I am Ironman... Na-nananana-na-na-nah!

[ickaimp]

Didn't feel like going home this afternoon, so headed to El Con to watch Ironman cause they have matinee tickets until 6. \o/

And since my f-list hasn't said much more on it other than 'OMG!!!! Go See it NOW!', a little bit more detail.

It's a good movie. Not just a good superhero movie, it's a good movie. The plot and pacing are solid, you've got eye-candy for the guys and the ladies, a dash of romance, there's niiiiiiiiiiiice explosions, the Special Effects are outstanding and there's a good thread of humour that connects everything together. My personal favourite is the robot called 'Dummy'. He's the one in charge of the fire extinguisher.

When I say that the special effects on the movie are 'outstanding', it means I'm not spending the movie going 'that's a model, that's cgi, that's a puppet', which is pretty rare. It flows smoothly from one to the next and looks really believable. Like 'today's technology' believable.

I also had fun playing 'spot the LA landmarks'. ^^;;

Massive props to the lady who played Pepper Pots for doing the action sequences in major high heels. The ending line is also BEAUTIFUL.

The one slight downside, and it is very slight, is that while a war is the major backdrop for the story, they very carefully avoid getting into motivations for what exactly is going on. The war just -is-.

I would have also liked to have seen more backstory on some of the characters. Tony and Pepper each tell the other that they're all they've got. What about Pepper's family and why is she so loyal? Same with Rhodes, but I understand that'll prolly be covered in the sequel, where he gets the silver armour, 'War Machine'.

On the fandom side, I'm expecting at LEAST one Obadiah Stane/Tony Stark non-con slash fic, especially after the whole 'I'm stealing the light out of your chest' scene, which was kinda creepy, IMHO. Betting on Tony/Pepper (at least until people read the comics and discover she marries someone else), Tony/Yinsen and possibly Tony/Rhodes.

And then I went walking in El Con, but didn't stay long because one of my tattoos wouldn't stop itching until I left, got burgers, headed over to Megs' house and watched her play Mario Cart and laugh at Baby Frikkin Peach, who giggles manically until she's eaten by a large bomb thingie. Is very cute.

Comments

[magicbulletgirl.livejournal.com]

Sorry for being one of those going on about seeing it now XD

WHAT!!!! Pepper marries someone else!? How could you do this to me DX
(especially after I am brain dead from writing a paper ><)
[that's actually okay because I also ship Tony and Jarvis - "be gentle it's my first time" line does it for me XD]

[niennahirilfea.livejournal.com]

[random comment is random]
I thought this tooooo! (Glad it wasn't just me *sheepish*)

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

Nah, not a biggie. Just would have preferred a bit more detail from the f-list instead of repetitive 'See Now's. #^^# Post what you feel.

Yup. check her wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_Potts), she marries someone else. XD You'll have to read to see. >D

OMG. Jarvis/Tony, didn't even think of that. *CHEERS!*

[magicbulletgirl.livejournal.com]

This must be what one of those student surpasses the master things feels like... scary O.O

[niennahirilfea.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I think I posted something along the "go see it NOW" lines as well, but, well, I didn't want to spoil anyone. I agree with all of that^ It was made of win. I didn't really notice the war not having a context as such, I kinda filed it under my usual "movie war" file and forgot about it in favour of oggling the shiny (and as you say, seamless) tech.

Also, OMG how much do I want a Jarvis? *grabby hands*

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* After about the sixth person on my f-list to simply say 'Go See it NOW' and nothing further, I must admit to getting slightly annoyed.

After having now seen it, I understand. #^^#

Jarvis rocks, but I think you'd need the house to go along with him. Don't think he'd be nearly as kick-ass on just a laptop. XD

[niennahirilfea.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a given. I figured the house came with him :p

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

It's a good movie. Not just a good superhero movie, it's a good movie.

Yes. Exactly. I actually felt satisfied when it was over, which, while I have a severe weakness/love for superhero movies no matter how bad they are, is not something I usually come out feeling. (I usually come out feeling like I've just indulged in some sort of guilty pleasure.) But this time? So. Totally. Awesome.

And I want his computer. ;_;

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

Didja see this review (http://singealiene.livejournal.com/360453.html) of IronMan by Singealiene? They make some very good points about the similarities and differences of the movie to the first SpiderMan.

Totally agree with you on the 'walking out satisfied' part, is really rare to find that these days.

\o/ I wouldn't mind his robots too. "Good Boy."

*waves* Hi. Nice to meet you. ^___^

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

I did not see that review, but yeah, they have some good points. (Though I didn't see the last fight scene as so out of character, but perhaps that's because I was expecting it aaaall the way from the beginning-- it isa superhero movie, after all, and some things you just can't get away from.)

And Jarvis! Did you *see* that voice recognition software he had running? So cool!

[yukitsukihana.livejournal.com]

you stayed to the end. right?
...riiiiiight?

if not, you must go see it again and stay to the end.

and I liked Dummy, too. too bad Stark donated him D: poor thing.

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

Yup! I stayed to the end. ^___^ Heard the people in front of me talking, and then a bunch of people in the front row discussing the differences between move vs comics.

I don't think Tony Stark donated Dummy to the College, but it is a good threat. >D

[vikki.livejournal.com]

Hey, dude, I totally didn't pick up on it until I did some research, but they totally set up for The Mandarin in this movie! The Ten Rings, what's-his-face the terrorist losing half his face to Tony's Mrk I, the fact that he isn't killed by Obadiah, his references to Ghenghis Khan and ruling all of Asia? LAWL. Now I want to write Mandarin fic before anyone finds out that he'll totally be the villian of Iron Man 2! XD;;

Okay, on the note of 'the war': I think the moviemakers did a fantastic job of walking the line. This movie could have seriously sunk as a social commentary, but instead they walked this tightrope of opinion. The more obvious lines throughout the movie, and the accusations thrown at Tony, all indicate that Tony becomes a peacenik, someone who is against all war and all weaponry. The more subtle dialogue suggests that he is against weaponry in the 'wrong hands', which can be interpreted (thanks to his reluctance to turn over Ark Reactors to the military) as either the US or the terrorists, depending on your own political affiliations.

As an example: my friend who is a social democrat saw the movie with me and said 'hey, isn't it awesome how the movie shows that the whole private industry arms system is horrible and corrupt?'

My mom, who is conservative, went 'Look how the soldiers are portrayed as competent! And how Tony is so patriotic and doesn't want his weapons in the hands of terrorists!'

totally different interpretations. I love it. And they watched the same movie in the SAME THEATER (different days, though). So I give the movie props for being so ambiguous on the War on Terror even though that is totally set up as the backdrop for the whole movie.

re: Obi/Tony noncon fic: I'm afraid I'm going to be the one to write it. I totally did not take a sexual look at the movie until I read some commentary but now I CANNOT UNSEE IT. And it's hurting me, but now when I think back on every hug Obadiah gave, every time he leaned over the shorter Tony, I go EW BADTOUCH. And I want that fic so badly I can taste it. >__>;;

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

I cheered at the Genghis Khan references, A: Because in the SCA I'm going for a Mongolian/Persian wardrobe and possibly persona and B: The History Channel keeps trying to insist that Alexander the Great conquered more than Genghis Khan, which is incorrect. They're doing it wrong

Wish that in the movie, they had discussed the medical and food things that Stark Industries had been working on that he had mentioned. When he did the speech to say that they were going to shift the focus away from Weapons, it kinda confused me, cause it sounded like it wasn't the only thing they did. Primary, yes, but not only.
Also, if the Arc Generator was good enough to power a factory (and Tony's heart), why was it considered a School Project failure? This made no sense.

*laughs* That's pretty funny, the difference of opinions. You're right, it was left pretty open. I had half-expected the final scene to be in the Middle East, him going back to destroy his weapons that had fallen into the wrong hands. Not just one shipment, but all that he could track down. But, freeways work too.

-am amused, in my head, it's 'TonyStark', like Teal'c says 'DanielJackson'. #^^#

(I didn't mean to see it either, had my hands over my eyes during the whole 'I've ripped the light from your heart' to heart talk, because I swore that he wasn't gong to leave without fucking Tony in at least one orifice. Was surprised when he did just get up and walk away. Hard-on for Technology, anyone? >P
Yeah, very bad touch. @_@ Makes me wonder how long that had been going on.... ew ew ew ew ew)

[vikki.livejournal.com]

Also, if the Arc Generator was good enough to power a factory (and Tony's heart), why was it considered a School Project failure? This made no sense.

Obadiah says it's not 'cost-effective'. This suggests to me that it actually costs so much to build, maintain and run that it's really a huge waste of time. The most important thing(s) about the Ark generator is 1)it can turn out a lot of energy at one time (power a suit, or a factory with power spikes related to testing, etc), and 2) its only pollution is a plasma discharge. Tony's miniature ark reactor gives off the same things, because it's just a smaller version of the same thing. Pretty environmentally friendly, huh? But in the book they explain that it has huge coolant towers that are constantly running water and a whole complicated system for clearing the plasma away and it sounds like there's a lot more to the whole thing than the pretty glowing ring. XD;;;

You know, I kind of think now that it might have worked better if they'd run with the whole Mandarin thing in this first movie. They set you up for the whole first and second act for it to be the terrorist and Ten Rings, and then they go NOPE, OBADIAH! D= Although Jeff Bridges played it just right so that it's not totally from left field, but a fight in Afghanistan instead of on LA freeways might have made way more sense. (also, when the Iron Monger suit opened up and obadiah starts moving the arms and stuff all I could think was 'oh my god, ESCAFLOWNE'.)

XD;; You know, when I type 'Tony' or 'Stark' I say the other half of his name in my head as I type. XD;;

(AUGH see!? I was just thinking of it as more of a one-time thing when Obadiah finally triumphs over Tony and has fundamentally left him to die. b-b-but NOW! Now I'm sitting here thinking of what kind of a totally twisted relationship the two of them could have had because Obadiah is creeeeeeeepy and it hurts me! Augh! Teenage!Tony and Obadiah, EW! It's your fault!