IRON MAN
Director: Jon Favreau, MARVEL Studio
The deal: Marvel’s Iron Man movie came out in theaters last week! It features Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes, Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. It’s 2 hours long, and playing everywhere.
The summary: Billionaire, genius, inventor - Tony Stark is all of these. He’s also a playboy, an ass, and … well, an ass. His company, military contractor Stark Industries, is the Marvel Universe’s Lockheed Martin - the similarity is played down to the logo. Stark goes to Afghanistan to sell missiles, but on his way back to the airport his convoy is attacked, and one of his own missiles - somehow in enemy hands - blows up in his face. Tony Stark learns a lesson here, and begins to construct a suit with which he can save the very people his company has put in harm’s way.
The review: Like I really need to review this. It’s good. By now word of that is all over the internet, so I’ll try to briefly expound on why without giving anything away. Very minor spoilers below.
1. The casting: Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow is adorable as Pepper Potts. To me those were the two strongest actors, but the casting across the board is pretty good. I was less excited about Terrence Howard/Jim Rhodes, but I think that’s the kind of character he was supposed to come across as - hopefully he will step up to the plate in the next one.
2. Character interaction: There’s something very nuanced about the way Robert Downey Jr. handles his relationship with each person he comes across as Tony Stark. For me personally, it was the most fun to watch him and Pepper Potts banter.
3. Cognizance of current events: There is a sequence where Tony Stark appears on a series of magazine covers. Another director would have opted for TIME, but Favreau makes a point of using magazines like WIRED. He’s with the times. This is equally apparent during the Mad Money scene. Likewise, the plot of this movie addresses current events quite well, and recognizes that the problems Tony Stark has are global rather than local (like Spiderman).
4. Not pushing the hero trait too far: There is a blissful lack of superhero-ish speeches, which is wonderful because they rarely come across as anything but cornball.
5. Humor: They make good use of it.
I believe that this is also the first movie that Marvel has released through their own studio, and you can see that they’ve already started to build their universe by the time the movie ends (WAIT THROUGH THE CREDITS!). I’m speculating that, prior to this, Marvel farmed their properties out to various movie studios, and thus shied away from tie-ins as much as possible. Now that they have full creative control, I think we’re going to see some interesting things happen.
The recommendation: You won’t be disappointed! Go check it out. You don’t need to know anything about the movie to enjoy it - my folks saw it Sunday morning and were all smiles afterwards.
MARVEL Studio, playing everywhere, movie tickets cost a hojillion dollars
ODE TO KIRIHITO
by Osamu Tezuka
The deal: Ode to Kirihito is a huge brick of a volume, a whopping 832 pages in length by godfather of manga Osamu Tezuka. The book is about two inches thick, and it’s beautifully and cleverly designed - there’s actually a moving part on the cover that tells a story about the book. The publisher, Vertical, also publishes a lot of Tezuka’s later works in English.
The summary: Ode to Kirihito is a dark medical thriller. The main character is Kirihito Osanai, a promising young doctor whose realm of expertise is infectious diseases. He is studying one in particular called Monmow Disease, a sickness that turns the victim into a dog-like creature, and he travels the world looking for a cure. His journey ultimately take him to all corners of the earth, where he encounters all the brightness and darkness of human nature.
The review: Ode to Kirihito is considered to be one of Osamu Tezuka’s seminal works, and was his personal favorite. It reads in stark contrast to Tezuka’s earlier works, like Astro Boy, for which he is better known - in that sense, Ode to Kirihito can be shocking in it’s intensity, darkness, and sometimes graphic nature.
The story itself is epic in scale, with a large cast. Despite all that, however, the plot generally moves at top speed, occasionally cutting away from Kirihito to the others that are caught in a web the slowly begins to emerge as the book progresses. The function of Monmow disease within the story also evolves as Ode to Kirihito draws to a close.
Tezuka’s art is expressive even in it’s simplicity, and his use of layout is unique and set the trends for what was to come - to read Ode to Kirihito is to see a cartooning master at work.
With all the positives are a few negatives, though. My biggest complaint about Ode to Kirihito is the somewhat lackluster handling of female characters. They often come off as very two-dimensional, and the story on occasion takes a heavy-handed approach to explaining away certain details. These complaints are grains of sand on a beach, though - there’s so much to like in Ode to Kirihito.
The recommendation: If you’re a fan of manga and you’re interested in it’s roots, Ode to Kirihito is a good place to look. Likewise, if you like medical thrillers or works that put human nature under a microscope, then you should check this out.
from Vertical, 832 pages, $24.95 ($16.47 on Amazon right now)
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 12:04 am and is filed under Rant, Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
What appealed to me the most had to be the misdrection all of the previews gave. They were proper previews, and yet with only having seen the previews, you had no idea where the movie would really go.
I didn’t stick around after the credits. I’ll go see it again.
Apparently it’s only in the US release, according to the post under this one? Proceed with caution!
I got to see it. YouTube bootleggers are helpful from time to time. It made sense since Samuel L Jackson is credited in the movie on IMDB, but never showed throughout the entirety of it. I’m a harcore comic fan, so I must admit, they are a little reversed on who recruits who.
Hahaha, it’s true.
It looks like they’re going the Ultimates route, actually.
I noticed there’s a few small flashcut scenes in the previews and trailers that aren’t actually in the movie, or at least aren’t quite the same… I approve.
Oh, and my wife and I sat through the credits only to be bitterly disappointed, so for fair warning to your International readers: the after-credits goodie is only included in the North American distribution.
Yeah, I thought that was cool! It actually seems to have become par for the course regarding movie trailers, though.
Aww, man! I’m sorry to hear that. D: That’s very lame … I wonder why they’d do that. :/
interesting… I watched the movie in Vienna (Austria, for all of you geographically incapable ;) ) and the scene mentioned by ananth came right after the credits. it was an english language cinema though, maybe the dubbed versions haven´t got it?
anyhow: great movie, really enjoyed it! gotta get the DVD
I’m in the UK, so no dubbing was required… And no scene was forthcoming. We even got to see the MPAA rating flag after the Paramount and Marvel endcards, but no Nick Fury :(
Iron Man sounds like an interesting movie. And although this is going to seem petty, I have to disagree slightly with your comparison of Spider-man’s problems and Iron Man’s. You say that Iron Man’s problems are more global with Spider-Man’s are local, but that is how it portrayed in the comic books. Spider-Man has only ever had to deal with the problems in New York because with few exceptions, he never leaves there. You would expect a multimillionare who sells weapons across the globe to have more global problems. Expecially since the main problems that Spider-Man seemed to have, i.e. poverty and incredible unpopularity thanks to J.J.J., can’t really apply to him. With that minor exception, I found your review to be quite insightful and I look forward to day that I can finally watch the movie.
Oh and as you probably have already guessed, I like Spider-Man more so my bias might slightly affect my judgement. Spidey all the way!
Haha, I think my phrasing may have messed up the meaning of what I was trying to say. What I meant to say is exactly what you stated above - their problem focus is different, Iron Man is more global and Spiderman is more local. I don’t mean this in a positive or negative - simply that I’ve seen local done well and now I’ve seen global done well.
So I agree!
Applegeeks issue 46. Realistically..
sorry, I meant 49
Hahaha XD
I saw Iron Man at the weekend with my Batman loving friend. Iron Man was never really on my radar in the past. I live in the UK where US comics were always much less of a deal and we got most of our exposure second hand from films or excellent cartoons like Batman The Animated Series.
After watching the excellent film, I now want to check out at least one trade paperback. I have been recommended Extremis, would you consider reviewing an Iron Man trade paperback in the future?
Also bizarre thought, if Batman drives a Lamborghini (owned by Audi) and Iron Man an Audi. Would that make the Reventon the car of choice for Iron Batman?
I’ll keep an eye out for that paperback! I’ve read Hawk’s copy of Ultimate Iron Man by Orson Scott Card, and that was interesting but in the end I’m not a huge fan of it. Other than that, I haven’t read a lot about Iron Man either, but he was on my radar before the movie as a character I knew something about.
And hahaha … Iron Batman would be terrifying. Hell, Bruce Wayne in the Iron Man suit is scary on it’s own.
Iron Batman being played by Chuck Norris. Oh ye Gods, what madness have I dabbled in?!
Gonna try to keep this as spoiler free as possible.
Saw the movie saturday for my b-day, which i was already paranoid about since I hate seeing movies in packed theaters. I regretted it again this time. I had a ironman fanboy behind me in the theater with a woman that for some reason would date him. Every fifteen minutes I’d hear *Scough* most specifically at the ending, when he scoughed at the government agency and at Stark’s last press conference, then began to explain to “his woman” what was wrong. He actually annoyed me more than the kids at SW Ep.1 who cheered for darth vader (which i guess that was my fanboy film). I even ended up leaving the theater early cause the fan boy was annoying, I watched the end credit scene on youtube instead. In relation to that scene, i say “meh” cause sam jackson as nick fury, reminds me too much of XXX.
Also, when I watched the film, something didn’t seem right in the final fight scene. They were up in the air, ironman got grabbed, and instantly ironman was then on the ground. I d/led a cam copy shortly after getting home, and yeah a good 1-2 minutes were missing which (thanks to fight club) i noticed the little “cigarette burns” right before the scene that got jumped to (meaning the theater messed up the reel).
Ever hear of the projectionist term “brain wrap”? It’s what happens when the film jumps out of the feeding head that keeps the platter turning as the film feeds to the projector and stops the platter. Then, as the film continues to go through the projector, it gets wrapped so tightly around the brain that it eventually stops and unless the projectionist is right there, the film will get damaged (burned through, or maybe even burned until it splits) and have to be cut and respliced. It happened on the Iron Man print that we have and they had to cut out ~6 seconds worth of film to fix it.
Which begs the question, why are we still using film? I thought it was all the way back in 2000 that movies were starting to get released in digital formats to theaters.
I actually talked to friend of mine who works in that industry, and it seems there’s two reasons. The first is simply piracy - if they use digital copies, films will inevitably get leaked. The second is the cost of buying the new kind of projector - while it might be beneficial to the studios (cut the costs of all those reels), the new projectors have to be bought by the theaters and that’s an expenditure that actually doesn’t have any real return for them.
Like Ananth was saying, digital projectors are just too damned expensive and being that the town I live in has just under 50,000 people, it would not easily be justified to spend all that money to convert the screens in here to digital projectors; especially not the one that Iron Man was playing on. That specific screen requires a throw range that can only be achieved with some pricey aftermarket lenses. Large cities with large multiplexes have probably already made the jump, but they have enough income that they can justify it; we just got our first digital projector in this town earlier this year and the owners said it would be a while until we would get some more.
Besides, there is a sense of pride in being a projectionist if it involves film; it means that you actually have to know what you’re doing instead of just pressing a button and letting it go.
Wanna hear something weird? I saw Iron Man this weekend (liked it, didn’t love it) and am just about finished with Kirihito (love it, a work of pure genius). You also should check out MW — which lacks a bit of Kirihito’s compassion but it still a nightmarishly good read.
Wow, weird coincidence! :D
I actually have MW! Yuko gave it to me for Christmas. I enjoyed it, but even after Ode to Kirihito I was still shocked at how dark MW was - Astroboy and MW are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, and it’s really impressive that he can move from one end to the other like that. He really is the master.
The thing about MW that stuck out in my mind was how Tezuka addressed and handled gay characters within the book. He does a couple of things that really impressed me, and he still made his point without letting it overwhelm the action of the book. Tezuka seems to have been a forward-thinking man in more ways than just comics.
If you liked those two, the other Tezuka book out from Vertical right now is Apollo’s Song … it’s pretty good. Buddha is also quite good … Tezuka had a lot of range.
I saw Iron Man on Sunday, and I thought it was well worth the money, but something was odd. Throughout the movie, the various explosions got progressively smaller. Isn’t that the opposite of what’s supposed to happen?
I’ve actually never picked up a Marvel comic book in my life, so I have no idea how accurate anything in movie was, or for that matter, whether it was a good representation of the series. (Though I’d love to know where to get a hold of some Marvel material, though! Any suggestions?) I also was rather annoyed by the strange fanboys behind me, so I left before the credits were over. Thankfully, Youtube came to my rescue, but seeing as I have never picked any comic books up in my life, I had no idea what was going on… Any explanation would be appreciated!
Hahaha! I guess that’s true, now that I think about it. I’d almost call that an admirable quality, what with Hollywood’s tendency to continually up the ante.
It was actually a surprisingly accurate movie - some of the conflicts and so on were updated, and his progress through the old suit to the upgraded suit was quicker than normal, but (people can feel free to correct me) besides time being sped up, I think it was pretty spot on.
As for recommendations, Ultimates would be a good primer? It is about SHIELD organizing a superhuman team for the government - Iron Man, Hulk, etc. So you get introduced to a lot of characters, and it provides a good jumping off point since it was a modernized restart of the Marvel universe. It is also probably closer to what will show up in the Marvel movies.
Fanboys D: I hate when people talk during movies.
SPOILER AHEAD
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Nick Fury (played by Sam Jackson in the last scene) is the leader of SHIELD, which is basically the NSAx10000000. The Avengers are Marvel’s premiere superteam, and unlike the X-Men who are publically feared, the Avengers stand for good. The roster is Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor … these names should look familiar, since these are all the upcoming movies. :D The story is moving similar to Ultimates in that Nick Fury helps organize them as a superhuman team for the government. The Avengers are basically the Ultimates without government backing or funding. /SPOILER
Ahh, it makes so much sense now… Thanks Ananth!
No problem at all! :D This nerd is at your service. XD
And speaking of medical thriller mangas, I would definitely recommend reading Monster. I believe it is nineteen volumes and has also been made into a 72 episode anime, which surprisingly keeps to the manga story like glue. Both the manga and the anime are amazingly good and once you start it is very hard to stop. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in manga.
I’ve seen the anime! It’s as you said … totally gripping and visceral. It could easily be made into a live action TV series with very little effort at all.
Oh, I forgot to mention the mangaka’s name. It’s made by Naoki Urasawa. He also has written 20th Century Boys, which is another manga that I would definitely recommend.
I’ll check that out!
OH ANANTH YOU SO FINE~* Lookin’ sharp in your cameo ;)
I’m glad you’ve been liking the Tezuka stuff. :D M-man, you’re so much more well-read than I am at this point. Next time you stop by, be sure to bring Ode to Kirihito back, I need to read it! (but probably not before I graduate…)
And as a person who hates movies, I can strongly say that I loved Iron Man. I’d see it again. And that’s saying a lot.
Hey sexy lady! ;) Hahaha, glad you enjoyed it. XD
Tezuka is great! It can be hit or miss (Lost World D: ) but the stuff that Vertical releases is generally his more mature work. A new one just came out, Dororo.
:D :D It was great! I’ve managed to see it twice in two days, since my parents visited the day after I saw it with Hawk and Mohammad. My Dad likes movies like this!
Well, we can’t look forward to Avengers until Thor, Hulk, and Cap America hit the screen. What’s interesting is that Marvel might recast the actors from those movies. The budget would have to be pretty hefty, at this point they’d need Samuel Jackson, Robert Downey Jr, and Edward Norton, just to start. That being said, I’m skeptical about Marvels’ ability to do each justice. They can’t all be main characters. Think Spider-man 3: how much cooler would it have been for Venom to be the singular villain? Instead, they kind of watered him down so he wouldn’t put Sandman to shame. (He should have, you know. He’s friggen VENOM.) Eesh, lengthy. Your thoughts?