firecat sums up Iron Man 2:

"We went through 2,500 toothpicks during filming!"

I was sort of entertained at times, but I found myself feeling annoyed or bored more than I expected. I really liked the Ivan Vanko character, in fact I liked him quite a lot more than Tony Stark or any other character, and I'm bummed that they seem to have killed him off.

I got the impression that the director asked everyone but RDJ to play their characters really flat, so that RDJ could play off them. The result was that Rourke played a real character because he has an astoundingly mobile face, and the others weren't given enough to do. It's clear from Sherlock Holmes, and heck even from the first Iron Man, that if you let an actor stand up to RDJ (and give them decent dialogue) you get a scene with lots of energy, but it seems as if that rarely happened in this movie.

My main response to the movie was wanting to go see The Wrestler again (Rourke does a great job in that movie) and wanting to go see Devil in a Blue Dress again to see what Cheadle is really capable of (he had nothing to work with in this movie; most of his scenes are a closeup of his left eyeball).

Scarlett Johansson did a good job with her character, but didn't really bring a lot of spark to her, although I sensed she could if she were allowed. The character does get to be both smart and physical, which isn't all that common in action movies, so that was cool. I enjoyed her fight scene but it was filmed in a weirdly unreal way that made it look like they'd used footage directly from the video game. Maybe she'll be able to make more of the character in future movies.

I was really, really, really annoyed about Gwyneth Paltrow's character. She comes across as nothing but a wimp and a nag, and Stark walks all over her constantly; there's no sense that they are equal-but-different. He tells her that he's making her CEO, and she sits down. Then she is quitting being CEO because "her body can't handle the stress" or whatever, and so he kisses her. And all the mincing around in six-inch spike heels, ew.

Comments

[asim]

I was really, really, really annoyed about Gwyneth Paltrow's character

I have a screed formenting in my mind about her "character arc", and the fact that this movie series is so guy-oriented it's scary. I've loved this character for years, but the movies are very much Brand New You're Retro in this regard...

[firecat]

I shall look forward to that screed.

[lunesque]

OMG I HATED JUSTIN HAMMER.

I was pretty much okay with the rest of it. :D

[sasha_feather]

I loved Rourke too! What a good villain. Also loved the one or two scenes with Samuel L. Jackson. I thought Sam Rockwell did a good job playing smarmy Justin Hammer, but that is because I love Sam Rockwell with an undying love; possibly I am odd. I found Scarlett Johansson boring boring boring--but it's like she wasn't supposed to emote, I don't know. You are right about Paltrow/Pepper. Mostly I enjoyed this movie, it was fun.

This is the only superhero icon I have.

[firecat]

I thought Sam Rockwell did a great job, but I found the character SO irritating. (Although I understand that's the point...)

[sinanju]

This. The Justin Hammer from the comics (if I remember rightly) was more like Peter Cushing. Tall, silver-haired, elegant, and ruthless as a tank full of hungry sharks. That's who we needed.

And actually, we need no more than one, maybe two, villains. Not THREE. Either make the Senator a real threat (instead of just taking "no" for an answer) or dump him. Deep six Hammer. Make the story a grudge match between Tony and Danko, each of whom is absolutely convinced that HE is in the right and that other guy is a damn thief! (They flirted with this briefly, but it never really went anywhere.)

As for Pepper as CEO, my first thought when he did it was, "The skills that make for the world's best personal assistant are not the same skills that make for a world-class CEO." They're two different jobs. That said, if they're going to tell me otherwise, then yes--SHOW me that Pepper has what it takes. Despite my limited WSOD on that point, I really hoped we'd see Pepper running roughshod over Tony, now that she finally had the bit in her teeth. I really, really wanted to see Pepper finally able to tell Tony "No" and make it stick--on the big stuff, not just details.

[elainegrey]

Thank you for sitting through it and reporting!

[amethystfirefly]

I really liked the Ivan Vanko character >snip< and I'm bummed that they seem to have killed him off.

Ugh, yes! There could've been so much potential if they hadn't killed him off. Hell, for example, what if he had decided to work with Hammer to take down Stark instead of going "MUST KILL HIM"? -sighs- The guy was supposed to be a genius, and he goes for the easiest answer?

The character does get to be both smart and physical, which isn't all that common in action movies, so that was cool.

YES. I loved that character SO MUCH because she wasn't just "action movie eye candy", but she was really competent at what she was doing, whether she was assisting or kicking ass. You don't see that very often with female characters in action films. More could've been done with her, yes, but what they did with her was very, very nice, imo.

I hated Justin Hammer with the fire of 10 burning suns. I would've liked him to be like the comic version that sinanju talked about. It was so plainly obvious that he was incompetent that you were like "... and he's a challenge to Stark because...?"

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

I don't get the toothpick line.

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

The Villain such as he is is constantly chewing on toothpicks.

[firecat]

...and occasionally he takes one out of his mouth, and it's completely clean and dry with no tooth marks.

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

For Don Cheadle, I recommend (in rough order):

Traitor
Bullworth
Ocean's 11, 12, 13
Volcano (yes, cheezy bad movie but. Cheadle's the best thing about it, really)

[firecat]

Thanks! Did you see Devil in a Blue Dress?

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

I think I did, but I have no memory of it. I know I have wanted to.

[charlottezweb.livejournal.com]

I've seen Pepper's quitting characterized like that a couple of places now but I saw it as her quitting him--she couldn't take the stress of being around him when he's so self destructive and selfish and she cares for him--so she tries to leave him and therefore the company. I dunno, I found a lot of her characterization this movie but I did understand that.

[firecat]

That makes a lot of sense, but then he kisses her and she accepts it and to me that undoes whatever she was trying to do by quitting him. He ends up walking all over her again. It actually made me pretty uncomfortable because it's what some abusers do, damage people and then say I'm sorry and that's supposed to make it OK.