Quickie: AWESOME banner/poster for The Expendables

UPDATE: Here is the latest Expendables poster. Seriously, I think the cast alone makes the movie 50 million. And in worldwide markets, even more!

'Nuff Said!

Tony: Iron Man 2 review

Not since Avatar hit the big screen has there been a movie with this much hype... OK I guess it hasn't been that long, but still. Was there a doubt that Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. weren't going to deliver in this highly anticipated sequel? Let's get right into it folks, I have a lot to say.


What I liked:
The Writing
The story is better than the first one, but still has issues. There are just too many dang characters for a 2 hour movie. The villains are better, the dialogue is amazing in Iron Man 2. My wife and I could NOT stop laughing at Tony Stark trading barbs back and forth with the supporting cast. There are so many examples of this, I wont try to explain any further, just trust me. The movie is categorically a comedy it's so funny, you'll see.

Pepper Potts played by Gwyneth Paltrow has a great story arc in the movie, as does Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. Paltrow is a true professional, and plays the part with such sincerity. I really enjoyed her in the movie. Johansson kicks some major ass in with what little screen time she has. Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury and had a lot more face time than the trailers indicated. Remember with the first film, he was in the post-credits clip. Speaking of; stay after the credits for a surprise! Don Cheadle replaces Terrance Howard as Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, but I will discuss that in a minute.

The Villains

The biggest complaint about the first Iron Man was the villain, or lack thereof. They didn't do a good enough job developing the fallout between Tony Stark and Obidiah Stone. But in this film, Mickey Rourke shines. If only there were more Rourke in this film. And kudos to Favreau and company for staying true to the look of Whiplash. Based on the photos and trailers released, you wouldn't think so, but wait until the end of the movie where you see a Whiplash that mirrors the comics, great job.

Justin Hammer is a new addition, played by Sam Rockwell (very underrated actor in Hollywood). Hammer is a fixture in the comics and was a perfect compliment to the story. Rockwell has to be funny, yet kind of annoying. We have to hate to love him, and he too nailed it in this movie.

The Action
Wow, there is a lot of action in this movie. You can tell pretty quickly that the Iron Man 2 budget was significantly higher than the first one. Now, I've said this a lot in the past, the action has to be in the movie to help the story along. There was definitely action in the movie for actions sake, but I'll get to that later.


What I didn't like:
Second Act
Wow, the second act drags so much. I told you above that the action is amped up for this movie, but it's important to note that a large chunk in the middle of the movie is story development. Yes, it's necessary, but it would have been nice to see a faster pace during this part where characters were being developed and Tony Stark makes a life changing discovery.

Misused Acting
I told you I loved Mickey Rourke in this, well I wish there was more of Mickey Rourke in this. The character is "underground" for most of the movie, but damn it would have been nice to see a bit more of Whiplash. Instead the story shifts towards droids that Justin Hammer has developed with the help of Whiplash (don't worry I'm not giving anything away). What I will tell you is the droids get a lot more attention than they should have.

Don Cheadle is a complete waste in this movie. As Col. James Rhodes, he has little to zero to work with. Yes, he does don the War Machine suit and kicks some major, major ass, but it's not enough. I hate to say this, I really do, but I wish Terrance Howard returned for this movie. His charm, presence and chemistry with Robert Downey Jr. was way better than Cheadle's.



The Climax
The Droids, I mean come on man! There is a scene where Iron Man and War Machine have to outrun (outfly) a lot of Droids. The scene does NOT end. There are at least 50 explosions in the chase and gets pretty redundant, pretty fast. And the worst part of the movie; the climax. Of course, it's a showdown with Iron Man and War Machine vs. Whiplash and it's LAME! Man, two hours of great story telling only to leave you with a sour taste in your mouth in the last 5 minutes of the movie. The holding hands climax (I don't want to spoil anything, you'll just have to see for yourself) is so bad.

The verdict is simple for me; I liked the movie, a lot. That's important, but it IS a sequel and will naturally be compared to it's predecessor. When comparing it to the first film, it's not as good. The charm and wit is there, but the creativity of the first film was replaced by a boat load of CGI and a lot more characters. The team of Favreau and Downey have struck gold, both figuratively and literally. We've even discussed whether it would beat The Dark Knight's record breaking opening weekend. That remains to be seen. As a movie fan and a comic book fan, I'm very satisfied with the finished product. And after watching the short clip at the end of the credits; I can't wait for more from the Marvel Universe!

Iron Man 2 tickets on sale today, will it beat The Dark Knight's record weekend?

Visit Fandango for tickets to the midnight showing of Iron Man 2, May 6th. The movie looks to battle The Dark Knight for biggest opening weekend in history. I have my doubts though.

TDK opened to the tune of $155.34 million to top Spider-Man 3 for the biggest opening weekend in history. The web is flooded with predictions that the record will be broken, come May 7th. The picture above is courtesy of a movie blog in the UK, heyuguys. They put their money on Iron Man 2 winning this obscure race, I'm going the other way.


The Dark Knight:
Strong buzz

Critical praise

All star cast

Heath Ledger's death raised awareness of the film

IT'S BATMAN!


Iron Man 2:
Strong buzz. Just like TDK, the online buzz is huge. The trailer is one of the most watched on the web and Jon Favreau is a Twitter nut (who we do follow); he's always updating fans on great info, casting, etc.

No praise so far, and in fact, the few people out there that HAVE seen it, say the story is not written well enough to keep us interested; something the critics panned the first film for.

All star cast, including the amazing Robert Downey Jr.

An awesome sidekick character in War Machine that has fans really excited. Also, I'd like to note, that War Machine would beat the ever living poo out of Robin! Know that!

I'm sorry, Mickey Rourke is great and all, but A) he's no Heath Ledger, and B) he's not playing The Joker.

It's Iron Man, yeah he's a cool character and Robert Downey Jr. was the man in the first film. Also, I'm sure the first film lifted comic book sales to unprecedented levels, but come on... it's Iron Man.


The door is open for all of us to discuss. Which will be a bigger hit at the box office, opening weekend? We have a month or so to discuss, so let's get started. I don't think Iron Man 2 has that intangible THING that TDK had. I don't know what it is. You can't see it or hear it, but it's something special that only comes around once every decade or so and I just don't see it in Iron Man 2.

Ps... I will be seeing Iron Man 2 opening weekend. ;o)

"Iron Man 2" Trailer!

Finally... here it is, and it's kick-ass:

Quickie: Iron Man 2 Whiplash poster

THIS IS AN AWESOME POSTER... check out Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2.

First look at Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2!

Paramount just released the first picture of Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2. Director Jon Favreau is a big time Twitter fan and has been giving hints at this release for a few days. The suit Rourke is wearing is that of Whiplash in the Iron Man comics. Favreau has hinted that it stems from the same technology as Tony Stark, which is where the movie's conflict will be surrounded. Keep it here for more Iron Man 2 updates!