Our office is officially closed, I'm fully on the work-at-home model now, and I FINALLY got my Summer reviews from my work computer (as well as the rest of the computer) and I'll post them here for your viewing pleasure. Reviews coming soon: The Social Network & Let Me In
Iron Man 2
Like any modern movie franchise, the success of a first installment necessitates a sequel. As a general Hollywood trend, this is purely a financial exercise meant to exploit the popularity of the first movie and inevitably sacrifice quality on the altar of the almighty dollar. However, in recent years that inevitability thankfully hasn't applied to summer's new favorite genre, the Superhero movie. Dating back to Brian Singer's X-Men, whose sequel X2 outclassed and outperformed the first, and including Spider-Man 2 and the Dark Knight, super hero movies seem to do what no other film genre can and actually improve the second time around (it's worth noting this improvement almost never applies to a third installment). Now, does this rule apply to Iron Man 2? It does and it doesn't.
First things first: I've never laughed harder during a superhero movie. For those of you who have seen the original Iron Man, or any other movie with Robert Downey Jr., it's easy to give all that credit to Tony Stark. Downey plays this narcissistic, over-entitled, megalomaniac with the same reluctant heart and sharp wit that he brings to pretty much every character he plays. At this point, I'm not sure if I can call what he does “acting” as he plays almost identical characters in just about every movie he's in (Tropic Thunder being the obvious, Oscar-nominated exception), but whatever it's called, his presence alone made movies like “Sherlock Holmes” and “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” watchable. Unlike other actors whose performances are defined by the characters they play, Downey Jr's characters are defined by him, and Tony Stark is the best example. I've never seen an actor more perfectly suited for a character (or vice-versa) and in my opinion, he's worth the price of admission all by himself.
But enough about him. Everybody knows superhero sequels are all about cool new villains, and this is where my gripes start. To avoid confusion, it wasn't the casting or performances that I didn't like. Mickey Rourke is as fierce and enthralling as ever playing Ivan Vanko, whose father was a colleague of Tony's father. There's a lot of bad family blood there, and Ivan becomes the villain “Whiplash” to exact his revenge. Also, an old childhood nemesis of Tony's, Justin Hammer, challenges Tony with the backing of his own multinational arms conglomerate and an army of Vanko-designed war drones. Perfectly cast in the role is Sam Rockwell, whose sniveling pomposity is the villainous weasel to Rourke's grizzly bear.
The problem I have with the villains may be a systemic one. I'm not a comic book reader, and I know nothing about the back story here, but it seems any serious villain in these movies must wear a large fancy suit of armor. I was a little disappointed when Iron Man and his buddy in the silver War Machine suit head off to the climactic battle to vanquish Vanko, only to find him in a giant metal suit that looked exactly like the one Jeff Bridges piloted at the end of the first Iron Man. I'm pretty sure there are villains in this series that DON'T wear giant metal suits, and I know this because a large portion of Iron Man 2 has no other purpose than to set up a pretty silly amount of sequels covering God-only-knows how many comic franchises. And when I say a large portion, I mean entire superfluous sub-plots and multiple characters.
These problems aside, Iron Man 2 is a funny, rockin' superhero movie whose best quality is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It isn't a grandiose tour-de-force like the Dark Knight, and it would be a stretch to say it's an improvement over the first Iron Man, but it's a quality sequel nonetheless. I give it a B-.
Summer Movie Extravaganza!
Hello Readers! It seems like forever since I've been able to bring you some news and opinion in the world of film, so I thought I'd give you a great big helping this time around. This summer has been chock-full of family movies, and I wanted to give you a quick rundown on a few I've seen in the last couple months before a short review of the most anticipated movie of the summer, Christopher Nolan's mind-bending, dream-diving blockbuster Inception.
Toy Story 3 – Hands down the best installment of this storied series and boasting a ridiculous 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Toy Story 3 closes out the trilogy with style and heart. Our favorite animate objects find themselves in a decidedly darker sort of adventure after being donated to a day care center where there's more going on than meets the eye. Like any good family movie must do these days, it appeals to both the young and old with its combination of clever laughs and tear-jerking drama. After so much time learning to love these toys, some very young children might have a bit of trouble with the amped-up peril in this sequel, but then again, so did I. Bring a tissue. A
The Last Airbender – The newest attempt by M. Night Shyamalan to recreate the magic of his earlier films is unfortunately just another flop by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker. Following the travesties of The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening, it appeared Shyamalan wanted to take a stab at directing someone else's story, and landed on the animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Crazy special effects and some pretty cool fight scenes are the only things that save this movie from its terrible direction, confusing story, and questionable casting choices. Unless you're a huge fan of the source material, avoid at all costs. D+
Despicable Me – Featuring the voices of Steve Carrell and Jason Segel, Despicable Me is an animated family comedy about an over the hill super villain, his army of minions, and his goal of stealing the moon. The story isn't particularly deep or original, and the film never reaches the atmospheric heights owned by Pixar, but in his quest for the moon, Gru (Carrell) reaches just high enough to steal our hearts and the top box-office spot, if only for a couple weeks. Plus, it has some of the best use of 3D I've seen so far this summer, and I'm a huge sucker for great 3D. Bring the kids! B-
And now for the main event....
Inception – Ever since Star Wars Ep.1 stomped all over my expectations (not to mention years of dedication), I haven't allowed myself to have such high hopes for a movie. Even after the first two glorious Lord of the Rings movies, I wouldn't let myself get too excited for The Return of the King because it seemed too recent since George Lucas broke my heart. With Inception, however, the anticipation sucked me up like a tornado, and more importantly, surpassed my expectations. And how could it not? With the best director in the business and the most talented ensemble I've seen in a long time, the incredible special effects are just icing on the cake. But to use the term “incredible” is to deny them the full praise they deserve. The visuals in this movie are so hugely different, so mind-blowingly unique that they give you the experience in a theater you thought you'd never have again: watching something you've never seen before.
I'm going to take a cue from the trailers and keep most of the incredibly convoluted plot under wraps. All you have to know is that this movie is absolutely unmissable, and I'll leave you with a bit of advice the concession kid gave me before I went in: put your thinking caps on. A+
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