Tuesday, May 6, 2008

A Brief Movie Break

So, has anybody seen Iron Man yet? I'm going to run out tonight and see it at our little local theatre's cheap night. It's got to be worth five bucks, right?

Certainly the press is positive, but what I really want to know is when they say it's really good, does that mean it's really good, or that it's just not totally crap? I guess I'll find out!

7 comments:

Jane said...

Can't comment personally, but US Box Office was huge ($100 million plus the first weekend) and Tommy has seen it twice already and pronounced it the greatest superhero movie ever. Sounds like two thumbs up. Wish I could go. Maybe after work sometime this week.

Lisa said...

Okay, now I'm excited! If the Tomster liked it, I trust his opinion! Wow! I'll report back!

Anonymous said...

I know people who are running to see it....and they're not teenagers. I will look forward to your review, Lisa.

Jane said...

Saw it tonight with the Tomster (his 3rd time!!!). LOVED IT! Robert Downey Jr. is hotter than hot and all the support characters rocked as well. Stellar special effects. It does sort of freak me out to see Jeff Bridges as a bad guy though. I also loved all the downtown LA, above LA, Malibu settings. Well it's about time! Batman and Spiderman have NY, but IRONMAN owns LA!!!
Tommy and I went to Burger King for a real American cheese burger afterwards (yes! Product Placement does work!) and we each got an Ironman action hero. I'm bringing mine to work tomorrow. It was a very good night.

Lisa said...

I also enjoyed it quite a bit. It's great seeing a nuanced actor like Robert Downey Jr. in a role like this. Though I did think that some of the time the movie was a bit "Robocop" -- when Stark seemed and acted more like a machine than a human being (which is not the worst thing of course) -- when you saw Downey inside the mask it humanized the proceedings, otherwise it's just a big robot. Some genuinely amusing bits, and this movie lives on the shoulders of Downey. He has a rueful charm that is irresistible. Will be interesting to see what Edward Norton does with Hulk later this year. There is almost no way to separate the automatic huge box office that a movie like this will get -- crummy or not -- vs. its actual existence as a decent movie, but I'd say this one, and mostly just because of Downey, could almost be recommended to non-superhero movie lovers. If there were a Burger King around here I'd have wanted a cheeseburger, too! (Of course, I'd want one almost any time of any day!)

Jane said...

We saw the HULK trailer last night and I had the same thought. What is up with all of these critically acclaimed actors (Downey, Ed Norton) playing comic book action heros. I think it is a win-win. It brings a thin layer of sophistication and humor to something that would otherwise be just a special effects action film. I must say however, I am the original summer Blockbuster fan. If it wasn't for Speilberg's JAWS back in 1974, I wouldn't even be in this business!

Dean Treadway said...

The cast is what makes Iron Man the fine movie that it is. Not to short shrift Jon Favreau, who did an excellent job of direction. But with the brilliant Downey (my favorite superhero performance of all time), the charming Gwenyth Paltrow, the intriguing Jeff Bridges and the always likeable Terrence Howard, how could one lose? I hate superhero movies, but I loved this one.