This isn’t really a formal review. It’s just a collection of raves and rants about the movie. Therefore, this is going to have spoilers galore. If you haven’t seen it, then don’t read this.
And just to give you enough spoiler space, here's the theme song to the Iron Man cartoon just to give you enough time to go and watch the movie and come back.
Ok… moving right along…
What I liked about the movie…
The fight scene at the race track! What a great entrance by Whiplash. Loved that effect where his overalls just burned up to reveal his make-shift exoskeleton underneath. The way he handled those whips made me wonder if he sidelined as a lion-tamer while he was in Russia. And did that armor really provide him enough protection from being rammed by a car—twice!
The suitcase-armor! In the comic book, it was always funny that the briefcase only contained the helmet the gauntlets and the boots. So, it was great that they found a way to make that collapsing armor look believable.
Justin Hammer! Justin Hammer is so uncool he’s cool! The sales pitch for the weapons of War Machine. "If it were any smarter, it'd write a book. A book that would make 'Ulysses' look like it was written in crayon ... and it would read it to you! It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it 'The Ex-Wife.'"(And I think at certain points of the movie, Sam Rockwell was channel Dana Carvey. Maybe ten years ago, Dana Carvey could’ve played Justine Hammer and Mike Meyers could’ve played Whiplash. No? Well, it was just a thought.)
Justin Hammer quote from : http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2010/05/10/iron-man-2-best-quotes/
The banter between Stark and Pepper Potts. “I want one!” “No.” (which reminded me of episodes of “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard)
The banter between Stark and Rhodes. “Get a roof!”
The banter between Stark and Fury. (Okay, well, not so much. I just didn’t imagine Nick Fury to talk like Shaft. I thought he’d a man of few words like Mace Windu.)
I actually liked the Senate hearing scene, which some people found dragging.
The cameo appearance of John Slattery from Mad Men as Howard Stark. Great casting! So, I wonder if Sterling & Cooper did the ad campaign for the Stark Expo.
Scarlet Johansen. `Nuff said!
Agent Coulson! Aside from his deadpan acting, It was great to see him again because the last time I saw him I was playing Agent Casper in WEST WING (which, I think here in the Philippines, was seen by a grand total of five people).
Cap’s shield! That was Cap’s shield, right? Or was that a hub cap from one of Stark’s cars?
New Element! While Stark was creating the New Element, me and the guys started to speculate, “Is it vibranium or adamantium?” Knowing Stark he'd name it after himself! Something like "starkinium" or "tony-ium" or maybe even the "howardium".
What I didn’t like…
The first fight between War Machine and Iron Man: There was something off-kilter about it. In know it’s a great tribute to the usual “good guys must first fight before they figure out they’re on the same side” routine, but just felt like a big bar room brawl. And maybe the choice of music just didn’t seem to fit the battle.
The Black Widow scene: as much as I loved finally seeing the Black Widow in action, it just reminded me too much of Trinity’s fight scenes in The Matrix. I would’ve loved to see the Widow fight at least one of the drones just to show everyone that she can really kick-ass. It really wasn’t fair to just pit her against those rent-a-cops; because if you just gave Happy Hogan 15 more minutes I’m sure he would’ve be able to take out all those guards. (Okay, maybe he would’ve needed 25 more minutes.)
The Final Battle: as much as I liked how they set-up the Repulsor Ray power stunt in the earlier scene, I just wished that Iron Man and War Machine were more beaten up and trashed before they resorted to doing that power blast.
What the?!
It’s interesting that there were scenes in the trailer that were not used in the final cut of the movie. In the trailer, I like the scene in the cargo plan where Pepper kisses the Iron Man helmet, throw it out the plane and says, “Go get `em, boss.” Then Tony Stark jumps out and says, “You complete me.”
And what about these scenes?
I guess the DVD and Blu-Ray will have lots of bonus materials.
UPDATE: Finally! Some answers as to why those scenes were deleted! Thanks IO9!
A Guide To Iron Man 2's Deleted Scenes
http://io9.com/5535836/hot-from-the-forge-a-guide-to-iron-man-2s-deleted-scenes
And THE 4TH LETTER tells us of more scenes that were part of the IRON MAN 2 novelization, but didn't make it in the movie.
http://www.4thletter.net/2010/05/iron-man-2-the-deleted-scenes/
Thank you IMDB for the photos! :-)
And just to give you enough spoiler space, here's the theme song to the Iron Man cartoon just to give you enough time to go and watch the movie and come back.
Ok… moving right along…
What I liked about the movie…
The fight scene at the race track! What a great entrance by Whiplash. Loved that effect where his overalls just burned up to reveal his make-shift exoskeleton underneath. The way he handled those whips made me wonder if he sidelined as a lion-tamer while he was in Russia. And did that armor really provide him enough protection from being rammed by a car—twice!
The suitcase-armor! In the comic book, it was always funny that the briefcase only contained the helmet the gauntlets and the boots. So, it was great that they found a way to make that collapsing armor look believable.
Justin Hammer! Justin Hammer is so uncool he’s cool! The sales pitch for the weapons of War Machine. "If it were any smarter, it'd write a book. A book that would make 'Ulysses' look like it was written in crayon ... and it would read it to you! It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it 'The Ex-Wife.'"(And I think at certain points of the movie, Sam Rockwell was channel Dana Carvey. Maybe ten years ago, Dana Carvey could’ve played Justine Hammer and Mike Meyers could’ve played Whiplash. No? Well, it was just a thought.)
Justin Hammer quote from : http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2010/05/10/iron-man-2-best-quotes/
The banter between Stark and Pepper Potts. “I want one!” “No.” (which reminded me of episodes of “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard)
The banter between Stark and Rhodes. “Get a roof!”
The banter between Stark and Fury. (Okay, well, not so much. I just didn’t imagine Nick Fury to talk like Shaft. I thought he’d a man of few words like Mace Windu.)
I actually liked the Senate hearing scene, which some people found dragging.
The cameo appearance of John Slattery from Mad Men as Howard Stark. Great casting! So, I wonder if Sterling & Cooper did the ad campaign for the Stark Expo.
Scarlet Johansen. `Nuff said!
Agent Coulson! Aside from his deadpan acting, It was great to see him again because the last time I saw him I was playing Agent Casper in WEST WING (which, I think here in the Philippines, was seen by a grand total of five people).
Cap’s shield! That was Cap’s shield, right? Or was that a hub cap from one of Stark’s cars?
New Element! While Stark was creating the New Element, me and the guys started to speculate, “Is it vibranium or adamantium?” Knowing Stark he'd name it after himself! Something like "starkinium" or "tony-ium" or maybe even the "howardium".
What I didn’t like…
The first fight between War Machine and Iron Man: There was something off-kilter about it. In know it’s a great tribute to the usual “good guys must first fight before they figure out they’re on the same side” routine, but just felt like a big bar room brawl. And maybe the choice of music just didn’t seem to fit the battle.
The Black Widow scene: as much as I loved finally seeing the Black Widow in action, it just reminded me too much of Trinity’s fight scenes in The Matrix. I would’ve loved to see the Widow fight at least one of the drones just to show everyone that she can really kick-ass. It really wasn’t fair to just pit her against those rent-a-cops; because if you just gave Happy Hogan 15 more minutes I’m sure he would’ve be able to take out all those guards. (Okay, maybe he would’ve needed 25 more minutes.)
The Final Battle: as much as I liked how they set-up the Repulsor Ray power stunt in the earlier scene, I just wished that Iron Man and War Machine were more beaten up and trashed before they resorted to doing that power blast.
What the?!
It’s interesting that there were scenes in the trailer that were not used in the final cut of the movie. In the trailer, I like the scene in the cargo plan where Pepper kisses the Iron Man helmet, throw it out the plane and says, “Go get `em, boss.” Then Tony Stark jumps out and says, “You complete me.”
And what about these scenes?
I guess the DVD and Blu-Ray will have lots of bonus materials.
UPDATE: Finally! Some answers as to why those scenes were deleted! Thanks IO9!
A Guide To Iron Man 2's Deleted Scenes
http://io9.com/5535836/hot-from-the-forge-a-guide-to-iron-man-2s-deleted-scenes
And THE 4TH LETTER tells us of more scenes that were part of the IRON MAN 2 novelization, but didn't make it in the movie.
http://www.4thletter.net/2010/05/iron-man-2-the-deleted-scenes/
Thank you IMDB for the photos! :-)
Comments
1.Daft Punk on the OST
2. Tony dancing in his metal 'birthday suit'
3. The suitcase emergency suit that made me realized that a live action Bubblegum Crisis movie isn't far behind.
4.Tony's cars