With Iron Man 2 ripping up theaters, something like this was bound to occur. This video begs the question, what if Iron Man had a child? You want the answer, look below. Here is a video from foreign artist Patrick Boivin, called Iron Baby. Get ready for isht to go viral.
I’ve seen a number of these things throughout the time with the site, but this is a pretty well done “knock-off” if you ask me (which you are, right?), great effects and nice editing. Agree? Props to Rope Of Silicon for the heads up.
With the usual summer hype surrounding a sequel of this magnitude, Iron Man 2 had a lot to live up to. The weight of the proverbial iron didn’t crush this film, but it certainly didn’t resist said weight and reach the height of the first Iron Man. In IM2, Robert Downey Jr. is back as the titular iron one, but he is joined by a bevy of well-known stars for the sequel. Most notably, gone is Terence Howard, Rhodey from the first film, his replacement is the venerable Don Cheadle. Also joining the fray are Scarlett Johansson, a more prominent role for Samuel L. Jackson, the always strong Sam Rockwell (Moon), the resurrected career of Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and usual suspects Jon Favreau (also the director) and Gwyneth Paltrow. Just getting a title card long enough to fit all these names is a task in and of itself. With such a cast, it was hard for the hype meter not to reach dizzying levels.
Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark in Iron Man 2.
Iron Man 2 finds RDJ’s Tony Stark in a vulnerable spot where the government wants his “weapon” and Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, a Hammer Industries CEO and competitor to Downey’s Stark Industries, is trying to assemble said weapon to sell to the government and acquire unknown riches. Meanwhile, Stark is in meltdown mode, stressed from running the company and being Iron Man, so his confidante Paltrow’s Pepper Potts can come in and be the antidote for what ails him. Additionally, Rourke’s Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash) is of questionable origin, out to gain revenge on Stark for what Tony’s father did to his father. ScarJo is a kick-ass assistant (and potentially more) to Paltrow, who has ulterior motives and Jackson’s Nick Fury plays a role along those lines as well. Rhodey mainly in-fights with his buddy Stark who loses control at a party, which leads to further plot machinations. Each character has their own mini-plot which doesn’t always serve the movie as a whole well. Convolution galore, as far as the plot goes. It’s not that it’s ridiculously hard to follow, but it also doesn’t flow like a rushing river either.
The film is long and dialogue heavy, but the action sequences do live up to what those in a summer blockbuster should. Iron Man and War Machine whiz around the sky, Black Widow has some nice fight sequences, and all in all, from that standpoint, things are lively. Unfortunately, the action is a little too sparse between the long dialogue sequences. For instance, Paltrow’s Potts appears to be consistently whiny, her character virtually destroying the fun in most scenes she is in. To her credit, this isn’t really all on her, it is the way the character is written, Meryl Streep (hang it up – by the way) couldn’t make Potts any more tolerable. Alternately, Rourke is strong in his vignettes as a real threat to Stark. Of course, Downey Jr. brings the goods, a natural acting talent, breezing through dialogue with whipper snapper flow. Alas, there is no Ghostface sighting like in the original (deleted scene here) which would have helped for simple comedy. Ultimately, there isn’t enough to raise the bar enough to make it a strong recommend.
ScarJo lends her assets to the "Iron Man" party.
This is average summer fare. It provides what is expected, nothing more, nothing less. It’s easy to be underwhelmed by the results, given the hype, but I find that to be a bit unfair in this case. This isn’t The Dark Knight, something I think many film fans were either clamoring for or hoping for. Iron Man 2 is serviceable entertainment and a decent way to get the summer season moving at the turnstiles. Just don’t expect anything transcendent and with the proper mind set, you’ll be entertained.
Here is this week’s Original Movie Poster Round-Up, a light week. Two more Iron Man 2 character posters hit us, kinda cool looking. A poster for Sea Rex in 3-D for IMAX and one for Doomsday. Paul Dano and Brian Cox get reps for The Good Heart. The indies 8: The Mormon Proposition and Michael Douglas’ Solitary Man (which I want to see) are next. And last but not least, from IMPAwards, is the three sectioned Robin Hood poster. This movie has been there, seen it written all over it. Ridley Scott needs to move on to something else. The, the, that…that’s all folks!
It’s Friday, so I know what you came here for, my Original Movie Poster Round-Up. Up this week are two Survival of the Dead posters, one is foreign, as is the Toy Story 3 poster included (francais). Leelee Sobieski rises from the dead for Acts of Violence. Happiness Runs, as should you from Black Waters of Echo’s Pond or maybe even Sex and the City 2, depending on who you ask. Two more Iron Man 2 character posters bring the sexy back, one moreso than the other. Hmmm. Thanks IMPAwards!
When is non-news news? Today, in the form of director Jon Favreau stating he won’t be directed the planned Marvel team-up film, The Avengers.
MTV Splashpage caught up with Favreau at the Bora Bora-located press junket for his written/starring film Couples Retreat, and quizzed him about Iron Man 2 and The Avengers film. Favreau confirms Ed Norton’s previous comments about his Hulk character not making an appearance in Iron Man 2, as well as stating “They’ll have to [find a different director for 'Avengers'], because I’m not going to be available. It’s something I’m being the executive producer on, so I’ll definitely have input and a say.”
“It’s going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of ‘Iron Man’ and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with ‘Avengers’ you’re going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of ‘Thor.’ How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it’s going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we’ve created.”
“You need somebody who has the perspective of all the different franchises to bring them together. I have the myopic vision of just knowing and loving ‘Iron Man.’”
This news doesn’t come as a complete surprise, I guess. We’ve only seen two of these Marvel films that’ll lead into The Avengers (Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk), and Favreau’s was the first out of the gate, so naturally the fanboy community latched onto him. He ought to be commended for realizing his limits and taking a backseat role. The question now is whether The Avengers director will be someone who’s taken on one of those solo parts (The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America) or if Marvel brings in someone new entirely with the ability to combine all elements.
Last night, TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” aired a five-minute segment about their visit to the set of Iron Man 2. Most of the filming appears to have been taking place during the racetrack scene (which you’ve not doubt seen pictures of by now) and the appearance of Mickey Rourke in his Whiplash garb.
Interviews abound with Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson. Don Cheadle gets to answer one question…about Scarlett Johansson. Nobody would accuse “ET” of having journalistic integrity. Sadly, no Rourke camera time is had. On a positive note, Downey continues to transform himself into what’s probably the most likable personality in Hollywood. Just years ago, I hated the guy with a passion. A “Tonight Show” joke from the 1996 Summer Olympics, will always stick with me: “Another world record was broken today, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested for the 317th time.” Downey has put in a lot of work to climb back on top and I’m happy he’s the soul of this franchise. I don’t think anybody could do it like he can. Enjoy the video.
“Ghostface, check the blast of a hype verse, my glock burst, leave in a hearse, I done worse, I come rough, tough like an elephant tusk.” Those are the infamous words of Ghostface Killah, the first voice heard on the classic hip-hop album “Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the 36 Chambers.” Ghost is known as an avid fan of the Marvel comic character Iron Man. He named his first solo album “Ironman” and has assumed the nickname Tony Starks as his alter-ego persona for more than a decade. After meeting Robert Downey Jr. on the set of 1999’s Black and White, director James Toback’s (Tyson) early look at race relations, RDJ had wanted Ghost to appear in the original Iron Man film. This actually became one of the more anticipated elements of the movie for me. But alas, after seeing the film, he was nowhere to be found. Ghost did in fact show up, on the cutting room floor, making the deleted scenes of the DVD. Ghost played a Dubai tycoon rolling thick with the ladies who welcomed Downey’s Starks at a party. I would love to see more of him in Iron Man 2, but it doesn’t appear likely that such a thing is going to happen. GFK tells MTV:
“I don’t know about this new Iron Man sh*t. They didn’t call me, so I’m not in it,” he said, adding that he’s not upset about what took place during the first movie. “I got paid last time, though,” he laughed. “I got 30Gs last time.“
Some have seen this some as outlandish. To me, it’s actually a pretty good deal for all parties. Ghost’s involvement was well worth every penny and I would enjoy it if he came back for the sequel, but it is highly unlikely to happen unless his role expanded by offering up some sort of services through financial backing or the like. The unfinished scene is below, Ghost makes his appearance at 1:40 mark or so. I mean, honestly, the guy was in the scene for all of 30 seconds….how does he not get an Oscar nod? I’m calling the Academy to complain about Dame Judi Dench again, this is an outrage!
Robert Downey Jr., star of Iron Man, it’s sequel and Sherlock Holmes has long been attached to another comic book property Cowboys And Aliens. However, it seems that the collaborative partnership he has had with actor/director Jon Favreau will now extend to another property, with Favs coming on board to direct Robert in the new film. The Heat Vision blog breaks it down:
Downey has been attached to the DreamWorks project since last summer, when “Iron Man” co-screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were working on the adaptation of the Platinum Comics graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley.
Last fall, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who are executive producers on the project, took over scripting with “Lost” exec producer Damon Lindelof.
And now Favreau, who is riding a killer wave as an actor, writer and director, has come on to make it his next gig.
True to its title, the sci-fi Western explores what would happen if traditional Old West enemies, cowboys and American Indians, found the prairie attacked by aliens in mid-1800s Arizona. Long in development, the “Aliens” project was originally set up at Columbia with “Sahara” writers Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Donnelly writing.
This is pretty big news considering the said wave that both of these men have been riding for some time now, since the success of last year’s surprise smash Iron Man. Favs is currently in post on Iron Man 2, will next be seen in Couples Retreat (our full preview coming soon) with his good buddy Vince Vaughn and RDJ has been as busy as they come with his full slate of films in the last two years. The fact that both are still going to be rolling along in more comic book property films bodes well for fans, especially considering they are still taking time to get into other roles as actors. While I am in the minority on the huge praise that Iron Man received (I thought it was above average but not superior due to a feeble ending battle scene), I think that the vast majority will be enthralled by this news. Do tell if that’s the case. I am a fan of both actors and remain optimistic about their future projects together or apart.
There are a couple of new pics for upcoming films I thought you’d be eager to check out, so rather than separating them into different posts, I figured I’d hit you with both at one time.
Iron Man 2 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films for next year and we last brought you a pic of Mickey Rourke as main baddie, Whiplash. Up to this point, I don’t believe we’ve seen Scarlett Johansson sporting the hair color her first-name would suggest, as the character Black Window.
The new issue of Entertainment Weekly features a spread of Iron Man 2’s cast of Robert Downey Jr., Rourke and Johansson on its cover for their Comic Con preview. Below is that cover and a photo of Johansson doing her thing in costume.
Not to be outdone, though, we have a couple of new pics, courtesy of Filmsactu.com, from Wes Anderson’s upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox. Last week, we brought you an image that wasn’t of the highest caliber. Here, the picture has been expanded like full-screen to wide-screen, plus a solo shot of the George Clooney-voiced Mr. Fox. Enjoy.
