Having a little fun with Photoshop and experimenting with fumetti.

It still makes me chuckle.

So - what did I think? I can honestly say...I liked it better than The Hulk 2003 and Iron Man . The Incredible Hulk is a movie that women and men can equally enjoy - what with the love interest and the explosions. It didn't seem especially geared towards one sex or the other. In fact, the two other women I watched the movie with liked it as well.

And mind you - these are women who have ZERO interest in comic books, or comic book movies. They don't even think Edward Norton is hot. BTW - I do. Not all the time - but Mr. Norton is capable of giving intensely hot looks. Especially with the insane Hulk green eyes.

I was totally hooked within the first five minutes of the film. The opening-credit backstory actually worked well, allowing the audience to jump right in the middle of the plot without feeling totally lost. This movie needed to get the viewers hooked immediately, to purge any thoughts regarding the 2003 version.

Another surprise: I enjoyed the acting of Liv Tyler in the role of Betty Ross. Betty is a character I'm not familiar with, but according to her Marvel Database page, she seems to be a woman who is easily controlled and manipulated by her father. She has an intense love for Hulk, which ultimately ends in her death from Gamma Radiation poisoning.

Much like Pepper Potts, Betty Ross received a 21st Century makeover, except Ross gets a better shake...she's a legitimate scientist, has the balls to take on a giant green man, and eventually stands up to her General Father. I dug Tyler as Ross - she's absolutely gorgeous, has some meat on her bones, and a genuine sincerity to her acting that is appealing.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, because I strongly encourage folks to see this film, especially on the big screen. The basic idea is that the US Government - specifically General Thaddeus Ross is trying to track down Bruce Banner in order to cultivate and study The Hulk which lives inside him. Banner is embroiled in the search for a cure, being aided by a mystery person in the United States. General Ross enlists the help of a man named Blonsky to track Hulk, and this dude eventually becomes injected with the Gamma Radiation and mutates into The Abomination. Then it's up to Hulk to take down Blonsky...and you can see how the rest of it all plays out.

What I appreciate about Marvel Studios, is their ability to take a realistic approach to comic book movies. They've done away with a lot of the cheese-factor in the costumes and super-explosive color. What I've come to terms with over the last few years, is the idea that some elements of comic books (ie, costumes) do not translate well on the screen. Especially for non-comic fans who might become comic movie fans. After three rounds of X-Men movies, wherein I only spied my favorite characters in black leather...I'm fairly certain that brightly colored costumes (re: Fantastic Four) are never going to make a great screen impression. It's cool, I get it. Yellow spandex, while great looking on inked page, distracts from a legitimate character on celluloid.

DC is also heading in that direction with it's Batman series...although the thing that I don't think resonates well with their films yet, is that both Batman and Superman seem to take place in worlds separate from our own. With Spiderman, Iron Man, X-Men and The Incredible Hulk...I always felt a strong sense of these events taking place in the real world. Mostly because they do. There aren't a lot of bogus made up cities and towns in the Marvel Universe, which I think aids in their credibility.

Something I've enjoyed is that comic films of late also haven't been afraid to take themselves seriously, offering legitimate content, while still poking a bit of fun at their source material (mocking purple pants, etc). Iron Man, to that end, seemed to offer a bit more fun than content. I liked The Incredible Hulk because I feel like Banner has a few more layers than Stark. But to be fair - Iron Man was an origin flick, whereas Hulk got to bypass that due to it's delightful intro sequence, and a preceeding film.

But that's enough ranting.

Also Great: The fun inside jokes like "Hulk Smash" - nods to future villians and characters - S.H.I.E.L.D. references, and of course the well publicized Tony Stark cameo. It's worth mentioning that Hulk had some nice hair. The longer-indie look really made him more palatable than the 2003 version. Hulk with short hair looks like a doofus.

Not so great: The Hulk roared a lot. And there were at least two separate sequences where Betty Ross confronted the Hulk...it lost it's strength the second time around.

I'm psyched for the DVD Release, because of this little gem.

Delightful head nods to the screenwriters, Zak Penn and Edward Norton, and the director Louis Leterrier. The work of all the folks on this film has interested me in reading a few Hulk comics, because now I feel that I might be missing out on an intriguing character. I'm pleased that I took the time to watch this, and I'll definitely update if I do end up enjoying The Hulk as a comic book character.

I'll say it again: Totally stoked for The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army coming out in July. :)

Much Love, Mindy C

Come non sempre accade in questo genere di film, tendenti spesso a risolversi in campionari di rutilanti effetti speciali, il cast, la sceneggiatura, la produzione e perfino la colonna sonora (sui titoli di coda risuonano le note della strepitosa Iron Man dei Black Sabbath...) sono eccellenti. Il divertimento è assicurato, e le caratteristiche dei personaggi non vengono travisate rispetto ai modelli di riferimento.

Interessante il cast: Robert Downey Jr. nei panni del protagonista Tony Stark-Iron Man; Gwyneth Paltrow in quelli di "Pepper" Potts, e un inedito Jeff Bridges calvo con pizzetto (cattivissimo!) nel ruolo del perfido Obadiah Stane.

I have often wondered why it is that I have no BFFs. No circle of friends that know all my gory details like on Girlfriends, or Friends or SATC. No girls night out unless painfully orchestrated weeks in advance, no long phonecalls for hours at end gossipping about hair and makeup and who's sleeping with who. What's wrong with me???? To answer these questions we have to go back...like waaay back.

Prep School

I grew up in a slum. It wasn't the worst of slums, but its definitely no 'burb. My mom knowing this kept me on a tight leash. I wasn't allowed to step more than two feet outside of my gate for any length of time. The kids couldnt come inside and I really wasn't allowed over their house for any long hours. I spent my time inside playing with dolls and watching telly and trying to find ways and means of cutting corners so I wouldn't have to dust all of the 5 million pieces of wood furniture in the house that was a part of my daily chores. I went to a prominent catholic prep school with nice preppy kids and made friends with one girl who lived near my aunt, so I'd go look for her on weekends  and sometime have sleepovers. I had a yearly birthday party at my popular aunt's house and it was a hot spot on the calendar as I always had bounce-a-bouts and donkey rides around the block. Everybody wanted to go and I would use my invites as bribes. hehe... I didn't have a home phone so school ended on Friday evening and started back on Monday morning, except for that one friend who lived near my aunt. She was sent to a high school near her, as was I, so we kinda drifted apart. Now that I am reconnecting with some of my prep school peeps, I realize there were lots of birthday parties and sleepovers that I missed out on, but I didn't miss it when I was a child. My childhood, though lonely, was great really. My mom made sure that I didn't really feel the effects of growing up in the ghetto.

High School

As I just said I lived in the ghetto. So when I was sent to a high school nearby, I was devastated. I wanted to be transferred to the same school that my friend from prep school was to attend, but truth be told, it wasn't a much better school it was just in a better area. And it was an all girls school. My father was not too keen on sending me to an all girls school, he wanted me to be in a "real life" environment. So I was to stay. I enjoyed my school though, its not as bad when you're already there. After my first year when my body started to develop, my mom decided she no longer wanted me in that surrounding and so she sent me to live with my dad who lived in an upscale neighbourhood. So now my situation did a flip, I was the uptown girl attending the downtown school. I was the snooty girl who "gwaan like she betta dan" because my dad dropped me off in the Honda and I had a pool at my complex. Now that I look back I wonder why my mom didn't put my dads address on the dang CXC form. Anyway. High school life was really kinda fun and I am happy to have gone to my school. I am still good friends with one girl from there. The problem I always had with my high school, is that inevitably we (me as opposed the majority of graduates) have gone down different paths in life. Who nuh dead, have 5 million kids, migrated or is jus plain bumming it out, you get ma drift? I rolled with a group of 4 other girls in high school, that shoulda been my episode of Girlfriends, except we had a big falling out with one of them who had some kind of issues with trying to prove she was better than me. The girl I'm still friends with took my side, one girl migrated and the other moved to the country after trying to hook up with my then man. Brite.  

My friend had a child shortly after high school and is now a single mother struggling to make ends meet on limited qualifications and even more limited resources. She likes to party just as I do however you see the circumstances making that not so often possible.

Speaking of the neighbourhood with the pool though, there were more boys than there were girls, the only sisters who were there who I hung out with were total dweebs. Sheesh, no luck there. But the boys were hot though...'tis why I'm such a messed up ho these days! LOL My 'hood was one of those spots on Sunday evenings where all the fine. tall fellas came to play some bball...mm mm mhmm.

College

Lets skip past the two years that I did trying to get some A'levels as it all kinda flew by, no deep friendships made there either. I was super excited to start college I must admit. I even almost broke up with my bf at the time cus I just wanted lots and lots of new beginnings in my life. He wasn't trying to hear me though. Anyway my time at college was great too. Just what college life is supposed to be like, lots of late night studying, lots of time spent mastering the art of cheating. I became a scholar in the subject of kalooki, lots of block parties and drunk moments. FUN. Oh yeah, I got a degree there too, lol. I've got many, ok, a few girlfriends from college still. Some I still party with on occasion, some I call up with my man troubles and what not, but hmmm.....no BFFs. I joined a social forum a few years back and have become friends with a few people on it. One girl was my drinking, kalookie playing patna...now she gone breed. Struups. Am I missing that gene?

Its the same thing at work. The organisation is big enough for me to have made some friendships here. But I haven't. The closest person to me here is a girl LB used to love off so I aint even tryna be all chummy wit her no way. I was beginning to have it at my last job, but when I left we grew apart. And one of those girls is from my high school too! We're still friends, hang out occasionally, just not BFFs. How come we didn't stay in touch? I wonder if its me not opening up to them? Maybe I am selfish with my thoughts? Maybe I should reach out more. Am I not the good friend kinda girl? Hmmmm....

When I think about it, I really am a "quiet" girl. I don't know how to "work a room" and I'm not the type to be all outspoken and to introduce myself and start chatting it up. That has happened only when I see a dude I like. What I really want is just a few girls who are down to hang. A few progressive, honest, straight up, trust-worthy, loyal, reliable, half-sane, fun, cute girls. Too much to ask? I want to be more outspoken...how does one do that? Is there a book? Sigh...

Parmi tous les super héros, j'avoue qu'Iron Man est celui que je connais le moins. Et on a toujours une légère appréhension de voir un film avec un super héros tourné en eau de boudin. N'ayez crainte, mission accomplie pour l'homme de fer ! Je n'ai pas été aussi emballée par un film de super héros depuis les X-Men (Hugh Jackman en Wolverine... Rrrrrrrr !!!!). Le film est bien rythmé (malgré ses 2h10) et Robert Downey Jr (rappelez-vous le petit-ami d'Ally McBeal) dans la peau de Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, n'est pas vilain garçon et ce malgré son bouc auquel je n'arrive pas à m'y faire. On y retrouve aussi Gwyneth Paltrow dans le rôle de Pepper Potts, l'assistante personnelle de Tony Stark dont le rôle n'est pas sans rappeler celui d'un certain employé d'un autre super héros. Je veux parler d'Alfred, fidèle majordome de Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. Mais Gwynie est beaucoup plus sexy qu'Alfred ! D'ailleurs, Iron Man et Batman ont d'autres points en communs :
- tous les deux ne sont pas dotés de super pouvoirs extra-terrestre comme Superman;
- ils ont perdu leurs parents respectifs dans un tragique accident;
- par conséquent ils ont hérité de l'entreprise familiale florissante ainsi que le statut de milliardaire leur permettant de se payer tous ces fabuleux gadgets à wattmille dollars et de sauver le monde !

Et comme d'habitude, l'apparition clin d'oeil de Stan Lee, le papa de Iron Man, dans cette super production, comme dans tous les autres films basés sur les super héros Marvel. Cette fois-ci, c'est sous les traits d'un Hugh Hefner (fondateur de Playboy magazine) look a like, entouré des ses Stan Lee girls.

Voilà, du bon divertissement, bien fait, bien ficelé. Et si vous êtes fans du genre, restez jusqu'à la fin des crédits, il y a un bonus en surprise ! Je ne vous en dit pas plus...

For the second time that too! IronMan is Hollywood's latest Summer bonanza offering and can be said to be a precursor of bigger-things-to-come. Coming from the Marvel Comic Universe, IronMan is a self-made superhero i.e. his powers are his own invention. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, with Gwyneth Paltrow as his super-efficient & ultra-professional secretary Pepper Potts, Terence Howard as US Navy Officer Rhody and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane - IronMan's chief nemesis. Downey plays Tony Stark - billionaire maverick inventor and head of Stark Industries, the chief weapons-supplier to the US Army. On a trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate his new missiles, he's kidnapped by a terrorist organization who order him to build the same missile for them. Instead, he makes for himself an Iron suit fitted with fire-throwers and power-booster boots and using that, makes his escape. While under duress, he realizes that his weapons have done more harm than good to the World, and announces that Stark Industries will no longer make weapons. This pisses off his mentor and Stark Industries' #2 Obadiah Stane who was the person who ordered Tony's kidnapping in the first place. Tony works tirelessly and perfects his IronMan suit which he uses to destroy the Afghanistan Terrorists' tyranny. And when Obadiah reverse-engineers a bigger suit for himself, IronMan takes upon him in an epic showdown and ultimately emerges victorious!

I've seen only one of Robert Downey's previous performance - in Gothika - and he was pretty good in that. In IronMan, he plays the maverick billionaire Tony Stark a.k.a IronMan with downright aplomb-ness and given his streak of bad behaviour, is quite at ease in delivering witty lines and brings about a sort of chauvinism into the role. The nifty suit more than matches his persona and even though he's completely hidden within the suit, it seems totally made-for-him! He earnestly works on perfecting the suit and a few hits n' misses later, he nails it! Gwyneth is completely at ease as the professional assistant and since she's the lone female character and is close to Stark, the romantic undercurrent is hard to miss. And though it doesn't develop further than an awkward near-kiss moment, I'm sure there's more to come. Obadiah Stane is the bad guy and the character is portrayed by Jeff Bridges - whose bald n' bearded look I must say bears an uncanny resemblance to yesteryear Bollywood villain Bob Christo!

Obadiah is the archetypal hungry-for-power villain and here, he's the one who orders Stark's kidnapping out in Afghanistan. He's also involved in supplying Stark Industries' weapons to terrorists on the sly and when Tony decides to stop their weapons manufacturing, he plots a complete takeover. He has already reverse-engineered the suit from Stark's first one and then proceeds to steal the arc reactor that is powering the IronMan (man and suit, both!). Tony still has the older arc reactor with him - thanks to Pepper - and he uses that to power his suit and vanquish Obadiah after an epic struggle (that looks so similar to Megatron Vs. Optimus Prime in Transformers)

IronMan works on most counts - it has some cool visuals, slick action - so what if its max-CGI , a blossoming love story, hi-fi technicality and wizardry, witty liners, spot-on characterization and some pretty neat directing as well. Thankfully, it steers clear or the human drama that other superhero flicks such as Spiderman and Superman have been allowed themselves to be drawn into! It may find the going tough, especially in India, since it lacks a genuinely popular lead-actor and also the fact that IronMan isn't that popular a character. Well, at least not as as popular as the other superheroes!

Moi Rating:

P.S: There was supposedly a Cameo appearance by Nick Fry (another Marvel superhero and a forthcoming Hollywood Movie) after the credits. But the over-enthusiastic theatre staff promptly stopped the screening as soon as the credits started rolling :evil:

[Guys...this post won't be as sexy as you think]

The bridegroom asked me the other day if I always wear underwear to work. I thought it a weird question to ask, doesnt everybody? But I thought of SE instantly and her numerous confessions of wearing underwear only when those few days call for it...and even then sometimes not. She makes it seem so unnecessary that I always wonder...ok...what about those days when you uhm...have a little leakage. You know, like when women are ovulating they have a little...leakage. Its not all women? And what about when you're wearing jeans...the rough material rubbing up on my precious "cootercoot" to borrow lingua from my dearest blogger. I figure some kinda liner is put on the jeans? But then these things dont always stay in place, its the reason why I always wear wings... I've only gone commando when a dress wont permit underwear or I wanna surprise my fella.

Hmmm.... Anyway yesterday I spent the whole day in bed. In pain. From cramps. Aren't these things supposed to get easier as you get older? When I was in high school i had no such things as cramps and every girl hated me for it. Now look at me. Struups. I'm just glad that my worst day was also my day off from work. And what about that fatigue? I slept all day long I was so worried that I would be up and tormented all night but nope, slept all night too. Jees I'm getting more and more side effects as I get up there in age. My mom's cycle lasts all of three days...when does that kick in? Cus this five day thing isn't working with my schedule.

Iron man is based on the fictional character of the same by marvel comics.Made with a buget of 135 million $ the film stars Robert downey jr as Tony stark ,a billionaire industialist and weapons scientist.Gwyneth paltrow plays his secretary pepper potts.

Plot:    The story starts with Robert downey jr returning from a missile presentation in afganistan and attacked by some terrorist group(with the weapons manufactued by his own company --stark industries).They capture him alive and asks him to build jericho missile (a cluster bomb missile). But instead he prepares a crude form of iron suit which enables him to escape from the clutches of the terrorist group.

He later repents his own actions of weapons manufacturing and announces shutting down of stark industries(the move will be opposed by the company board later).Mean while he develops the prototype of the iron suit to a full fledged one with the sole idea of destroying the missiles and weapons shipped to terrorist organisations by his own company.

He executes his plan well and saves a village in afganistan,destroys the weapons base of the terrorist organisation.shane his business partner, the one who planned his execution earlier takes the arc reactor from iron mans chest( he prepares that on his own after the attack whn he was critically injured,The arc reactor supplies energy to an electromagnet which prevents embedded shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart, which would kill him)Shane also gets the prototype of iron man from the terrorist group,kills them all and creates even a bigger version of the iron man.

        Stark does battle with Stane atop Stark Industries and the surrounding streets, defeating him when the full-sized arc reactor that powers the lab is deliberately overloaded, under Stark's instruction, by Potts.

Plus points:

1. Robert downey jr's superb acting skills
2. Gwyneth paltrow aptly suits the role of his secretary.
3. Special effects

Minus points:

Film appears a little draggy at some scenes.

Must watch scenes:

1. The scene in which the iron man saves the village people in afganistan.
2. The lab experiments scenes in which he builds the advanced version of the suit.
3. The scene in which he destroys an armed tanker and walks away (fantastic scene).
4. The F-22 chasing scenes are also pretty good to watch.

5. the presentation of the jericho misslie in afganistan.

Final words : Ironman is the best release so far this year and don't miss it.

A few things have changed since I last orienteered. No more twaddling around with clear contact; control cards have been replaced by electronic ‘keys’ which are inserted into a reader at each control. No more huddling by master maps waving your arse in the air; the courses were pre-printed on the maps. No gaiters, but I think that’s a cultural difference. There appear to be less brambles to whip the shins in New Zealand.

And there was blazing sunshine. Perhaps it’s inverted rose-tinted glasses, but orienteering events in the Irish eighties seemed to always be accompanied by gale force winds, horizontal rain, knee-high mud and puddles of ice.

Andrew’s sense of direction continues to be purely instinctive. I was gutted when he hit the third control before Hazel and me. Still not completely recovered from it.

Afterwards, we all went to The Carriages for brunch.

The following exchange illustrates the fundamental difference between John and me.

John: Went to the movies last night.

Me: Oh cool! What did you go see?

John: The Painted Veil.

Me: The- what?

John: The Painted Veil. Edward Norton-

Me: I love Edward Norton. Great actor.

John: Yeah, him, and that babe - what’s her name again-

Me: Liv Tyler.

John: No-

Me: Halle Berry.

John: It’ll come to me in a minute. Anyway, it was excellent - much of it was set in China at the turn of the nineteenth century, in the cholera epidemics. It was really interesting.

Me: Sounds . . . nice. We went to the movies too.

John: Really? . . .

Me: Yes! We went to see IRON MAN!

John: Oh, with Harry Connick Junior.

Me: No, Robert Downey Junior. He IS Iron Man - he totally rocks! Awesome actor. And Iron Man is such a great superhero - I mean let’s face it, Spiderman is great but Peter Parker can be a bit whiny. But Iron Man, you know, he’s pretty single-minded and you gotta admire that in a superhero-

John: I’m not convinced.

Me: What? How can you not be? Iron Man has compelling motives, an engaging character arc, and he blows stuff up and flies!

John: Mmm

So this evening/afternoon i finally got chance to see Iron Man. To be honest, i was almost skeptical it could really be that good.

It was.

Basically, i loved this film. The entire two hours or so that this film went on for was possibly the most fun i've had watching a film in the cinema for a very long time.

Through out the film there is a high amount of action. All this action is awesome. It is entertaining and none of it gets boring.

The acting was second to none, and Robert Downey Jr was great through out the film and, although i wasn't expecting much, Gwyneth Paltrow passed as a convincing Pepper Potts. (Can you believe that name!)

The CGI in this film was also awesome, at times i wasn't sure what was CGI and what was real, at times it took my breath away. I also really liked the way this film was shot, and the camera angles through out were top notch.

Basically see this film, you really won't regret it. The time will fly by, and you'll wish it hadn't felt so quick. Definitely stay untill after the credits (even though they go on forever!) but you won't be dissapointed. It definetly seems like there will be another Iron Man film, and i don't feel that that's a bad thing.

I've nealy finished watching all the Rocky films (Yes i know they came out ages ago) I will try and post a review of the series before the end of the week, i might even post a music review or two as well.

Please leave us some comments! We'd love your feedback on what you like us doing, what you dont like us doing, it'll help us to develop our skills into something that everyone wants to keep reading!

Untill the end of the week...

Bildo.So.Elusive

Kicked butt for the following reasons:

--Great casting for most of the major roles, especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man (although pretty much any actress could have done what Gwyneth Paltrow did with the role of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant-and-kind-of-love interest)

--Crisp direction by Jon Favreau

--Pretty good, snappy dialogue with plenty of foreshadowing for future storylines/sequels

--Cool effects and action/battle scenes

--And a scene after the credits promising more cool stuff in other movies and sequels

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Harleys

Let the Iron Man over-saturation commence! Counting Secret Invasion, Marvel Adventures, and all the Avengers books, I think Shell-Head's in about a dozen comics this month - which is funny because personally I've found his own book to be rather weak lately. I loved him in the Civil War books and the Mighty Avengers, but let's face it: Tony's generally not as interesting without a couple of well-meaning but less intelligent costars to bounce his Type A personality against.

Fortunately, Invincible seems to be an exception to the rule. Other than brief appearances by Maria Hill and War Machine, Iron Man has the book all to himself, and it's still cool. The story starts in Tanzania, where we get a little lesson in geography and sociology before people start exploding. Ezekiel Stane, working with an A.I.M. splinter group called Advanced Genocide Mechanics, has developed a way to turn people into second-rate Iron Men (In one of several nods to the current movie, they have little glowing blue dials on their chests that they expose just before they blow themselves up). The nature of Ezekiel's plan isn't clear, but considering his genealogy it probably isn't good news for Stark Enterprises.

I liked the way this book was divided equally between action, character study, and philosophical ruminations on the drawbacks of advanced technology. When he's not sleeping with models, running S.E. and S.H.I.E.L.D., or flattening A.I.M. agents, Tony worries about staying on the cutting edge of weapons innovation. Not only because he wants to keep one step ahead of his enemies but also because he defines himself in large part by being better than everyone else. In one particularly telling passage, Tony basically admits to the reader that he constantly makes sure Rhodey's War Machine armor isn't as good as his own.

If I have any complaint about the Invincible Iron Man, it's that the plot so far bears a suspicious resemblance to the Extremis arc from the first few issues of Iron Man's regular book, with its focus on bioweaponry. But Ezekiel Stane's plan seems more complex than simple terrorism, and so far Fraction is doing a good job of building up what promises to be an intriguing story. I look forward to the next issue. (Grade: A)

- Andrew C. Murphy

A Second Opinion

Invincible Iron Man #1 serves one main purpose: to draw in everyone who loved last week’s Iron Man movie, whether they be long time comic readers or someone who has never read a comic. Does it succeed? Maybe. I personally fall into the category of fairly new to comics, knowing only a bit about Iron Man’s character (only that which I’ve read in Avengers and online).

So, what did I think? Well, the story opened with a bang (quite literally) in Africa, keeping the international feeling of the film. The opening is also quick to tell us some of the main differences between the movie and current Iron Man continuity: Tony is now director of S.H.I.E.L.D., sober, still a womanizer, and through the Extremis has complete mental control over his Iron Man armor. Rhodes is still Tony’s best friend and has donned the War Machine armor. Pepper is still his personal assistant, and is now very good with computers, and finally, Obadiah Stane is dead, but his son Ezekiel is alive and kicking and has inherited the lack of moral compass. Personally, I already knew all of this, but for someone who had only seen the Iron Man movie, this one issue is pretty darn good at giving a summary without seeming like a summary itself.

Okay, so it’s noob friendly, check. Is it interesting? Well, not wanting to give too much away, it appears that the main villain of this piece has not only improved, but exceeded the current Iron Man technology, much more so than Iron Monger in the film. However, we do not know how he has done this, nor what his plans are and by the end of the issue, Tony is just as worried as we are. So yes, it is interesting.

Finally, is it a good comic? Well, it is fairly well written, there was one part where I had to turn back a page to figure out what was going on, but other than that it flowed smoothly and the characters maintained unique voices. Likewise, the art was very well done. It wasn’t perfect, as there were three minor things that bugged me, but being minor, they weren’t anything to take away from the enjoyment of the storytelling. So overall, not the best of the best when it comes to comics, but certainly very good. As someone fairly new to Iron Man, will I be back? Yes, I will definitely finish out the story arc, but I’ll have to be really impressed to stick with it after it's over. (Grade: B)

-M. Staples

As one of the resident comic/superhero experts on the blog I was really looking forward to seeing Iron Man.  I can't say I knew much about Iron Man except for the fact that he was a man named Tony Stark who used his knowledge of technology and weapons as well as his vast fortune to create body armor equipped with more weapons and gadgets you could ever dream of.  (Remind you of anyone else?)  He is part of the Avengers which is the Marvel equivalent of  The Justice League.  So I was really looking forward to finding out more about this character from the movie.

It seems like God purposely put Robert Downey Jr on this planet specifically for this role.  His turn as billionaire ladies-man Tony Stark had its fair share of laughs and was pulled off perfectly.  What made Downey Jr special in this role was his consistency as Tony Stark even while wearing the Iron Man suit, never did the dry wit disappear and his personality never changed as we often see in movies of this kind.  His supporting cast played along well with him.  Gwyneth Paltrow played the role of Pepper Potts, Stark's assistant, with the reluctance and timidness that character at times possessed very well.  Jeff Bridges' interpretation of Obadiah Stane, the turns-out-to-be-evil business partner of Stark, was perfectly simple.  Stane also ends up building his own version of the suit and takes on Iron Man as the Iron Monger in the movie's climax.  Lastly Terrence Howard played James Rhodes, who is also the yet to be revealed hero War Machine.

Iron Man itself was a great origin story.  Showing us how Tony Stark came to build the suit and the motivation he possessed to keep up with it.  For people with no existing knowledge of the character this was a great way for them to gain new fans, it certainly worked with me.  John Favreau, who directed the movie, did well in his first big-budget superhero movie.  The movie seemed to lack action at times but I don't think it took away from what it was trying to accomplish.

There were a few great little moments for Marvel fans in this movie.  Of course Stan Lee made his cameo as man who Stark confuses with Hugh Hefner.  Stan Lee is always in Marvel movies one way or another.  Another great moment in the movie, which I only now realize after some research of the character was a great line for die-hard fans of the Iron Man series, was when Rhodes is in Stark's house after Stark had left to take on Iron Monger he looks at an Iron Man suit and says 'Not yet.'  This is a reference to his eventual short-lived turn as Iron Man and eventual evolution into another hero called War Machine after Stark spirals into alcohol abuse.  A great foreshadow into the guaranteed to be made sequel.  In fact, April 30, 2010 is a tentative release date for Iron Man 2.

Overall on enjoyment factor and quality I'd give this movie an A-.

When Marvel took over their own filmmaking business from the various studios they'd been contracting with, I had my doubts.  When it comes to story, they've hardly been at the top of their game in recent years, with ham-fisted political euphemism and dumbass decisions (Spider-Man's still alive?  Let's kill him again and give him dildo arms!) clouding their work.

My doubts were unfounded.  Either this is the best move Marvel has ever made, or Robert Downey Jr. is a motherfucking sorcerer, his arcane magics making everything he touches awesome.

As Tony Stark, the titular Iron Man, Downey and director Jon Favreau focus on the human, as opposed to the superhuman.  The film is at heart, a character drama that happens to involve superheroes, heated battles, and evil masterminds.  Stark is a hard-living man's man.  At once a peerless businessman, intellectual, and cocksman, he's the ultimate playboy and pusher.  Speaking of Playboy, watch out for Stan Lee in his greatest cameo appearance ever.  Following the explosive opening scene, however, Tony Stark begins a transformation from philandering arms magnate to the ass-kicking, name-taking, shit-stomping one-man-army that the media can only coin Iron Man.

The film's focus never shifts away from Tony Stark, and those around him, including Gwyneth Paltrow in her most endearing role in years as Stark's faithful assistant Pepper Potts.  The spectacle comes not as an excuse for, but rather a consequence of the powerful wills and personalities at work. And what would a superhero film be without a hefty dose of spectacle.  From Stark's initial capture at the hands of a nefarious non-denominational-taliban-surrogate group in Afghanistan, following a test of an impressively destructive missile called the Jericho, the fireworks don't disappoint.  Jeff Bridges lends an utterly sinister feel to every word, motion, and action of Obadiah Stane, Tony's partner at the reins of Stark Enterprises.  Sporting a shaved head and strongman's beard, Bridges comes across as the corporate world's very own Lucifer, a deceiving double-dealer who shakes your hand while stabbing you in the back.  The climactic showdown between the two titans in their metal monstrosities feels less like an effects showpiece than it does an inevitable confrontation between two men, larger than life, and there's only room enough for one.

In the end, Iron Man lights a fire underneath its competitors in the increasingly-stale summer-superhero genre.  Robert Downey Jr. is no tortured Bruce Wayne, no awkward Peter Parker, he's goddamn Iron Man, in the suit and out.

Walking into Iron Man, I actually had high hopes for the movie. I saw the trailers beforehand and the fighting looked awesome, Tony Stark looked awesome, and the jokes were awesome; just pure awesomeness all-around. Was the movie awesome? Not really. Was it bad? Not really. Do you recommend seeing it? Yeah, I guess so.

The Good

Good Fighting: For what little fighting there was in Iron Man, it was surprisingly good. Iron Man kicks ass and takes names just like he does in the comic books. It wasn't pansy fighting either with the goal to incapacitate the enemy rather than kill them. No. Iron Man doesn't fuck around. He's packed with rockets, missiles, repulsor beams, and machine guns. Basically anyone who got in his way died, and quite frankly, that's how I like my superheroes.

Great Acting and Perfect Casting: I don't think Iron Man would have been as good as it was if Robert Downey, Jr. hadn't of played Tony Stark. There's no mistaking it; this guy is Tony Stark. He drinks, he macks it with the ladies, and he knows when to give and take a joke. Downey, Jr. just got Stark down like no other actor possibly could have. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terrence Howard played their roles respectively also, but it's Downey, Jr. who's steals the show here.

Satisfying Ending: As I was watching through Iron Man, I really didn't know how it would end. Would Iron Man save the day and marry Pepper Potts? Would he die at the end from the fight you knew he would have with Obadiah Stane? To me, it was either one of those endings (because they're so predictable and common [with a little tweaking] with superhero movies). Thankfully, it was neither, and the ending to Iron Man is both satisfying and sets itself up for a possible sequel without throwing us a crappy cliff-hanger ending.

The Bad

Second-Rate Special Effects: Movies these days are loaded with special effects, so like with next-generation video games, you could tell with Iron Man that the graphics used here weren't as good as they could have been. After watching an astoundingly realistic movie like Transformers, Iron Man's effects were some-what noticeable. I'm not saying they were horrible, but they were...noticeable.

Very Few Fights: For what should have been an action packed movie, Iron Man didn't include very many fight scenes. From what I can remember, there were only three: where he breaks out of captivity, where he goes back to kill a bunch of people, and the fight at the end with the Iron Monger. That's it. Three 15-minute fights in a 2-hour long movie. Totally lame.

Really Sucky End Battle: Throughout most of the movie, it becomes obvious that Tony will have to fight Obadiah Stane at the end. With such other good action parts throughout the movie; shouldn't have this one been awesome? Yes, but unfortunately, it was seriously a load of crap. It just includes a lot of bad dialog, cheesy special effects, and a few unexplained mysteries. Some action movie goers might not mind the fight too much, but true fans of Iron Man are going to feel disappointed.

Genre Confusion: Being a reviewer of both movies and video games, it was particularly hard for me to decide which genre Iron Man fitted best into. The movie labeled itself as an action flick, but to me, Iron Man contained a whole lot more comedy than it did action. Even the few action scenes throughout the movie were humorous at times. From blowing up a tank with a tiny rocket to the fight with the Iron Monger at the end, the movie is just loaded with comedy and is hard to take seriously.

All in all, Iron Man is a decent movie and is definitely worth checking out. Whether you're a fan of either action or comedies, Iron Man does a decent job at pleasing fans of both.

I review Iron Man...

I saw Iron Man the other day, and it was pretty cool. While it is definitely not worth the high 90% -plus grade on Rotten Tomatoes, it was definitely one of the better superhero movies I have ever seen. I liked the fact that it went down a Batman Begins route; not just in terms of storyline, but in terms of presentation. Iron Man is fairly realistic. We know the military can build stuff like the Iron Man suit, but we know it costs a lot of money.

Enter insanely rich weapons dealer Tony Stark. And enter Robert Downey Jr., one of my favourite actors (see A Scanner Darkly, see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

RDJr carries this motherfucker, and he carries it with ease. Incredibly talented, this man is. Funny and charismatic, but also able to pull off being the tough guy - in a rockstar kind of way. Props to Jeff Bridges, too. The Dude has the same kind of gritty charisma that RDJr has, and they both performed
excellently in Iron Man. Gwyneth was a great Pepper Potts (not being a comic fan, I must say wtf to that name choice), but Terrence Howard was underused as Tony Stark's army man friend.

More wit than hit, this is a superhero film where the action did not dominate. Maybe I am used to expecting insane ADD quick-cut explosion-drenched action scenes, but for me the action - or lack thereof - was Iron Man's main drawback.

However, it provided an afternoon of solid entertainment, and I recommend it for casual viewers and hardxcore comic fans alike.

3/5