Iron Man

[Hex]

Alright two things.

A: WHO THE HELL DECIDED TO OPEN IRONMAN 4 HOURS EARLY?!? Completely ruins the effect of a midnight show...

B: Who else thinks it will be amazing as hell

[Xaeta]

A - I like the concept of them opening a movie early - if it's a local thing that only people in the community know about.

B - I'm waiting, I'm waiting....however long it will take to reach Japan.....

[Mac]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c255/lunaknight/ironmac-1.gif

My reaction to Iron Man being released. =D

Gonna catch the showing on Friday.

[TDK]

FUCK YES IRON MAN.


Going to see it with a group of friends friday or saturday night.

[Lord of Joshelplex]

I dont even like/care about Iron Man, but I actually wanna see this.

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

DAAAAMN!!! Yay for being an East Coaster, I just saw it.

And its worth every squirt of that 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's to a wonderful comic book movie! Three cheers for Downey Jr!

Best part is, I don't think there's a single scene in that entire movie that wasn't important somehow. Pretty much everything added to it somehow! Thats the mark of brilliance right there.

[Mac]

DAAAAMN!!! Yay for being an East Coaster, I just saw it.

And its worth every squirt of that 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's to a wonderful comic book movie! Three cheers for Downey Jr!

Best part is, I don't think there's a single scene in that entire movie that wasn't important somehow. Pretty much everything added to it somehow! Thats the mark of brilliance right there.

Wow, for once being a newfie was a benefit eh =P dear god I'm joking people

I'll be seeing it tommorrow as I won't make it to the showing tonight,

[POS Industries]

Fun movie. I recommend it to pretty much anyone who enjoys fun movies. So, like, if you're really into movies that are no fun whatsoever you will hate Iron Man. Srsly.

But yeah, anyway, I think what really made the film work was really just entirely Downey's performance and Jon Favreau's direction, which is exactly the two things you need for a movie centering around the adventures and misadventures of Tony Stark. "Swingers" with a power suit, basically.

Also, they are seriously trying to get things set up for an Avengers movie. It's just obvious at this point.

EDIT: Like really obvious: We got your Thor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/), your Namor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436803/), your Captain America (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458339/), even fucking Ant-Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478970/).

Seriously, when Hank Pym gets his own movie, you know the only reason is to just get everyone introduced for the Avengers.

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

Seriously, when Hank Pym gets his own movie, you know the only reason is to just get everyone introduced for the Avengers.

That was what gave it away to you? I thought it was when Samuel L. Jackson shows up as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man to ask Stark to join the Avengers Initiative. To me that just SCREAMED Avengers.

[Hex]

AMAZING
My expectations were they highest i've ever had them for a movie, and they still got blown out of the water.
I recommend it highly if you have ever been a person. Or not a person.

[G.I.R.]

My only problem with it was this..

When Stark outed himself as Ironman at the end of the movie. Um... isn't it supposed to be a secret identity? Or are they just going for a post Civil War approach on this?

Other than that... wow. Simply wow. This movie is made of win.

[Hex]

I have no idea, but, It really did seem like something Stark would do. They had a very consistant AND lovable personality for him the entire movie. Hurray for staying true to characters!

[Solid Snake]

...All I have to say is wow.

It's strange, as someone who had barely even heard of Iron Man prior to seeing this movie, that I actually legitimately think Iron Man had the best superhero movie I've seen in ages. Better than Superman Returns and Batman Begins, even. There's nothing else I can really even say about that.

[Mirai Gen]

EDIT: Like really obvious: We got your Thor, your Namor, your Captain America, even fucking Ant-Man.
To be fair, after they get the green light and enter "In Production", most movies don't even go much further than that.

I'm not saying a Thor or Cap movie wouldn't be great (We need one to replace the 1980s Rubber Ears) but still, chances are low.

[POS Industries]

That was what gave it away to you? I thought it was when Samuel L. Jackson shows up as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man to ask Stark to join the Avengers Initiative. To me that just SCREAMED Avengers.
Yeah, turns out there's this thing that happens where if I sit through the entire end credits nothing happens, but if I take off before they're done some giant amazing thing happens that I miss and I hate myself for the rest of the week.

[Hawk]

Going to see this tomorrow with some friends, so it's good to see all the positiveness in this thread. I mean, I figured it would be pretty good, but you guys make it sound even more awesome.

Can't wait.

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

My only problem with it was this...

To be honest, they borrowed a lot of the inspiration from the Ultimate continuity as well as the classic... and his identity is quite public in Ultimate continuity, as well as several times even within the classic continuity. So really its not that big of a stretch.

[Magus]

I'll see this this weekend, 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and other people's reactions make me feel good about seeing it (unlike when I wasted my time on 10,000 B.C.)

[Mac]

Wait. So I missed Sam Jackson's Nick Fury. I left as soon as the movie was over. Dammit. What happens in that scene exactly?

[Regulus Tera]

My only problem with it was this..

When Stark outed himself as Ironman at the end of the movie. Um... isn't it supposed to be a secret identity? Or are they just going for a post Civil War approach on this?

Other than that... wow. Simply wow. This movie is made of win.

Isn't he supposed to be the biggest egotistical jerk ever? Considering that, I imagine he'd like the fame.

[Mesden]

My only complaint is that you can kind of see every turn in the story of the movie coming from a billion miles away, but it was still a totally fun movie with great actors and a good enough story to lead up to the awesome Iron Man segments.

[PCD]

Fantastic. It was just SO well done. Tony Stark was so well characterized, and him outing himself at the end was entirely fitting. His ego is just so huge, we all saw it coming, but it was still great. And besides for just that, it was really fantastically done, with great special effects and scene choreography.

Wait. So I missed Sam Jackson's Nick Fury. I left as soon as the movie was over. Dammit. What happens in that scene exactly?
Stark comes home, and a MYSTERIOUS MAN is waiting in the shadows, being all, "dude, you are so not the only superhero out there." Stark's all "wtf" and Samuel L. Fury steps out and is like "So yeah there's this Avenger thing." END.

My friends and I went to see it in homemade Iron Man shirts, and were so excited the whole time--we were just talking and laughing and spazzing during the credits, and then fucking SLJ, and we just spazzed. One of the janitors said, "Jeez, you guys make me wanna actually watch it." We were basically on a HUGE happy high for a couple hours afterwards.

[Ryanderman]

That was great. Ditto everything everyone else has said. Just great.

My only real complaint, and it's just a nitpick, was number of times they cut to Stark's face in his suit while he was flying and fighting. I know the studios have this compulsion to show the star's face on screen as often as possible, but it got distracting. I would have rather seen the suit do it's stuff than his expressions while talking.

But it's just a nitpick.

[synkr0nized]

I liked it.
I usually dislike comic-book movies.
I anxiously await War Machine and more Samuel L. Fury.

[Bob the Mercenary]

It was very "meh" to me. I liked the action, loved the humor, but seriously, could Gwyneth Paltrow have been any more cheesy? I didn't like how they went the way of Transformers and made a super secret government agency with an unnecessarily long name either. The parts where Stark was supposed to seem human felt incredibly forced, the bad guy was very steriotypical (although it is a superhero movie so whatever), and the amount of times the bad guy could have just outright killed Stark and didn't was starting to piss me off.

Also it was about an hour too short.

[POS Industries]

I didn't like how they went the way of Transformers and made a super secret government agency with an unnecessarily long name either.
Son, that super secret government agency has been a major part of Marvel canon for a bajillion years.

[Masked Jedi]

And a major part of Iron Man's canon, specifically.

My opinion? This summer's screwed. You can't have something this intensely awesome to start it off! It makes all the others look bad in comparison!

But great acting, directing, and writing (It's the guys who wrote Children of Men). It really surprised me: I mean, in most superhero movies, no matter how likable the character was in the books, there's a scene where you want to punch them. The whole emo-disco thing in Spider-Man 3, for instance. And then there's Tony Stark, a hero that is likable all the way through, and never has that scene where you want him to take a beating. The irony? He's the one in the books that you want to be beaten repeatedly.

Oh, and Stan Lee as Hugh Hefner? Yes.

[B_real_shadows]

Invisitext abound!

Watched the movie on Thursday night I must say it was amazing! Went with a bunch of friends and one of them is a huge comic book fan and knows everything about everything going on in comic books. Anyways, I asked him how the movie held up to the comics and he said "It was all there in the comics. The one thing they changed was the conflict. In the comics the conflict was in Korea while now the conflict is in Afghanastan. It was so they could modernize it." (Pretty sure this part didn't need to be invistexted since its really just a minor detail change, the next part is invisitexted for good reason)

Anyways, I also asked him about the outing himself thing at the end of the movie, and that also happened in the comics. He's a publicly known super-hero.

[Mac]

Invisitext abound!

Watched the movie on Thursday night I must say it was amazing! Went with a bunch of friends and one of them is a huge comic book fan and knows everything about everything going on in comic books. Anyways, I asked him how the movie held up to the comics and he said "It was all there in the comics. The one thing they changed was the conflict. In the comics the conflict was in Korea while now the conflict is in Afghanastan. It was so they could modernize it." (Pretty sure this part didn't need to be invistexted since its really just a minor detail change, the next part is invisitexted for good reason)

I'm sure he meant Vietnam.

[Wyndon]

This is like the best movie I've seen in a very very long time.

Fucking awesome movie. Far better than any of the spiderman, superman, and every other marvel (OR DC, THANKS DEMETRIUS) comic superhero (minus batman) ever. Batman begins was better though lol

[Demetrius]

Dude, DC. Seriously, fix that or be cut.

I can understand how people are all like, "Wooo! Samuel L. Fury!" but honestly I would've liked to not see him as Fury. I'm a fan of classic Nick Fury, and I'm seeing any movie with Samuel L. Jackson in it as slightly horrible, Fury is a man of action, and I don't think Jackson will be able to pull it off without much cheese and CGI.

[PCD]

Yeah, according to my comicgeek father, Iron Man was primarily a Commie fighter in the books.

This might have been just me, but the "evil" Iron Man guy at the end looked to me like a combination between the Iron Giant, a Transformer, and Blastoise. I just couldn't stop thinking it.

[TDK]

Dude, DC. Seriously, fix that or be cut.
Uh?

Iron Man (Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications from Marvel Comics.

[Demetrius]

No I was talking about his reference to Batman and Supes being Marvel heroes.

[Wyndon]

It's all the same. >.>

[Mesden]

It's all the same. >.>

Blah blah blasphemy blah blah burn the witch blah.

I think that's what you're looking for right?

[Preturbed]

The beginning was a little screwy to me. I mean, they showed the capture of Stark (no invis needed, cause it was in the previews doncha know) and then cut back to a couple days ago with no real reason for it. Just seemed like it would have flowed better with just straightforward continuity from the very beginning.

[TDK]

So...

That was the best goddamn movie I've ever seen with the possible exception of 300.

[G.I.R.]

For everyone who may not have heard yet, as of yesterday, the sequel has already been given the Green Light. XD

[Kerensky287]

For everyone who may not have heard yet, as of yesterday, the sequel has already been given the Green Light. XD

The sequel, or The Avengers?

Because from that ending, specifically that extra scene, either could have worked.

[PurpleMage]

I got my girlfriend to leave work early so we could see the ten o' clock showing. OMFG. We both loved it, even though I couldn't shut up.

But the funniest part was when I saw what a certain black man had to say after the credits I blurted out "Fuck yeah!" only to have like the collection of eight year olds in front of me hear that. However I was kind enough to wave and say sorry as we left.

I also couldn't shut up about that extra scene the entire ride home.

But if your looking for what I thought of it, well my girlfriend even liked it and thats all you really need to know.

[Melfice]

About the sequal or Avengers thing...
I think they'll take Iron Man as far as they can.
They've still got a Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D movie, a Captain America movie and maybe Thor before you can get that act together.

I'm including a S.H.I.E.L.D/Fury movie, because why else would Fury contact Stark about the Avengers Initiative. Sounds to me like it'll be the post-Civil War Initiative thing.

Good movie, by the way.

[Solid Snake]

Just watched the movie for a second time (and there are very few movies I'll actually pay to see twice in theaters), with my father this time. A few random notes from the viewing:

(Iron Man spoilers below, so let me invisi-text this.)


1: I was absolutely shocked at the number of people -- not just the number, but the kinds of people -- who waited through the credits to see that special scene at the end. I don't know if it was just because the movie was so good, or because Samuel L. Jackson just kicks so much ass. At any rate, I saw sixty-year old couples, young couples on dates, and a bunch of pre-teen girls wait through the credits. And based on what little I could overhear from their mouths, all of them were singing the movie's praises.

I mean this is Iron Man, not Superman or Spidey or Batman. You know a movie is really damn good when people outside the target demographics of a typical superhero movie are excited about it...and it's a superhero many of those same people (my father included) had never even heard of prior to walking in that theater.

2: The dialogue sequences in Iron Man are exactly the way I want to write dialogue if I ever, for some reason, script and/or direct a movie: Tony's quips were fast, the dialogue flowed naturally, and he was frequently interrupted mid-speech in a realistic manner by his assistant / the newsreporter / token black best friend, etc. This is the way real people talk in the real world. Kudos to Marvel because I seriously think this movie has better dialogue than the vast majority of superhero movies out there.

3: My father never heard of Iron Man before in his entire life and he was absolutely thrilled with the movie. He gushed about it to his best friend (called him as we were driving in the car after the movie ended.) This is the same father who never read comics as a kid, was nearly the opposite of the nerdy archetype as a kid (and subsequently barely understands the subculture I'm into), and who generally disliked the other superhero movies he saw (in fact, I'm pretty sure the first two Spider-Man movies were the only other two superhero movies he even marginally liked -- and he liked this movie a lot more.) He said he thought this movie was "fun," the dialogue was "sharp," Gweneth Paltrow "actually did more than most female characters in those kinds of moives," the newsreporter was "hot" and he thought Downey Jr. absolutely nailed the role of Tony Stark, to the point where he half-jokingly quipped as we walked out of the theater that he almost wanted to pick up and read some Iron Man comics after watching the film.

I think that's pretty much the standard with which success in the cinemas can be defined by.

4: With maybe one or two marginal exceptions, the casting was absolutely perfect in this movie. Hell, I even enjoyed the scenes with that random SHIELD guy (not Samuel/Nick, the white guy who keeps pestering Stark and Gweneth for a sit-together.)
Most of the scenes were perfect, too. I have only two very minor gripes: first, the only character I really didn't care for was that foreign scientist in the beginning, and one of the few scenes that didn't really work for me was the scene in which we're supposed to be heartbroken because he died. I just wasn't feeling him / it. Fortunately, this is one of those rare movies where the second half of the film is even stronger than the first (just my opinion.)
Also, I really didn't find the main bad guy (the business partner) terribly believable. I think the biggest issue I had there was, they build him with too many friendly scenes early on in the movie to really fully buy the "twist" that he's eeevviilll. It would have been more effective with me if there was a better sense of subtle foreshadowing, or if we saw the character begin a more gradual descent into eeeevvviiilll. As is, I had just a tad of difficulty swallowing the notion that a business partner who seemed like such a relatively decent guy in the beginning of the movie would go absolutely apeshit like that, killing civilians and whatnot. The personal vendetta against Stark I could understand, but I wanted to get a better sense for his complete disregard for civilians and whatnot.

But the protagonists were so well-developed, that I can deal with a couple of relatively underdeveloped anatagonists in this movie. End of rant, I'm done.

[Magus]

So is the black army guy (not Jackson, the guy we see the whole movie, Tony's buddy) going to be War Machine, then? That's what I got from the whole "Maybe next time," line there at the end. Is the same guy from the comics who is War Machine?

I don't know how I feel about Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Of course, the only Nick Fury movie I saw was the pretty much b-movie one where he's retired, living in an abandoned mine in Alaska (I don't know why), gets contacted about some mad scientist, etc. My only problem with Samuel L. Jackson is he never changes how he acts. The only time he managed it was Mace Windu, because he had to be calm. So it isn't really Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury so much as "Hey, Nick Fury's personality and character might fit Samuel L. Jackson, let's pick him." It's like Nick Fury has to play Samuel L. Jackson, just like every other character Jackson is supposed to be playing.

[Moogle0119]

Actually Magus (spoilers) Ultimate Nick Fury was made with Samuel L Jackson in mind I mean they even got his permission to use his likeness in the comic books and all. So if anything they were just keeping it current with what's been portrayed in the Ultimate series line that's been going on for a good number of years now. With the way they've been doing the Marvel superhero storylines by mixing a bit of Earth-616, Ultimate series, and brand new stuff, it's not unlikely that they'd take something from one or the other.

[Mondt]

So uh

I just got home from seeing it.

The only thing I have to say is:

While waiting for the sequel-giver, I was watching the credits and under "Guards" it said "Tom Morello"

Think about it.

[POS Industries]

So is the black army guy (not Jackson, the guy we see the whole movie, Tony's buddy) going to be War Machine, then? That's what I got from the whole "Maybe next time," line there at the end. Is the same guy from the comics who is War Machine?
Yes. Yes he is.

While waiting for the sequel-giver, I was watching the credits and under "Guards" it said "Tom Morello"

Think about it.
Okay, that's pretty funny.

[Flarecobra]

OK, I have seen it, and I admit......it kicked ass in every way possable. Especally loved the humorious parts, namely all the tests. Somehow I can see Mythbusters doing stuff like that.

And also..."How'd you solve the icing problem?" "What icing problem?"

...Gold stuff right there.

[I_Like_Swordchucks]

They've still got a Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D movie, a Captain America movie and maybe Thor before you can get that act together.

I'm including a S.H.I.E.L.D/Fury movie, because why else would Fury contact Stark about the Avengers Initiative. Sounds to me like it'll be the post-Civil War Initiative thing.

Good movie, by the way.

Iron Man 2 is to be released May of 2010.

Thor is to be released July of 2010.

Captain America (which will bring in a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well) is May 2011.

The Avengers is July 2011.

[Mirai Gen]

Magus: Roddy Rhodes is War Machine, yes, and he's even used the Iron Man suit a few times.

Also, seriously, am I the only one who totally didn't get what was with the bald, head terrorist basically coming in, seeing that he wasn't making a Jericho, and after holding a hot coal in front of the old guy, just walking away?

Seemed kind of lame to have the setup be about him figuring it out and then it being okay for them to keep working despite his knowledge.

[The Wandering God]

Magus: Roddy Rhodes is War Machine, yes, and he's even used the Iron Man suit a few times.

Also, seriously, am I the only one who totally didn't get what was with the bald, head terrorist basically coming in, seeing that he wasn't making a Jericho, and after holding a hot coal in front of the old guy, just walking away?

Seemed kind of lame to have the setup be about him figuring it out and then it being okay for them to keep working despite his knowledge.

I'm going to go with underestimating Stark. He probably thought that Stark was making some kind of "gun" at worst. He was willing to wait and didn't care if whatever Stark did killed a few of his minions. Certainly, he had now way of knowing that Stark would find a way to make himself virtually bulletproof.

Also, you have to understand the villain was evil from the very beginning. spoiler
Stane had ordered his execution by the 10 Rings faction.

Awesome movie really. Can't wait to go see it again.

The Wandering God

[MFD]

I particularly liked how the movie didn't bother with the cheesy names for their villains.

Although, if you know Iron Man's villains, and you would like to know who he's fighting before watching the movie, it's the Iron Monger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Monger) and the Mandarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_%28comics%29).

Although, they're using a thoroughly unmystified version of the Mandarin, probably hoping to combat the walking stereotype he honestly and truly is.

Spoiler: The "Bald Terrorist Guy" was the Mandarin, as he led the Ten Rings terrorist faction. Ten Rings of Mandarin? I dunno, I guess it could go either way, reading the Wiki article. Apparently he only had one ring in the movie, so maybe Tony only dealt with one of ten factions within the Ten Rings terrorist organization.

[Zoncker]

I think that the whole essence of the movie is somewhat summed up in one scene. The one where he's flying and gets shot down by the tank, only to get back up and dodge another shot and fire a tiny missle that you hear go *tink* only to conclude with the whole damned tank to blow. Sorta like Kwanza bott's missile in the Futurama movie.

[POS Industries]

And I just now found out that Stane was played by Jeff Bridges. Man, I fail at paying attention.

[Mirai Gen]

Damn, I totally missed the reference to The Mandarin.

Having fucked with the arms dealing that was funding his terrorist regime I think he's gonna come back kind of pissed at Tony.

I'm going to go with underestimating Stark. He probably thought that Stark was making some kind of "gun" at worst.
I'd go with that but the scene where he finds out shows Stark using the robotic 'leg' mechanism back and forth.

[B_real_shadows]

I don't think that was Mandarin. This guy was of middle-eastern descent. Mandarin is of Chinese-English descent. Plus, Mandarin is supposed to be leader of ALL the terrorist organizations on the world. The guy in the movie only lead one terrorist organization centered in primarily afghanistan.

[Mirai Gen]

BReal: That never was the Mandarin, he only referenced Mandarin as the "Ten Rings". He never even really made an appearance. I'm just predicting that he's going to come down on Tony really hard in Iron Man 2: The Inevitable Sequel.

[Magus]

The bald terrorist guy who may or may not be Mandarin probably saw what Tony was making and decided to let him make it in hopes it would be something even better than the Jericho missile, or Stane told him to let Tony make the new thing so they'd get a new thing to make money off of before Tony is killed, or something like that. In some sort of overarching grandmaster scheme which worked out for Stane, since he got a hold of Mark 1 and made the Iron Monger suit.

I don't think the terrorist is Mandarin, I think they referred to Mandarin, though. If he is Mandarin, the design is pretty different. I remember Mandarin had long hair and a long Mandarin mustache and such. I had some of those huge Iron Man toys when I was a kid (at least a foot tall). I had like War Machine instead of Iron Man, though. Parents. *shakes head*

How is someone's last name being "Stane" not cheesy, by the way. It's obviously a play on "Stain". Everyone else's name was okay, though, except for the alliteration in Pepper Potts. But hey, they got Clark Kent, Peter Parker, etc., I'm okay with alliteration.

[Hawk]

Guys, lead terrorist dude wasn't Mandarin. Mandarin wasn't in the film, event the producers/directors/rest of the crew have said that Mandarin wasn't actually in the movie. The organisation is called The Ten Rings, presumebly because it's divided into ten cells, with each leader having 1 ring (lead terrorist did indeed only have 1 ring).

I would imagine in the next movie Mandarin will kill them all and reclaim the rings himself.

[Mirai Gen]

Pretty much what I was saying.

[pirostyle]

I think that the part where tony got all pissed at the terrorist type dudes over in that desert, then went to kick some ass with that rocket and the booster and all that nice tech, was very good

I feel like making a halo 3 stage from the robot suits now... just throw together some crates, a couple of spartan lasers, some machine gun turrets, flares, rocket launchers and some other stuff. Sorry for the off topic-ness but it was just something I had to say.

[water]

I know this might derail things slightly, but in prep to do the Avengers, do any of you actully think it possible to do a good Thor movie...?

See I can understand making all these other movies (Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America(better not be campy this time!)), however with the whole Valhalla and Asgard and "I'm a god with a big-ass hammer!" piss off the Christa-nazis and kill the movie...?

[Megaman FTW]

I know this might derail things slightly, but in prep to do the Avengers, do any of you actully think it possible to do a good Thor movie...?

See I can understand making all these other movies (Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America(better not be campy this time!)), however with the whole Valhalla and Asgard and "I'm a god with a big-ass hammer!" piss off the Christa-nazis and kill the movie...?

Meh. Poorly planned propoganda and email rumors on behalf of the few fools who think they make themselves better by saving the world from something that isn't nearly as bad as they make it out to be weren't enough to kill the Golden Compass, so I'm sure Thor is safe.

In the end, the Golden Compass only died because it sucked.

[MFD]

The only way I see a Thor movie working is if the whole of Asgard was left vague. Like Ultimate Thor, the audience isn't even sure he's really the Norse god.

[synkr0nized]

Also, I really didn't find the main bad guy (the business partner) terribly believable. I think the biggest issue I had there was, they build him with too many friendly scenes early on in the movie to really fully buy the "twist" that he's eeevviilll. It would have been more effective with me if there was a better sense of subtle foreshadowing, or if we saw the character begin a more gradual descent into eeeevvviiilll. As is, I had just a tad of difficulty swallowing the notion that a business partner who seemed like such a relatively decent guy in the beginning of the movie would go absolutely apeshit like that, killing civilians and whatnot. The personal vendetta against Stark I could understand, but I wanted to get a better sense for his complete disregard for civilians and whatnot.

Yeah, Dr. Phil wasn't shown to be angry about Stark coming back to take the company away from him or to have had enough malicious corporate scheming tendencies for the expected "betrayal" or whatever we'd like to call it to be quite as believable. He certainly was the buddy cop... in this non-cop film that suddenly was re-wired. Maybe he had a little too much of William Stryker's serum.

[Magus]

Unfortunately, I think the movie creators relied on the fact that the guy's last name is STANE (Stain) to basically convey all of those facts prior to the actual betrayal. A cheap and cheesy way to do it, for sure.

And yes, Thor, as the actual Norse god, come down from Valhalla to fight evil, just doesn't work for a superhero back-story, because, really, it's actually even more broken than Superman. Who the heck is supposed to stand up to a god like Thor besides another god, like Loki, at which point the people watching may as well go and read some Norse mythology because even the Mandarin with some sort of death machine is only going to be playing second fiddle, attempting to fight some other hero that's even moderately in his range of battle, despite all those awesome disintegrator and freezing ray and such in his rings. Maybe they can just make him a guy who finds Thor's magic hammer, which MAKES him Thor. Then at least they'll be somewhere in the ballpark.

[Preturbed]

I don't get why people are saying Obadiah turning out to be the bad guy was not obvious from the very beginning. I mean, some douchebag kid takes over the company he's come to think of as his, gains remarkable fame and fortune for it. So primary motive, jealousy. Still, he can't turn and kill the Stark as soon as he takes over the company. It's too obvious. The man's a classy villain, or at least as classy as a villain can be. Making everyone in the world think they were friends makes it a whole lot easier to get away with murder.

I for one think that particular plot point was well conceived and well executed, and any additional foreshadowing would have been driving the point in with a hammer.

[Smarty McBarrelpants]

Unfortunately, I think the movie creators relied on the fact that the guy's last name is STANE (Stain) to basically convey all of those facts prior to the actual betrayal. A cheap and cheesy way to do it, for sure.

And yes, Thor, as the actual Norse god, come down from Valhalla to fight evil, just doesn't work for a superhero back-story, because, really, it's actually even more broken than Superman. Who the heck is supposed to stand up to a god like Thor besides another god, like Loki, at which point the people watching may as well go and read some Norse mythology because even the Mandarin with some sort of death machine is only going to be playing second fiddle, attempting to fight some other hero that's even moderately in his range of battle, despite all those awesome disintegrator and freezing ray and such in his rings. Maybe they can just make him a guy who finds Thor's magic hammer, which MAKES him Thor. Then at least they'll be somewhere in the ballpark.

Well we already have the wrecking crew who basically got the powers of Loki after finding a magical crowbar that Loki lost or something.....
And a Thor movie will pretty much have to star Loki as the villain. It'll be like Clash of the Titans all over again.

[Mirai Gen]

About Stane: Tony and Stane were never really close. The point of Stane was to have someone who was close enough to Tony that could perform illegal and evil acts right under his nose without raising suspicions and keeping the "Bestest buddies!" facade up.

I mean the introduction to both Tony and Stane was in the reel that said that he took over the company after Tony's dad showed up, and then Tony took over just after. I imagine he wasn't very happy, but come to find out he could fund a war on both sides without anyone any the wiser, ooh, that's promising!

It made sense to me.

Moving on: Thor is going to be tricky.

On one hand you're making a modern-day Asgardian mythos where he comes to earth and decides to kick the crap out of evil cause it'd be fun.

On the other you've got a guy who may or may not be the God of Thunder, but he picks up a giant hammer and can throw lightning and has all sorts of crazy batshit powers that are never really explained.

I don't see either of them working especially well, unless the Thor guy is a pro-wrestler who wants to fight crime and then sees a hammer that nobody can pick up, and he does it without thinking and then gets the armor.

Hell that'd be pretty awful too. I don't know if this is going to work.

[Azisien]

Saw it tonight, really liked it. I'll probably see it again with friends that haven't seen it. I ignored: the several vicious crashes that Stark took that should have killed him instantly, or the impossible G-force changes, and rationalized them with 'holy shit check out that badass walk away from the tank oh I know its going to explode in a second BOOYA!'

[synkr0nized]

I don't get why people are saying Obadiah turning out to be the bad guy was not obvious from the very beginning.[/spoiler]

I'm sorry, my intention was not to say that it was a shock or anything but that it wasn't executed as well as I'd have liked.

[Megaman FTW]

I don't know why, but I can sense these things based partially on their appearance.

A bald man with a moses-beard is almost always evil.

If he can't grow hair on his head, then how come its on his chin? Huh? Tell me thats not suspicious.

[bluestarultor]

I don't know why, but I can sense these things based partially on their appearance.

A bald man with a moses-beard is almost always evil.

If he can't grow hair on his head, then how come its on his chin? Huh? Tell me thats not suspicious.
But he's an old man. An old, BALD man. Frankly, it took me somewhat by surprise, but I'm not familiar with the Iron Man side of the Marvel universe. He seemed like an overall decent guy at first, buddy-buddy with the protagonist, almost in a fatherly way, was drawn up as a friend of Tony's father, and played his part well. I thought that the transition from being a guy you'd never suspect into being a ruthless businessman who's willing to do anything to save face was handled quite smoothly. Even his ability to cover his tracks was well-done, so that throughout the movie you know more about what he's done than how big an impact it actually had.

[DFM]

Saw it tonight, liked it. Could have used more Iron Man Wrecking Shit scenes. Won't see it again unless someone else pays. That is all.

[Astrobot7000]

What's really amazing is that this was directly by Jon Favreau, who I think is one of the best actors ever from the early 90's. Swingers, Made, etc. Great actor... and aparently an amazing director.

Favreau for life!

[Bells]

I saw it, i love it... you only get to see the iron man in action twice the whole film and yet it's just the right amount! You left the theater knowing that he IS Ironman.

Just like the funny bits, SO well done and placed... fantastic work there!

also got to love some lines... like: "Stark Built it ON A CAVE! with a box of SCRAP!"

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

I loved the movie from beginning to end.
Except for when they did a cameo that showed Nick Fury being black. Not to be discriminatory or anything, but the original was white, and I was a little put off (and just a bit pissed) that they changed that vital bit.

[EVILNess]

I loved the movie from beginning to end.
Except for when they did a cameo that showed Nick Fury being black. Not to be discriminatory or anything, but the original was white, and I was a little put off (and just a bit pissed) that they changed that vital bit.

Well, yes the original Nick Fury is white, but the Ultimate Nick Fury is literally him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury).

[Aerozord]

But he's an old man. An old, BALD man. Frankly, it took me somewhat by surprise, but I'm not familiar with the Iron Man side of the Marvel universe. He seemed like an overall decent guy at first, buddy-buddy with the protagonist, almost in a fatherly way, was drawn up as a friend of Tony's father, and played his part well.
thats actually how I knew he was the bad guy, there were a few moments I was wondering but from the start he was suspected. Its what I like to think of as the non-twist twist. Twist moments like that are now so cliche' in movies that its expected, I honestly would have been more shocked if it wasn't him.

Not that it was poorly done, just that I saw it coming, as did the person I saw it with. Technically she missed it and wanted me to explain, which was replied with "ah thats what I figured".

Movie over all, awesome, ending. Best ever, and to be clear when I say ending, I dont mean the climax, I mean that last thirty seconds.

On a related note, I like how they slipped in a few tid-bits that will obviously lead to a sequel. Namely SHIELD and Warmachine