This is the one I have been excited for since last summer. I'm a total nerd, and this review is probably gonna show it. So keep that in mind when you read this, I like this on a much different level than most people. This has gotten me flack in the past, for example Daredevil, which I'll admit now, isn't very good (but I stand by that the directors cut fixes some of it). But I was always a Marvel nerd, I'm pretty much a nerd about a lot of things, but the one thing I have a lot of nerd knowledge for, its Marvel comics. So I get a little something more out of most of these films, even Daredevil.
You've probably already seen this film by now, so I'm gonna try to skip that boring first paragraph where I give you the synopsis and just tell you what I liked and why.
I loved the direction they went with Tony Stark in this film. From revealing his identity at the end of the first film, opened the door to a lot of interesting drama. Tony Stark has always been one of the superheros that never needed the duality of a superhero. He was basically the same as both characters, and the people had that were close enough to get hurt, he could easily protect their day to day lives with whatever Stark tech he could dream up. He wasn't like Spider-man, where if a villain found out his identity, the first thing they tend to do is throw his girlfriend/aunt/best friend off a roof/bridge/plane. So this allowed the film so freedom we haven't seen much in films, and also kept it from getting into the dual life drama we've seen way too much in Batman, Spider-man and Superman.
The story with the Government trying to take the Iron Man suit away from Tony was also pretty awesome. First you had Gerry Shandling playing a hilarious douchebag senator. But also the film had a very pro second amendment stance to it, the government wants to take away his guns, and Tony tells them to shove it. Considering my politics more often than not come down on the right, I really liked this. Not to say its hugely political movie, but its nice to see right wing politics from time to time, especially from our super heroes.
Don Cheadle takes over for Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, Tony's best friend and not exactly sidekick more like occasional partner War Machine. I prefer Cheadle in this role, he brought much more emotion to the role, and when he actually stood up to Tony, I believed he was pissed. Furthermore the movie wants you sympathize for both, even when they are antagonistic to each other. Both Cheadle and Downey sell this perfectly, as you have reasons to understand Tony's breakdown, and you can totally understand from Rhodey's point of view why he thinks Tony is wrong.
Gwyneth Paltrow continues to do a solid job as Pepper Potts (Pepper is her nickname, I know it sounds like a strippers name). One of the reasons I like her so much in these films, is because for once the female lead isn't just a damsel in distress. Sure she gets saved, but she also helps Tony as much if not more than he helps her. Its nice to see female leads with more to do than just look pretty. Having said that, I'm not totally sold on a Tony/Pepper relationship, mainly because Tony is way to much of a ladies man and give him a Mary Jane/Lois Lane kinda girlfriend would kinda bug me. Although who knows, its not like its super serious at the end of this.
Scarlet Johannson was actually awesome in this film. While she could have been given more to do, what she had to do was very well done. I was the most apprehensive about her role in this. Having a tough female action role is something few actresses can sell me on, but I totally bought her as the Black Widow by the end of it. Also fellow nerds, get over the accent bit, #1: she is a spy, if she spoke in a Russian accent her cover is blown, #2: they inform you that she is fluent in Russian, #3: They eventually reveal her name to be Natalia Romanoff, not Natalie Rushman as she is first introduced. They remain true to the character, so don't worry.
Now for the stuff I didn't like, the second act was really wordy. It could have benefited from another action scene, but having said that, the action scenes this movie does contain flow organically from the plot. Another action scene would have ended up being Tony drunkenly flying around stopping minor crimes. What we get instead is plenty of character development, so I'm not gonna complain to much. Some people might call it boring, but again most of this stuff is like nerd porn to me.
In fact a significant portion of this film is actually used to promote other films. Most of the S.H.I.E.L.D stuff is basically set ups for Captain America, The Avengers, and mainly Thor. Which if you aren't a nerd you might not know this, this movie is doing a lot more than just the standard trilogy of films and that's it. Next year Thor and Captain America are going to come out. They both tie into this film, and the year after all three characters, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America will star in the Avengers. Basically any Marvel movie made by Marvel studios, exists in the same universe as each other. Now some other studios own the rights to other films, Fox has X-men, Sony has Spider-man for example. So those don't count... yet.
So they didn't just make a trilogy here, they made a film universe. This is what nerds have been dreaming about for years.
Also stay after the credits for a very special set up for one of those films. If you don't get it, you might not care. If your a nerd (that somehow hasn't seen Iron Man 2 yet) you'll think its pretty cool.
I think to be fair I am going to have to give this two different ratings. On for the marvel nerds and one for what I think the regular people would think about it.
Marvel Nerd score: 4.5 out of 5.
Regular people score: 4 our 5.
Either way, pay full price to see it in theaters.
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