Iron Man

[ironymaiden]

i saw Iron Man last night. then i had a drink, a snack, a drink, and went to see Iron Man again.

the film is full of explosions, and whisky, and the sheer joy of going really really fast. the story is solid, the dialog is natural, the hero designs and builds his own toys, and it's funny.

it nails the arrogant and self-centered nature of genius. (and this has nothing to do with my crush on Robert Downey Jr., i swear.) i believed every bit of making the cool thing and using the cool thing before testing the cool thing, because that's what a certain kind of geek with unlimited resources would do. the best choice made in the film is to show our hero's face or his POV from inside the suit more than we see the antics of the suit. it's his reactions, and the reactions of the people around him, that make the action scenes. when you can see Stark enjoying his flight, then rocketing over southern California at night becomes exhilarating instead of just sparkly spectacle.

i bounced, i gasped, i squealed. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, who is miraculously not annoying) never does stupid shit, never gets dangled over an abyss, and only screams when it's damn well appropriate. Iron Man: it starts the summer movie season with Back in Black and ends with a delicious postroll. what more could a girl want?

Comments

Relief

[andrew-the-oga.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear. I was afraid it was going to be stupid. Maybe I'll see it one of these days.

Re: Relief

[ironymaiden]

if you enjoy the trailers, you will probably enjoy the film. it's smarter than the trailers, and it does a delicate job of skewering some of the thinking behind American foreign policy while keeping a positive view of the working folks in the military.
my only caveat is that my friend bhagwanx notes that it is perhaps not a film that women unlike myself will enjoy.

[(Anonymous)]

Awesome! So glad to hear. We'll probably see it in PDX. I confess, when I saw the first photos of RDJ as Iron Man I squeed very loudly, to M's eye rolling.

[buhrger]

that's roughly what i was thinking too...

[joyful-storm.livejournal.com]

I liked it well enough, and think it probably merits a second viewing in the theater. samildanach seemed to get more depth out of it, while to me it was mostly a sometimes surprisingly clever shiny of low longer-term intellectual nutritional value.

(I admit this is my first encounter with the universe, so I walked into it with very little expectation/anticipation/fear/hope.)

Pepper Potts rather pissed me off re: her general insipidity and lack of much apparent internal motivation.

Robert Downey Jr. was very appealing as Stark, but I felt much more visceral lust for his 3D drafting tools. ;)

I don't think I can comment further w/out going into spoilers. *grin*

I'm guessing that in regards to this film bhagwanx would not categorize me in the class of women unlike you. . . .

[ironymaiden]

Potts is essentially Alfred the butler, so i got much more than i expected. (i think there's also a great subtext about the life of assistants; and women and charming assholes, but discussing it is full of spoilers. yay for getting to see you tonight!)

[varina8.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. I'll try to work it in.

BTW Are you going to the SIFF screening Wednesday? If so, maybe we can grab coffee afterward.

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

I am officially sold on this movie.

[ironymaiden]

Wednesday is my day-of-meetings at work, so i'm unlikely to be able to attend. are you going to the supporter thing on Thursday, or did you already hit the press launch?

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

but I felt much more visceral lust for his 3D drafting tools.

Score yourself a laugh point. Those things sure did look sweet.

I disagree about Pepper. I loved the way she was capable, and was never used as a cause for a bogus "save the girl or stop the bad guy" dilemma, and actually got to usefully contribute in many situations.

[varina8.livejournal.com]

I missed the press launch. Can you remember where and when the member screening on Thursday is?

[ironymaiden]

7pm at SIFF cinema. they required an RSVP, so you may need to ask a favor to get in.

In truth

[bhagwanx.livejournal.com]

I was sitting next to her for both showings. I freaking love this movie, and may see it again sometime this week.