Like The Movie - Thor In Disneyland, Less Than Impressed

 

Thor: The Dark World movie props in Tomorrowland - Yawn

So as mentioned earlier, I fell asleep during Thor: The Dark World, a picture which failed to capture even slightest bit of interest from me. Down in Disneyland, we decided to walk over to Innoventions building to see Thor - Treasure of Asgard exhibit. When we arrived, we were told it was a 30 minute wait to see the big guy with a hammer. If I couldn't stay awake for 30 minutes to watch his movie, I wasn't about to wait 30 minutes to get inside of a meet and greet. So I took a few pictures of the movie props Disney had put in display cases and moved on.

The neighboring exhibit of Iron Man suits still brings a little more super-heroness to the party even after being on display for several months now.

Iron Man 3 - A Mixed Bag

Iron Man 3 was a big step up from Iron Man 2, perhaps the worst film in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, it kind of runs head and head with Thor at the bottom of the barrel. While Robert Downey Jr., probably out of shear boredom with the character, reaches and stretches his Tony Stark character in the new situations - now suffering from pannick attacks and severe anxiety. It's a bit over dramatic for this character and story the plot would be better served as a direct line ass whooping (see Iron Man 1).

Did we need to see 42 remote control iron men at the film's climax when one real would with Stark in ti would do? Do we need Don Cheadle's Iron Patriot / War Machine? No.... not really.

What we do need is more of Gwenyth Paltrow who become the real focal point of these movies. She shines while the rest of the movie throws in everything but the kitchen sink.

Cool Marvel Posters - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

This Tuesday, September 24, is a big day for Disney, Marvel, and Disney owned ABC Television. First up, Iron Man 3 comes out on video. Not the best of the Iron Man trilogy (not including The Avengers) but not the worst either. I guess that puts it right in the middle but it should be gobbled up for home video collections in huge quantities. Then, on Tuesday night, the network premiere of the first Marvel TV series - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the reappearance of agent Phil Coulsen who, if you remember, was killed off in Marvel's The Avengers with his last remembrance as a pack of Captain America blood stained trading cards. But its the comics. People are allowed to die and come back to life.

Well, Disneyland is kicking of this big day by passing out free promotional posters this weekend of Iron Man 3 and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  And since I'm 450 miles away, I'm basically in the wrong place at the wrong time for some nice Disney/Marvel freebies. Getting something free from Disney is extremely rare probably making these posters something that will be sold in mass quantities on eBay. Oh well....

On The Flip Side Of Greatness Comes Iron Man 2

Right after watching the original Iron Man (see posting below) and taking a bathroom break, we decided to keep going and put in Iron Man 2 into blu-ray player. For all the great things I can say about the original Iron Man, I can say negative things about Iron Man 2. It's simply not as good of a movie as its predecessor and falls prey to sequel-itis where second films in a series tends to get lazy and unfocused. Neither Mickey Rourke or Sam Rockwell are very compelling as villains, being more caricatures than true characters. The story is wildly unsteady with very good scenes butted up against incredibly bad scenes (who can forget a falling down drunk Iron Man trying to fight his best friend to the death?). 

But mostly putting up the grounded grittiness of the original Iron Man up against Iron Man 2, the second installment comes off as simply comic book material and not a good comic book at that. Whereas an Iron Man was, for most people, a memorable movie, Iron Man 2 is sadly a forgettable one. So much opportunity to do better, so much time and resources wasted on what was delivered to the audience. 

Iron Man 2 isn't the worst superhero movie ever, just not a very good one.

The Original Iron Man - It's Still Probably The Best

I spent last Sunday with Iron Man. My father-in-law, mentioned below in my look at Captain America The First Avenger, is an old school movie guy. He likes cowboy movies, war movies. He's a John Wayne kind of guy that probably would be confused as hell if his son-in-law, now in his 50's, told him that he has never seen a John Wayne movie from beginning to end. True, I have only seen fragments of John Wayne movies, never a whole one. I find Wayne to be unappealing for a number of reasons, always have. Anyway, thinking about what my father-in-law might want to watch I thought about the original Iron Man movie from 2003. 

Like Captain America, when you strip Iron Man down to its most basic level, its a war movie and Iron Man is the cowboy in the white hat (or Iron Mask in this case). Instead of flights of superhero fancy, Iron Man fights a war on terror and the corporate arms machine. In that respect Iron Man the movie is more grounded, gritty, and realistic than most superhero movies. It also has great writing and superb performances by all the main players headed by Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and a very creepy and menacing Jeff Bridges. 

I go back and forth on what is the best of the Marvel superhero movie of the ones that now fall under Disney control. The Avengers and Iron Man 1 run neck and neck as far as I'm concerned and which one is best may only depend on how I feel that day. (If I could take Sony's Spider Man 2 - that movie would also jump into the mix as well) For today, I will say that Iron Man is the best of them from its tight, rocking, explosive, AC/DC beginning to an ending that simply says "The truth is... I am Iron Man:" it's a movie that not once loses its focus on the story of the narcissistic Tony Stark and his Iron Man creation.

The best of Marvel? The original Iron Man may just be one of the best movies ever in my book. Certainly, its in the Top Ten. And yes....my father-in-law thoroughly enjoyed the movie as well.