IRON MAN 2 Spoiler Thread, Part 2

[filkertom]

Anne, Leslie and I just saw Iron Man 2. Bwaha. That frickin' rocked. The trailers, not so much. Especially Grown-Ups -- who in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster greenlit that?

Anyway, more discussion, and this time I'll join in (and respond to stuff from the previous thread).

Comments

[catlin.livejournal.com]

Not enough half or more naked Robert Downey Jr.

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[dragon-avatar.livejournal.com]

Scarlet Johhanson in a business suit/body suit can have my kidlets any day. meow! The Marvel universe is a big, strange place, and with the ending credit, we no longer are restrained by bio-technology or robotics. We have GODS!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Love love love that last shot. Just amazing.

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

"It's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every daaaaay..." :)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

[slap slap slap] I was delighted that they got one of the Sherman brothers to write that pastiche.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Saw it last night. We didn't have those trailers. We had Shrek 4 and some other movie. I forgot the title. The trailer talked about moving something from Area 51 by train followed by a guy in a pickup intentionally driving onto the tracks and into the train to cause an accident. We don't get to see what it's carrying (which is good because trailers tend to give away too much).

The movie was pretty good! I liked the fight scenes and watching Stark develop. The scariest part was seeing him drunk in the suit and blasting things people threw into the air. I was scared he would wind up hurting someone (it could happen). But there were things I would have chopped. Like the "mother in law" weapon. Hammer overhyped it so much you knew it was going to fail. Loved the War Machine armor though.

The teaser at the end could go either way. We already know Thor is the next movie so just uncovering the hammer was a bit of a let down. Maybe something more godly in scale like an outline of Asgard or seeing Loki or Odin plotting. That would have been awesome. That agent who reported that they found Thor's hammer turned out to BE Loki.

[skemono.livejournal.com]

Saw it last night. We didn't have those trailers. We had Shrek 4 and some other movie. I forgot the title. The trailer talked about moving something from Area 51 by train followed by a guy in a pickup intentionally driving onto the tracks and into the train to cause an accident. We don't get to see what it's carrying (which is good because trailers tend to give away too much).

Super 8

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I disagree about the let-down. WE, i.e., the fans, know that Thor is the next movie. But they've gotta set things up for the non-fans, the ones who are becoming fans because the Iron Man flicks are critical successes. And the hammer looked perfect, simply perfect.

The literal throwaway of Cap's shield was also beautiful. They're keeping the mythology in mind as they do this.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Like the "mother in law" weapon. Hammer overhyped it so much you knew it was going to fail.

Yeah, but I forgive that one because Downey and Cheadle's delivery on "Hammer Tech?" "Yeah." was perfect.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

I think that would be messing with the mythos too much. At least for those of us longtime fans who remember Dr. Blake. Besides, I think it would make for some pretty cool cinema to show the scene where Blake bangs the stick against a rock and transforms into Thor for the first time.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Setting up the up coming "Thor" movie, then the "Avengers" movie.

My buddy Russ, who has been worried about how they were going to do "Thor", was screaming out "Brick on a Stick, Brick on a Stick!" obviously happy.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

And for your own Fabulous Noprize, name the element that Tony Stark recreates with his nifty home cyclotron. Hint: there is a hint in the film.

[tesseractive.livejournal.com]

Is it vibranium? I would think with the shield and all...

[mythdude.livejournal.com]

Warmachine was amazing, and I liked the suitcase suit. :D

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Just after that, Anne said, "I would pay ten bucks just to see that again." That frickin' rocked.

And a few responses to the previous thread....

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

wingus: "I could watch Downey and Rourke do SCIENCE all day long."

Got that. I adored Rourke's Whiplash. He played Hammer like a fiddle.

gridlore: "Really enjoyed it with one quibble.

I really didn't believe in Justin Hammer as a brilliant industrialist. Had we seen more of an "anything to win" side of him earlier in the film, and known that his "I'm such a goofy guy" act was just a public veneer, his actions later in the film would have made more sense. A little rewriting of the Senate hearing and the scenes in Monaco would have done the trick.

Rourke was amazing as usual. Having Ivan own a pet bird was his idea. He saw there was little to the character beyond the vengeance plot, so he suggested the bird as a humanizing aspect...."

I saw Hammer as a Tony Stark wannabe -- someone who's maybe got the brains to go only so far, and not quite enough Mad Genius to get into Stark's league, but he thinks he's close enough, and he's a showman too dammit, and and and. Given that, Rockwell was an inspired casting choice.

And, yeah, the business with the bird was very good. Rourke has not only resurrected his career, he's showing off stuff nobody ever knew he had, and it's great.

Re: And a few responses to the previous thread....

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Being smart doesn't make you rich in today's world. At least not as much as being a ruthless bastard who cuts corners and exploits every opportunity no matter how underhanded it may be. People with brains will get used by people out for themselves unless they are equally ruthless.

And a few more....

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

robin_june: "If any of the physics graduate students that I work with EVER focusses a laser the way that Tony did, I will Personally Spank Their Butts Dope-Slap them Upside the Head like Naughty Toddlers caught playing with matches -- oooh, I soooooo wanted to stop him from doing that!"

rothesis: "And this former laser safety officer would fully support your actions. Aiming the laser at the flammables cabinet is CONTRA-INDICATED!"

johno: "And cutting through a major supporting structure."

Yeah, that whole thing was a little odd. Funny, but very very odd.

Re: And a few more....

[gorgeousgary]

I must admit my thoughts during that scene were among the lines of, "Dude, you're Tony friggin' Stark. Head of Stark Industries. Multibillionaire, probably. You couldn't just buy yourself a few hours at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center?"

More...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

banjoplayinnerd: "Good movie, although I missed a bunch of the first act because my grandson got sick to his stomach and we had to call his aunt to come get him at the theater. So I missed most of the Yuri backstory, the buildup to the contamination tests, and the Senate hearing. When my daughter (who saw it at the midnight premiere) told me what happened during the Senate scene, suddenly the dialog at the end with the medal made a great deal more sense and became funnier."

Ivan's backstory was made reasonably clear along the way, and once you realize that his dad got shafted by Tony's dad it all falls into place.

Garry Shandling as Senator Stern was excellent. Utterly against type for him, and very well done.

Re: More...

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Tony's dad didn't shaft Ivan's dad. It was the other way around. Except Ivan's dad got caught before he could do it and got kicked back to the USSR.

And quite a lot from <lj user="jrtom">....

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

jrtom: "Overall, the movie was decent as a superhero action flick. There were a few things that irritated me, though.

I really didn't believe in Hammer as being even moderately intelligent, period. To me, he had a vibe of "I inherited this business from my father and I haven't managed to screw it up yet" (basically, Tony Stark without the charisma and brilliance in R&D). I didn't read the comics so I have no idea of his actual backstory, but that's how he came off."

Like I said, a Tony Stark wannabe. Literally. His actual backstory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Hammer) was yet another formidably smart, cranky older dude, so I didn't mind the retcon.

"How did Vanko manage to create another suit without anyone noticing? You can't tell me that Hammer (dumb as he appeared) didn't have him under 24/7 surveillance."

As if Hammer would recognize what Ivan was doing....

"I thought that the bit with the bird had the potential to go somewhere and then it kind of fizzled. (Why did Vanko just let it go when Hammer tried to pawn another bird off on him?)"

Seriously, what could he do? The bird was his link to humanity. Heck, he even grew fond of the replacement bird. Think of this: As far as Hammer knows, Vanko has made one request: get his pet bird from Russia. Hammer botched it. As soon as Hammer started in with his "It's a very nice bird" bit, I suspect Vanko wrote him off, chalked up another mark on the "You're Gonna Get Yours" scorecard for Hammer, and moved on.

"Do not engage in close combat with the guy whose best weapons only work at close range. Sheesh, guys."

Agreed, although that was always why Whiplash/Blacklash got any advantage in the comics. Stark is an egomaniac, after all, and he's gotta be thinking, "What's a guy with a whip gonna do to me?"

Re: And quite a lot from <lj user="jrtom">....

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

I agree that Hammer is essentially a Stark wannabe. I think that he would have been more plausible if we'd been told that he'd inherited his business; I had a lot of trouble buying him as a successful major defense contractor.

"What's a guy with a whip gonna do to me?"

...the same thing he did the first time? :P

[ericcoleman]

Grown Ups ... really all it's missing is Pauly Shore.

[johno.livejournal.com]

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......................


Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

best line in the movie -

"*grumble* guy's dead 20 years & he's still taking me to school."

[seanmonster.livejournal.com]

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to step out of the doughnut!"

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Surely I can't be the only one who noticed that the piece that Hammer was doing his buck 'n' wing to on the stage was called "Pick Up The Pieces"? Which is exactly what everyone was going to have to do in the next 15 minutes or so.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this.

[ldyerzsie.livejournal.com]

Did you notice that he was doing MC Hammer's "Hammer Dance" to that music?

One wonder's if that is the writers' doing or if Rockwell said something along the lines of. "Hey my name's Hammer. Why don't I do the "Hammer Dance?" Alright!"