Movie Review: Iron Man

For anyone who enjoys movies about comic book super heroes, you’re going to enjoy this one.

For anyone who enjoys movies about sassy lead characters, who turn from lovable jerks to lovable humanitarians before their eyes, you’re going to enjoy this movie.

And, for anyone who just simply enjoys meaningless movies that add nothing to their intellect (and perhaps even takes away some of that brain power), you’re going to enjoy this movie!

Bottom line, you better watch Iron Man.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays the part of Tony Stark, a very wealthy industrial genius whose company specializes in building weapons. Naturally, Stark only focuses on inventing new weapons and basically the R&D part of the company he owns. Unbeknownst to him, living in his own version of a Utopian world, his company also deals under the table with the bad guys. Stark realizes that after being kidnapped by said bad guys, so he ends up building an armor suit full of smart weapons and gizmos that make him fly and impervious to bullets and explosions. Then he starts using that alter persona, Iron Man, to fight the bad guys and general injustice around the world.

Throughout the movie, we can follow Stark’s transformation from a grade A womanizing schmuck who thinks that the world revolves around him, to a bad-guy-fighting-one-woman-loving lean mean machine, all in a span of a few short weeks, based on the movie’s chronology. But it’s a good transformation, as he starts to learn that people who he thought he could trust were only looking out for themselves, and people he took for granted are the ones he should let into his new found “big heart.”

Robert Downey, Jr. excels in portraying both aspects of Stark’s personality. His casting was a major coup, because he carries the whole movie. Even though the supporting cast are to be feared, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges, all of them were way overshadowed by Downey’s efforts.

They all seemed to have had the sense that this is yet another comic book super hero movie, and they didn’t take it too seriously, especially Jeff Bridges. One would expect much more from these actors. But Downey, well you can’t really tell if ever he’s taking anything seriously, which is the beauty of his acting. Look at his career, whether he’s playing the romantic lead, or the obsessive journalist, he’s always been the best at showcasing confident vulnerability (or sometimes vulnerable confidence), peppering his characters with a touch of irreverent lunacy. It has always worked, and it works best in this movie, where you need that added level of likability to get through some patches of the plot where things don’t make a lot of sense, and can be a tad boring.

Jon Favreau did an admirable job of directing Iron Man (even casting himself as a Stark bodyguard, which did not feel like it was needed at all, or added anything to the movie), and he made sure to put the focus entirely on Downey. Well, it worked. Favreau saw something new and fresh in Downey that he could bring to this genre, and he rode him to success! Of course, as always in big budget Hollywood movies, the door was left wide open at the end for a sequel.

I can’t wait!

New Movie Reviews

It was brought to my attention that the last two movie reviews I wrote were for chick movies. That may be true, and that's also the price one has to pay when he lets his wife manage the Blockbuster queue, but lately I watched a couple of good, macho type movies, that I'm sure my fellow male brethren would appreciate. With that being said, expect to see in the coming week a review of the following movies (with a quick watchability guide):

- Forgetting Sarah Marshall: a la "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Superbad." See it!

- Iron Man: Just to watch the greatness of Robert Downey, Jr. See it!

- You Don't Mess with the Zohan: Three words: Gotta see it!

Movie Review: Sex and the City

During its run on HBO, Sex and the City was a very successful show, due to certain attributes, certain things that the show and the writers were able to capture, a certain “je ne sais quoi!” It made New York a glamorous place to live in. It made spending thousands of dollars on shoes something adorable, if not necessary even. It made dishing and gossiping among friends a social habit worthy of chronicling. It made relationships seem simple and yet difficult at the same time. And, let’s not forget, it made instant celebrities of all who appeared on the show. True, almost the whole cast were famous and successful by their own rights, but the show made them household names.

As for the movie, I’m afraid I have some bad news. If you liked the movie, you might not want to continue reading, because things might get a bit ugly, plus, I will be revealing some plotlines, so avert your eyes if you really want to watch this movie and haven’t yet.

All gone? Good. Now let’s get to it.

I will give you two words to describe the movie: too long!

Two more words? Too predictable.

OK, I can’t help myself. I’m going to throw in yet two more words: too simplistic! Huh?

Let me explain. The first thing: too long. Well, it is! I was watching the movie with my wife and even she felt bored at certain times. I guess what this actually shows is that Sex and the City should only be seen half an hour at a time a la the HBO show!

Too predictable? You bet. When we last left the ladies, Carrie was getting back with Big, Samantha was moving to LA with boyfriend Jerry, Charlotte and hubby Harry were about to adopt a girl from China and Miranda was getting back together with Steve and raising son Brady.

So, what happens in the movie? Carrie gets a wedding proposal from Big, gets jilted at the altar, but still ends up marrying him anyway. Samantha does not like the West Coast, or being in a relationship, so she ditches both. Charlotte gets miraculously pregnant. Miranda has a huge fallout with Steve but still ends up back with him. How original.

Let me point out some holes in all of the above.

Carrie and Big. It’s cute that they were getting married. Trouble is, the show was never about being cute. Actually, the show constantly made fun of cute. The cuter you were the more ridicule you faced from the ladies. The whole thing with Carrie being profiled in Vogue and her trying on wedding dresses and getting one as a gift was beyond cute. It was downright out of Disney. And Big getting cold feet, that’s not Big. Big is a character larger than life. He is supposed to be the embodiment of New York in one single man. He is a successful business man, able to afford multi-million dollar penthouses. He gets cold feet because he is not able to connect with Carrie the night before, and the day of the wedding? Only to get cold feet on his cold feet and decides to go back to get married? Who writes this stuff? True, Carrie should have been devastated, but you know what? If that ever happens to me, that my wife-to-be’s cellphone is out of reach, and she is not responding to email, you know what I would do? I would go down to see her wherever she was. She is the love of his life, and he doesn’t know her three best friends’ cellphone numbers, so that he can talk to her and explain things? Maybe she wouldn’t have wanted to talk to him, and I would understand that, but not even trying to call Samantha or Miranda or Charlotte? I don’t get it.

Then when the ladies get back from Mexico, he doesn’t try to go to her apartment to talk to her? He instead sends a few emails and that’s it? Again, I don’t get it.

Samantha and Jerry and LA. I guess everyone knew what we going to happen there. She was never cut out for relationships, sex is her eternal boyfriend, and LA is just not her scene. But did they really have to make Jerry out to be a loser jerk that cares more about his career than Samantha? He’s the same guy who stood by her when she had cancer and chemo, and now at the drop of a heartbeat, he can’t even make it for a Valentine’s dinner? Oh yeah, the chocolates were a nice gesture! Just plain dumb writing.

Miranda and Steve. Who knew that she would put her career ahead of family? OK, OK, you all can lower your hands now. Apparently, one of the outcomes of putting career ahead of family is lower sexual libido. The outcome of that is the husband cheats. The outcome of that is the family gets separated. The outcome of that is that people realize they love each other and are meant to be together. Rinse. Repeat. Anyone who watches the Lifetime channel can tell you the above sequence. The irony is that the Lifetime channel is exactly the opposite of what Sex and the City is supposed to be about.

Charlotte and Harry. Well, they are living happily ever after. With their adopted child. And then they get pregnant. How much more “happily” can you get? The only thing missing are cartoon birds tying her hair knot! One thing about Harry: his part in the show was great because he was the anti-Charlotte. His rawness made him appealing. In the movie, he barely has a few lines, and looks like an idiot. A reformed, civil idiot.

New York is never featured as the fifth friend on the show. What is up with that?

The great thing about the Sex and the City show was that it showed the four friends as strong powerful women who can stand up on their own, with the occasional fling here and there. They never needed a man to feel fulfilled and accomplished. What this movie does is show them as sappy fools who only are looking for everlasting love. Well, they all eventually find it.

Even Samantha, beau-less, because the City (and a lot of sex) are her everlasting true love!

I give it 1.5 stars out of five.

Movie Review: Made of Honor

Even though the trailers for this movie did raise a red flag or two, my wife and I decided to rent the movie on DVD and give it a go. Bad mistake. Bad, bad mistake. I think not even 15 minutes into the movie had passed that I realized that this was going to be a weak movie. Julie gave it a little bit longer to pass judgement. Judgement was swift afterwards: worst. movie. ever. Pretty harsh, ain't it?
Here's the deal. I like chick flicks as much as the next heterosexual guy. However, every once in a while a chick flick rolls by that I truly enjoy, and I wouldn't even mind admitting to that in public (manly man disclaimer ends here).
This movie didn't quite pass the mustard. There was no chemistry between the lead characters, the script was awful, the plot was done (to a much better extent with gender reversal in "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney and Cameron Diaz), and the "zingers" were as bad as they can be. Really, the one liner deliveries by Patrick Dempsey were horrible. It felt like he was reading from a cue card, which I think he was the entire movie. He is no leading man charmer, not in this movie at least. Dempsey had more charm in "Sweet Home Alabama" in his 15 minutes in that movie, where he was supposed to be the jilted suitor, than this entire movie. He must have read the script, thought it was a joke, then saw how much money he was getting paid for it, and decided to go for it, winging it! That's what I would have done. Reputation? Who cares? He has that little hospital drama on ABC, if you haven't heard by now, where he has his own nickname and all!
Michelle Monaghan did add a layer of respectability to the movie. It seems she at least tried to make it a real movie. I give her that much. But she had no help, and was doomed with the shoddy writing and horrible supporting cast (her other friends who were supposed to be the bridesmaids were as cliched as heck, and even they mailed in their performance).
One more thing that I abhor, is when the writers throw in sophomoric jokes in chick flicks, that fail miserably. The shining example is when one of the bridesmaids dupes Dempsey into hiring an exotic toys sales woman for the entertainment at the bridal shower, and the consequent "Beads of Thunder" joke that the writers stretch to its breaking point and beyond. Two words: NOT FUNNY. Or when Dempsey's dad, the wonderful and incomparable and the late Sydney Pollack, is negotiating the number of times he and his sixth wife-to-be will be intimate in a week ("I will give you 3 times a week and a 1 BJ a month") for the pre-nup right before they get married. Awful. Who writes this stuff? 13 year olds, with WILD imaginations?
Here are my grades for the movie, out of five:
Plot: 0.5 star. Been there, done that.
Script: 0.5 star. Downright horrible.
Direction: 2.5 stars. Nothing much to complain about there. Script and acting sink this movie.
Lead actor: 1 star. Dempsey's still nice to look, I'm told by the ladies!
Lead actress: 3 stars. I like Monaghan. She's likable.
Supporting actors, collectively: 0.5 stars. Busy Phillips, in particular, ZERO stars!

As always, let me know what you think!