Iron Man, and a bit of Worldcup
May. 9th, 2008 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonI was never a big comic reader as a kid. V for Vendetta, a spot of Martin Millar, Neil Gaiman once he really kicked off (mostly Sandman, by which time I was relatively old) ... but not the Big Heroes.
I was too pretentious, too busy looking for heroes in politics and coming up with ways to save the world from impending nuclear holocaust to look for heroes and world-saving on brightly printed pages.
Which is why the whole comic hero film movement caught me by surprise. J, on the other hand, will nod sagely at a film poster and say "Ah yes, Tony Stark, weapons designer with a conscience. The first Iron Man. You know the title is passed on with the suit, though Stark remains involved as the series progresses, don't you?"
And I look at him blankly and say: "Robert Downey Junior is very handsome with an angular beard."
Today was J's birthday, and we took the day off from work and trotted off to the cinema to escape into fantasy for a few hours. And I was expecting an amusing diversion. What I wasn't expecting was a really, really good film.
It was taut and disciplined throughout, with no extraneous scenes or dialogue -- well, one line that I thought could have been cut where a recurring character gave the acronym for his very long government department (a joke that I had thought was obvious, but which J had missed), but that turned out to be a set-up for a short final scene at the very end of the credits.
What was most interesting was the topicality of the film. The early scenes where Stark is captured are filled with steadycam shots of him surrounded by what appear to be jihadists, shortly thereafter the apparently ideologically driven bad guys reveal themselves to be capitalistic terrorists, in line with many of the mercenary-based organisations that have populated the news in recent years. Alas, no Mark Thatcher analogues.
Similarly a scene of violence within the story, which is thankfully thwarted by Our Hero, has echoes of Srebrenica in in its set up, in a manner that is instantly recognisable to the modern viewer, but which reinforces the horror rather than simply exploiting it.
The cynicism of the story was also refreshing. When Stark discovers his armaments in the hands of terrorists/mercenaries, he never looks for a third party, he immediately assumes that someone in his own operation has been working under the table.
The physicality of the story was exceptionally well-rendered, with Newtonian physics and the effects of violence on human bodies both making a rare appearance. A lot of this was played for humour, with the standard techno-geek scenes of super suit development presented from an engineering-geek perspective, and with predictable flaws in Stark's design process. I adored the fact that he never got around to fixing the hole in his roof. For all that, the suit design was sexy and cool.
In fact, the whole film was cool. Stark's mission is never presented as a great moment of personal awakening, nor as a deep quest for spriitual redemption, more that he is pissed off that his genius has been appropriated by venal idiots and 'bad guys' (although the idea that he is genuinely upset that his weapons cause the loss of people he has met is also well presented). Though he is affable and charming, he is a man of deep flaws, not least his relationships with women, and one for whom money and ego are presented as far more important than the standard American Values. He's probably a godless atheist who supports gay marriage. Bless.
That said, the opening of the film is all 'protecting America, rah rah!', but I didn't really have an issue with this. If you are an arms dealer, of course you are going to make choices as to whom you sell your weapons to, regardless of what GB Shaw has to say on the matter (Major Barbara for those who are looking at me blankly at this point). It makes perfect sense that if you lived in a country where you found the basic values acceptable, you would want to sell it the best weaponry possible.
What was interesting was the distinct break presented in the film between governmental America and corporate America. Governmental America can be trusted in this story: it is flawed and slow and at times stymied where it should be active, but it at least does no harm. Corporate America, on the other hand, is an agent of evil through its worship of the dollar ahead of patriotism, or even basic humanity. Obviously this dichotomy is set in a pre-Cheney world.
At the heart of the film, in every way, is Robert Downey Junior. It's a perfect piece of casting, like Stark he has a brilliant talent coupled with a tendency to the dissolute. Physically he is astonishing; handsome and hard, with a real glimpse of ruthlessness in the casual shrug of his shoulders at being told of those acting against him. At the same time, there is a wonderful glee in RDJ's portrayal of the character. Both that great grin of having solved a difficult technical problem that is perfectly presented from the engineering genius perspective (I've known a few) and in that simple boy happiness of being able to create things that both blow up and fly.
I liked the mild homoerotic tension between Stark and Rhodes, his US military best friend, and Gwyneth Paltrow was surprisingly unannoying as Pepper Potts. They were all dressed splendidly, and with a slick grooming that worked with the high-gloss art direction. In fact, all of the art direction was spot-on, down to Stark never cleaning up his destroyed sportscar. The action moved quickly and seamlessly, with a sense of immediate logic from one scene to the next, and I was left wanting more at the end.
In short, it's one of the few blockbusters that lives up to the hype, and I was happy to see that epilogue after the credits, which seems to promise a sequel.
It's been another week of great brain tiredness at work, and I have stupidly given away much of the time off I was going to take over the next few weeks in a bid to save other people from the consequences of their disorganisation, so I nowhere near caught up with Worldcup. I am wondering if the people who started off voting have kept it up? Comment counts seem to have dropped right away through the course of the fest, and I wonder whether this has been echoed in reading and voting.
Of course, I am very very very far behind myself, so I feel the pain of those who have given up hope of catching up! I am going to try and put a few rec posts together in the next fortnight before voting ends, but would gently suggest that team EWE's fics not only feature overwhelmingly positive endings (even the ones that look as though they might not), but also feature subtle sheep jokes. Though the other teams are good, too.
Quick cat news, both had their last kitten immunisations last week, Monster has doubled in weight since she came here, Cookie has gained 50%. They are both in excellent health, and the vet amused me no end by picking Monster up and cuddling her with a cry of "Oh look at your little tummy! I love a kitty with a tummy! And your long tail! And your tiny little head!" Then she looked at me and said: "Should I make a bold bid to recover professional detachment now?" I assured her there was no need.
It's after 2am again. I am starting to glean an inkling of where my perennial tiredness comes from ...
I was too pretentious, too busy looking for heroes in politics and coming up with ways to save the world from impending nuclear holocaust to look for heroes and world-saving on brightly printed pages.
Which is why the whole comic hero film movement caught me by surprise. J, on the other hand, will nod sagely at a film poster and say "Ah yes, Tony Stark, weapons designer with a conscience. The first Iron Man. You know the title is passed on with the suit, though Stark remains involved as the series progresses, don't you?"
And I look at him blankly and say: "Robert Downey Junior is very handsome with an angular beard."
Today was J's birthday, and we took the day off from work and trotted off to the cinema to escape into fantasy for a few hours. And I was expecting an amusing diversion. What I wasn't expecting was a really, really good film.
It was taut and disciplined throughout, with no extraneous scenes or dialogue -- well, one line that I thought could have been cut where a recurring character gave the acronym for his very long government department (a joke that I had thought was obvious, but which J had missed), but that turned out to be a set-up for a short final scene at the very end of the credits.
What was most interesting was the topicality of the film. The early scenes where Stark is captured are filled with steadycam shots of him surrounded by what appear to be jihadists, shortly thereafter the apparently ideologically driven bad guys reveal themselves to be capitalistic terrorists, in line with many of the mercenary-based organisations that have populated the news in recent years. Alas, no Mark Thatcher analogues.
Similarly a scene of violence within the story, which is thankfully thwarted by Our Hero, has echoes of Srebrenica in in its set up, in a manner that is instantly recognisable to the modern viewer, but which reinforces the horror rather than simply exploiting it.
The cynicism of the story was also refreshing. When Stark discovers his armaments in the hands of terrorists/mercenaries, he never looks for a third party, he immediately assumes that someone in his own operation has been working under the table.
The physicality of the story was exceptionally well-rendered, with Newtonian physics and the effects of violence on human bodies both making a rare appearance. A lot of this was played for humour, with the standard techno-geek scenes of super suit development presented from an engineering-geek perspective, and with predictable flaws in Stark's design process. I adored the fact that he never got around to fixing the hole in his roof. For all that, the suit design was sexy and cool.
In fact, the whole film was cool. Stark's mission is never presented as a great moment of personal awakening, nor as a deep quest for spriitual redemption, more that he is pissed off that his genius has been appropriated by venal idiots and 'bad guys' (although the idea that he is genuinely upset that his weapons cause the loss of people he has met is also well presented). Though he is affable and charming, he is a man of deep flaws, not least his relationships with women, and one for whom money and ego are presented as far more important than the standard American Values. He's probably a godless atheist who supports gay marriage. Bless.
That said, the opening of the film is all 'protecting America, rah rah!', but I didn't really have an issue with this. If you are an arms dealer, of course you are going to make choices as to whom you sell your weapons to, regardless of what GB Shaw has to say on the matter (Major Barbara for those who are looking at me blankly at this point). It makes perfect sense that if you lived in a country where you found the basic values acceptable, you would want to sell it the best weaponry possible.
What was interesting was the distinct break presented in the film between governmental America and corporate America. Governmental America can be trusted in this story: it is flawed and slow and at times stymied where it should be active, but it at least does no harm. Corporate America, on the other hand, is an agent of evil through its worship of the dollar ahead of patriotism, or even basic humanity. Obviously this dichotomy is set in a pre-Cheney world.
At the heart of the film, in every way, is Robert Downey Junior. It's a perfect piece of casting, like Stark he has a brilliant talent coupled with a tendency to the dissolute. Physically he is astonishing; handsome and hard, with a real glimpse of ruthlessness in the casual shrug of his shoulders at being told of those acting against him. At the same time, there is a wonderful glee in RDJ's portrayal of the character. Both that great grin of having solved a difficult technical problem that is perfectly presented from the engineering genius perspective (I've known a few) and in that simple boy happiness of being able to create things that both blow up and fly.
I liked the mild homoerotic tension between Stark and Rhodes, his US military best friend, and Gwyneth Paltrow was surprisingly unannoying as Pepper Potts. They were all dressed splendidly, and with a slick grooming that worked with the high-gloss art direction. In fact, all of the art direction was spot-on, down to Stark never cleaning up his destroyed sportscar. The action moved quickly and seamlessly, with a sense of immediate logic from one scene to the next, and I was left wanting more at the end.
In short, it's one of the few blockbusters that lives up to the hype, and I was happy to see that epilogue after the credits, which seems to promise a sequel.
It's been another week of great brain tiredness at work, and I have stupidly given away much of the time off I was going to take over the next few weeks in a bid to save other people from the consequences of their disorganisation, so I nowhere near caught up with Worldcup. I am wondering if the people who started off voting have kept it up? Comment counts seem to have dropped right away through the course of the fest, and I wonder whether this has been echoed in reading and voting.
Of course, I am very very very far behind myself, so I feel the pain of those who have given up hope of catching up! I am going to try and put a few rec posts together in the next fortnight before voting ends, but would gently suggest that team EWE's fics not only feature overwhelmingly positive endings (even the ones that look as though they might not), but also feature subtle sheep jokes. Though the other teams are good, too.
Quick cat news, both had their last kitten immunisations last week, Monster has doubled in weight since she came here, Cookie has gained 50%. They are both in excellent health, and the vet amused me no end by picking Monster up and cuddling her with a cry of "Oh look at your little tummy! I love a kitty with a tummy! And your long tail! And your tiny little head!" Then she looked at me and said: "Should I make a bold bid to recover professional detachment now?" I assured her there was no need.
It's after 2am again. I am starting to glean an inkling of where my perennial tiredness comes from ...
