I caught the midnight showing with my roommate and a few friends and to say the least, we were all pumped. And the film did not disappoint, for the most part. Let's break it down, shall we? (CAUTION: A few slight spoilers follow.)
The Acting/Cast = 9
Robert Downey Jr. knocked it out of the park as Stark, as he did in the first film.
Gwyneth Paltrow did a good job as Pepper, stepping up to take over as the CEO of Stark Industries, however, she could've been a bit stronger or gotten a bit more screen time.
Don Cheadle did pretty good, stepping in to fill Terrence Howard's shoes as Rhodes.
With Mickey Rourke ... you could kind of tell that it was Mickey Rourke, yet you couldn't at the same time. Yes, Ivan Vanko looked like Mickey Rourke, but Rourke did quite a good job in the shoes of Vanko.
Sam Rockwell did a pretty good job as Justin Hammer, a complete tool, the Bill Gates to Stark's Steve Jobs.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Need I say more?
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff ... I wasn't sure what to expect. But she exceeded my expectations, in both her scenes with the main cast and her fighting capabilities. And she was looking good as usual.
I quite liked Clark Gregg's slightly more prominent role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson.
Gwyneth Paltrow did a good job as Pepper, stepping up to take over as the CEO of Stark Industries, however, she could've been a bit stronger or gotten a bit more screen time.
Don Cheadle did pretty good, stepping in to fill Terrence Howard's shoes as Rhodes.
With Mickey Rourke ... you could kind of tell that it was Mickey Rourke, yet you couldn't at the same time. Yes, Ivan Vanko looked like Mickey Rourke, but Rourke did quite a good job in the shoes of Vanko.
Sam Rockwell did a pretty good job as Justin Hammer, a complete tool, the Bill Gates to Stark's Steve Jobs.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Need I say more?
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff ... I wasn't sure what to expect. But she exceeded my expectations, in both her scenes with the main cast and her fighting capabilities. And she was looking good as usual.
I quite liked Clark Gregg's slightly more prominent role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson.
The Script = 8.5
Justin Theroux did quite a good job with the script, filling it with witting banter and plenty of fight scenes ... but it did seem to lag a bit, however Downey did a great job of lifting those lagging segments. And I would've liked to have seen a bit more of Vanko in his suit at the end. The fight scene seemed too short. It was literally ... 3, maybe even 5 minutes at most, of Vanko versus Stark and Rhodes. But that's just me.
The Effects = 10
What I love about the Iron Man movies is the technology. The kind of technology that Stark had access to is the technology we fantasized we would have at this time ... oh, 20 or more years ago. Touch-screen tabletops, holographic maps, holographic maps that you can INTERACT with! And, of course, the whips ... the fight scenes in the suits ... excellent!
Other Items of Note
I really dug all the cameos and smaller roles, like Christine Amanpour's cameo, Bill O'Reilly's cameo (I guffawed and clapped when I saw Bill-O's cameo. He called Pepper a pinhead, for cryin' out loud! Ha!), Stan "The Man" Lee's cameo as a Larry King lookalike (I love Stan's cameos.), and Garry Shandling's appearance as Senator Stern.
And I QUITE got a kick out of Stark using Captain America's shield to level his laser device. And Thor's hammer at the end ... :)
And on a semi-related note, I really dug the new trailer for Inception before the film, along with the trailer for JJ Abrams's new flick out next year, titled Super 8. A mystery involving something in a train leaving Area 51. What is it? Could it be Lou Ferrigno? I don't know.
Overall, I would give the film an 9 out of 10. It lived up to the hype, but succumbed a bit to the dreaded sequelitis. However, it's a fun ride, is well worth seeing, and is a great start to the summer blockbuster season. We'll see how it holds up after a second viewing.
I really dug all the cameos and smaller roles, like Christine Amanpour's cameo, Bill O'Reilly's cameo (I guffawed and clapped when I saw Bill-O's cameo. He called Pepper a pinhead, for cryin' out loud! Ha!), Stan "The Man" Lee's cameo as a Larry King lookalike (I love Stan's cameos.), and Garry Shandling's appearance as Senator Stern.
And I QUITE got a kick out of Stark using Captain America's shield to level his laser device. And Thor's hammer at the end ... :)
And on a semi-related note, I really dug the new trailer for Inception before the film, along with the trailer for JJ Abrams's new flick out next year, titled Super 8. A mystery involving something in a train leaving Area 51. What is it? Could it be Lou Ferrigno? I don't know.
Overall, I would give the film an 9 out of 10. It lived up to the hype, but succumbed a bit to the dreaded sequelitis. However, it's a fun ride, is well worth seeing, and is a great start to the summer blockbuster season. We'll see how it holds up after a second viewing.
1 comment:
Lmao Lou Ferrigno.
That's an amusing image.
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