Thursday, May 15, 2008

Iron Man (2008)

NOTE: Since this is a review for a movie still in theaters I’ve adjusted my usual style of addressing very specific parts of the story to a general review staying a vague as possible so as to not spoil anything major.

So Marvel finally realizes they can and should control their own movie properties and this is their first outing. Not a good start, which is tragic because I really enjoy John Favreau’s work and Robert Downey Jr. has become a frighteningly entertaining actor since sobering up. And then we get this turd pile.

Nah, I’m just messing with you, this movie was so awesome I can’t think of a proper metaphor to express it, and I’m a master of ridiculous metaphors.

I’ve already seen it twice, the first time was planned and then the next day a group of friends was going and invited me along so I went with them planning to try and find something wrong with the movie. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only flaws in this movie could only be pointed out by someone purposely being a complete d*ck. For example; a scene where Iron Man is flying and is knocked out of the air sending him crashing into the ground from at least 100 feet up. Of course his suit could survive but technically he’d be jelly inside. Who the F cares, right?

The entire cast is through and through, perfect. Robert Downey Jr. not only looks the part of Tony Stark but he perfectly translates a man who learns that his irresponsible behavior has caused a lot of pain in the world and now must use a second chance in life to fix it all the while retaining at least some of that reckless behavior. Terrence Howard absolutely rocks as James Rhodes, Tony’s best friend who will eventually don the armor himself. Funny thing there is that apparently they cut out a lot of his scenes which is mind boggling because of how perfectly he’s used. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, possibly the most changed character from the comic version, is absolutely brilliant as a cold hearted, self serving villain. And even Gwyneth Paltrow who I’ve always been indifferent about, is incredible as the very capable, loyal personal assistant, Pepper Potts.

The story is so mind blowingly perfect that I can’t believe they pulled it off. Of course this may have something to do with a lot of help (and uncredited due to him doing it for free) from Shane Black, writer of such movies as Monster Squad, Lethal Weapon, and Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. The whole movie is technically beginning to end an origin story but it never feels like it’s taking too long to tell it. And along the way there are plenty of little Iron Man (and Marvel Universe in general) comic history bits, such as John Favreau playing the part of Harold “Happy” Hogan, Tony’s chauffer and bodyguard.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that they sort of give into a Marvel Movie standard, but it’s done in a way that unlike Spider-Man 3, makes perfect sense, and that is showing our hero and villain with their masks off. It comes at the very end of the movie where Iron Man and Iron Monger are basically out of steam (Iron Man more so) and just pulling out all the stops to win the fight. Iron Man manages to disable Monger’s optics giving him reason to open up the armor so he can actually see. Just before this, Monger threw Iron Man off ripping off his helmet in the process. It works perfectly and in no way feels forced just adding to how awesome the movie is.

Marvel Movie Score: 10

Why That?: A new standard has been set. From here on every Marvel Movie will be judged by Iron Man’s complete perfection. It’s a perfect combination of Fantastic Four’s fun and Spider-Man’s seriousness. And I feel I should mention just how awesome Robert Downey Jr. truly is: Since a large portion of the story takes place in Afghanistan, a reporter asked Downey his opinion of the war in Iraq. Downey’s response was, “Shut the f up and let me enjoy my blockbuster.” Amen, brother. Now bring on the sequel!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Fantastic Four 2 (2007)

And so in the wake of two, third installment movies, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer steps up to show us what a fun movie is supposed to be. Seeing the potential for it the producers decided to make this movie PG and geared towards families, and it’s pulled off well as it never really feels watered down though there are a few moments in the film that I’m surprised didn’t push it to PG-13.

Though not watered down, it does feel a bit campier than the first, but again that just adds to the fun of it. The oddest of these however is a scene at a dance club where Johnny has dragged Reed for his bachelor party. Reed is sitting with a group of women and explaining the Big Bang theory. Since it’s a family movie I can let this slide, however I just find it odd that Reed happened upon this many women who clearly have no idea what the Big Bang theory is. I imagine this was done for the sole purpose of letting Reed do some showy things with his powers, but still it would’ve made more sense if he was explaining something complicated like what the theory of relativity actually is, or quantum physics. Either way this is nitpicking. It does lead to a small scene of two girls getting Reed to loosen up and dance with them, again showing off his powers. This scene just feels off to me as the expression on Reeds face becomes way too self confident and uncharacteristically smug. But again, nitpicking.

On the front of things that aren’t nitpicking is the sudden decision to use a muppet to play Sue Storm. Oh wait, my mistake, that’s still Jessica Alba, they just decided to make her hair incredibly blonde and to give her blue contact lenses that make her look like a Barbie doll. Seriously, it’s very distracting and never stops being so.

Doctor Doom also makes his return and it looks to be very promising as he shows up getting his mask sawed off of his face, the skin beneath properly scarred. This is quickly done away with as he confronts the Silver Surfer and is somehow healed. Though they do armor him up better later, it’s just sad that they felt they couldn’t leave him scarred and just have him walk around fully armored.

Lastly I must point out the product placement for Dodge is just painful as it’s suggested that the Fantasticar is powered by a Hemi, leaving us to assume that for some reason a super advanced personal flying craft (that splits into three separate crafts) is powered by a combustible engine.

Aside from that the movie is yet again just incredibly fun and though I may have gone into length about what I didn’t like about the movie, the fun factor makes up for every bit of it.

Now a lot of fans complained about the appearance of Galactus, shown to us as a large cloud in space. Yes this is incredibly ridiculous in theory but upon further thought it has since become apparent that this cloud was meant only to represent the process which Galactus uses to absorb a planet’s energy.

The Silver Surfer himself is awesome, as is Stan Lee’s cameo as himself. Even the final fight scene with Johnny and Doom is awesome even though a major factor of Johnny’s involvement doesn’t make sense. Just like the first one you’re enjoying yourself too much to care.

Marvel Movie Score: 8.5

Why That?: This movie is a perfect companion to the first and hopefully they make a third and not drop the ball like Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man did. It seems really evident that everyone involved just wanted movie goers to have a good time, and for me they succeeded. Oh, and it isn’t over two hours of people crying and moping. If they officially make a Spider-Man 4, the writers and producers better watch this movie first.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Some say the mark of a great story is when the audience feels the emotions of that story’s characters. To laugh when the characters laugh, become angry when the characters become angry, to cry when the characters cry. Well with Spider-Man 3 the audience sure did cry, but less than half as much as Peter Parker.

Spider-Man 3 is a sad moment in movie history for a few reasons, most notably being such a horrible follow up to two incredible action movies, and it marks a very low point for one of my favorite directors and personalities, Sam Raimi.

I could go on and on and on about all of the painful flaws of this movie, but since they are all incredibly obvious ones like wanting to yell, “Stop crying!” and “Keep that damn mask on!” at Parker, I will place some focus on the good things.

Two of the three villains were done superbly. Harry’s decent into madness has been built up perfectly and I loved the idea of him just bluntly attacking Peter physically totally out of nowhere (from Peter’s POV that is). The ensuing memory loss and return was done nicely as well, changing his tactic from physical to psychological attacks. Of course the only thing that absolutely sucked about his story was the scene with his butler. It didn’t have to go completely, but the whole reasoning given during it makes absolutely no sense.

Then there’s Eddie Brock/Venom. Though given little screen time as Venom, the necessity for more was done away with by establishing Eddie as being completely insane. The guy is obviously lost in his own warped reality, and that’s not sarcasm on my part. He had coffee with Gwen Stacy once and immediately acts as though they’re a serious couple. He consciously commits a massive act of fraud and doesn’t get why he should be fired for it. Back to Gwen Stacy for a moment, he sees her on a date with Parker (the only one they go on and that ends horribly) and he thinks Parker stole her from him. It was perfect.

Sadly those are the only high notes in the movie aside from J.K. Simmons stealing every scene he’s in for the third time running. Sure the Sandman looked cool, but did he really have to be such an overly sympathetic character? And did you know that his first appearance in the comics was showing up at Peter’s high school and demanding he be given a high school diploma? Yes I am being incredibly serious. Ah the innocence of the 60’s. Plus using him to drastically change Spider-Man’s origin was just lame. I get how what they did didn’t completely change things, but there was no reason for it other than to make Peter mad.

I honestly believe a lot of story elements would be forgivable if it wasn’t just all rehashing what’s already been told in the first two movies. This entire movie is another chapter to Spider-Man’s origin story so no matter how cool the action scenes are, the story went no where. It was just another tale of, “Why is Peter, Spider-Man?” and trying to balance his personal life with his responsibilities. And it was hammered into our heads, too, unlike the first two movies that just flowed. Peter even flat out says, “We always have a choice.” Additionally it ended the same way as the first two; Mary Jane gets kidnapped by the villain, Spider-Man has to save her and gets a severe beat down in the process. This all goes to disprove the old adage of, “Third time’s a charm.”

A saving grace for Sam and Ivan Raimi (who wrote the movie) is how much pressure they were under from producers to keep throwing in more and more characters and story lines from the comics, primarily Gwen Stacy and Eddie Brock. One producer went as far as to talk out of her ass about how the fans wanted to see Gwen. Yeah we did, in the first movie before the introduction of Mary Jane just like she was in the comics. I have absolutely no problem with them starting with Mary Jane, skipping over Gwen completely, but to claim that the fans want the story to go backwards? Plus, her character is completely wasted here versus what she meant in the comics (read Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb).

Obviously compared to the previous movies this one falls short. To give a colorful analogy it’s like the three movies were in a long jump contest together. 1 and 2 landed at the same distance, breaking a world record, but when 3’s turn came up, it forgot to jump, running straight into the sand, tripping, and falling onto its face.

Marvel Movie Score: 4.5

Why That?: The fight scenes are awesome, I love the looks of all the characters, yes even Harry’s “New Goblin” outfit. And clearly it had potential, who knows what would’ve happened if there was a different writing team and producers had backed off as they did for Spider-Man 2. In the end, it was barely decent.