Iron Man 2 (No Spoilers)

[Tawmis]

Make sure you stay past the credits...!

[AndreaDraco]

I've heard that this film is pretty bad in comparison with the first one.

Did you like it?

[Tawmis]

Bad?

Who said that?

They seriously need to be hit over the head. This movie feels like an extension of the original!

The first one was great. It was an origin story to set up Iron Man.

The second, we are given non stop action, and plenty of story as well. Is it "as good" as the first? Difficult for me to say. When I went in to go see IRON MAN (the first one) originally - I went opening day with my expectations pretty much at rock bottom because I never cared for Robert Downey Jr. as an actor.

I walked out. Amazed. Blown away.

It's the same thing that happened with Pirates of the Caribbean... I disliked Johnny Depp, always have - until I saw PotC.

Iron Man 2 is a great, great, great movie. The villain(s) are great. They all do bang up jobs!

All of them!

[Jules]

I've actually been wanting to see this because 1) Gwyneth Paltrow is in it and 2) I've seen the first one which was only to see what the hype was all about. What attracted me to the first one is that it seems Robert Downey Jr.'s character and Gwyneth Paltrow's character go hand-in-hand with Gabriel and Grace's 'relationship.' Having no knowledge of the history of Iron Man, is that how the second one leans toward? Don't worry, I don't get spoiled by surprises... I actually like them because to me, it's like getting surprised twice. If that makes sense.

[Tawmis]

I've actually been wanting to see this because 1) Gwyneth Paltrow is in it and 2) I've seen the first one which was only to see what the hype was all about. What attracted me to the first one is that it seems Robert Downey Jr.'s character and Gwyneth Paltrow's character go hand-in-hand with Gabriel and Grace's 'relationship.' Having no knowledge of the history of Iron Man, is that how the second one leans toward? Don't worry, I don't get spoiled by surprises... I actually like them because to me, it's like getting surprised twice. If that makes sense.

Without giving spoilers, if you enjoyed the relationship of Tony & Pepper from the first Iron Man movie, you will continue to love it in Iron Man 2. Like I said, this movie feels like an extension of the first Iron Man movie. You can literally watch them back to back and it seems flawless.

[DeadPoolX]

Given that I've read Iron Man since the 1980s (going back to his Silver Centurion armor), I really enjoyed the first one. RDJ portrays a fantastic Tony Stark and I'm looking forward to the introduction of the movie version of War Machine.

Heh. I recall the first time the War Machine armor appeared. It was when Stark was fighting the Masters of Silence. For some reason or another, they couldn't be injured by energy weapons, so Stark created an armor that used strictly ballistic weaponry. It worked really well too, plus it looked awesome.

Jim Rhodes (who's in IM2) now uses the name "War Machine" and in fact got the second version of the War Machine armor. The main difference between the two was adding a uni-beam and repulsor blasters to his gauntlets (much like the normal IM armor). I think Rhodes' armor also differed in the choice of shoulder attachments. I can't recall exactly, but I know his were slightly different from Stark's version.

Anyway... I could give an entire history of IM (both before and after I started reading it), but I'll spare you all and stop typing.

[AndreaDraco]

It's the same thing that happened with Pirates of the Caribbean... I disliked Johnny Depp, always have - until I saw PotC.

To me, Johnny Depp had always been a fabulous actor until I saw that dreadful Pirates of the Carribean, which is one of the few films I had to stop mid-view due to excessive boredom

Anyway, since I surprisingly liked IM1 (I usually don't like super-heroes movies, except for the first two Batman), I'll certainly see the second one.

[DeadPoolX]

I think what helps Iron Man is that it's based on technology and an armored suit. He doesn't wear spandex or some form of odd body armor. Because of that, he doesn't look silly walking around. His armor looks like something that might be possible in the future (and you can bet the military is trying to make that a reality, too).

[AndreaDraco]

The lack of silly costumes is one of the motives, sure, but perhaps even more poignant, at least when it comes to why I liked the first movie, is the great chemistry between the actors and the sheer talent of Robert Downey Jr. I know you guys probably won't agree but these are the reasons why I didn't like The Dark Knight: Christian Bale was awfully unexpressive and Heath Ledger awfully exaggerated, they had almost no chemistry and the whole movie felt like a burden for me to watch. On the other hand, Iron Man is solid in every respect and grants two hours of mindless entertainment.

[DeadPoolX]

I didn't like The Dark Knight either and Batman is one of my all-time favorite comic book heroes. Something about the movie just seemed off. I can't describe it. Maybe it's what you said, Andrea.

[Tawmis]

LOS ANGELES – Tony Stark piloted to the top of the box office but not the record books.

"Iron Man 2," the sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. as Marvel's gadget-happy billionaire superhero, earned $133.6 million domestically on its opening weekend, according to distributor Paramount Pictures' estimates Sunday. The opening rocketed past the original $98.6 million debut in 2008 and landed the record as the fifth-biggest opening weekend.

"We're thrilled with the combination of the way it's playing across the board," said Don Harris, Paramount's vice president of distribution. "It's playing as a fanboy movie, but it's also playing as family movie, too. I even know a bunch of people who are planning to take their mothers to see 'Iron Man 2' on Mother's Day, which really made me chuckle."

"Iron Man 2" has taken in $194 million overseas since it debuted in many international markets last week, bringing its worldwide total to over $327 million. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts. The biggest opening came from China with $7.3 million.

"It's a perfect kickoff to the summer of 2010," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It literally sets the tone for the entire summer movie season. To have the fifth biggest opening week of all time certainly sends a message that this summer season is going to make its mark. Audiences really do get caught up in that."

The victory of "Iron Man 2," which is only available in 2-D, comes at time when 3-D films like "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" have recently dominated the box office. IMAX chairman and president Greg Foster said the $10.2 million earned by "Iron Man 2" from IMAX theaters set IMAX's 2-D record, beating out the $8.5 million debut of "Star Trek" last year.

"I think people recognize IMAX is the way to see blockbuster titles, whether it's a 2-D or 3-D movie," he said.

The film continues the story of Stark, a genius industrialist who builds metal suits loaded with gadgets. In the follow-up, the superhero employs the assistance of his longtime friend and fellow crime fighter James Rhodes, played by Don Cheadle, to battle baddies such as Whiplash, a nasty villain with his own high-tech arsenal, played by Mickey Rourke.

"When we opened the original 'Iron Man,' it seemed to be one of the lesser known properties in the Marvel galaxy," said Paramount's Harris. "Two years later, it's one of the most beloved characters. I think the people at Marvel are incredibly bullish about how future 'Iron Man' movies might do and how 'Iron Man' interacts with their other characters."

Despite the triumph over its predecessor, "Iron Man 2" didn't best the $158.4 million bow of "The Dark Knight" in 2008 or the $151.1 million debut of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. It also didn't surpass last year's $142.8 million dawn of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" or the $135.6 million course charted by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006.

"Iron Man 2" was untouchable at this weekend's box office though. The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," fell to No. 2 with $9.1 million, clawing to a total of $48.5 million. DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" remained at No. 3 with $6.7 million, bringing its seven-week total to $201 million.

"Babies," the Focus Features documentary that tracks four tots during the first year of their lives, was the only other new release, debuting in 534 theaters at the No. 10 spot with $1.5 million. Hollywood.com's Dergarabedian said "Babies" could continue to crawl along this summer as an alternative to flicks like "Robin Hood" and "Prince of Persia."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. "Iron Man 2," $133.6 million.

2. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $9.1 million.

3. "How to Train Your Dragon," $6.7 million.

4. "Date Night," $5.3 million.

5. "The Back-up Plan," $4.3 million.

6. "Furry Vengeance," $4 million.

7. "Clash of the Titans," $2.3 million.

8. "Death at a Funeral," $2.1 million.

9. "The Losers," $1.8 million.

10. "Babies," $1.5 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

[DeadPoolX]

Maia and I saw IM2 yesterday and we really liked it. However, we both had some questions. For the sake of spoilers, I'll post these below:

1. When Rhodes grabs and activates the silver IM armor, how did he put it on? The machines that assist Stark seem to respond to him and only him. If they'd listen to anyone else, it'd probably be Pepper.

2. How the hell did Rhodes power up the suit? It uses Stark's arc reactor (the one embedded in his chest) as its power source. Since Rhodes doesn't have that, he shouldn't be able to use the suit.

The only explanation is that Stark designed that suit for use by someone other than him. That seems unlikely considering how guarded he was with his technology.

3. After Rhodes stole Stark's silver armor and arrived at Edwards Air Force base, how did he remove it? It takes a whole team of robots to do that for Stark. What'd they do, use a crowbar?

4. The Black Widow says, to both Fury and Stark, that there are operational safety codes (or something similar to that) in the armor. That suggests that Stark could've deactivated Rhodes at any time before the suit was gutted by Hammer.

We're probably examining the movie too closely, but these seem like major oversights. They were probably hoping viewers would be too dazzled by the combat and special effects to notice any of these issues.

[Datadog]

4. The Black Widow says, to both Fury and Stark, that there are operational safety codes (or something similar to that) in the armor. That suggests that Stark could've deactivated Rhodes at any time before the suit was gutted by Hammer.

I'm still wondering why she couldn't deactivate all the other robots when she gave Rhodes back control.

I find the movie's biggest flaw is the whole middle of it. Once everyone thinks Mickey Rourke's character is dead, there's no conflict for the next hour of the film other than Tony fighting his losing battle against radiation poisoning. Otherwise, everyone just sits around building things. Also, there's several points where Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell just keep rambling on as if the director forgot to say "cut." It's like a big long deleted scene/blooper reel (granted, I cheered when he stopped that desk doohickey from spinning around.)

But I will admit, the action sequences are pretty sweet. There should have more of them.