Yeah...critics generally gave it a B+ on similar grounds, plus Gwyneth Paltrow giving her usual piece-of-plywood acting style to Pepper Potts.

A couple of the shots at the end were a little cheaply done, IMHO, but my technical complaints about it were few. My hat was off to the director for remembering, when Stark was stuck in the cave, to show the passage of time by letting his beard grow out in a somewhat realistic fashion. I also give out more points for writing the terrorist group as multi-national, which was really appropriate.

I wanted better backstory for Stane, I wanted a little more time dedicated to Stark's quest to round up his own weapons, and with that I wanted a little more introspection.

That said, I'm very impressed. It's not Batman Begins, but it's easily better than any of the Spider Man or X-Men flicks.

And though I can find it comic-book plausible that Stark needed an electromagnet to keep shrapnel out of his heart while trapped in the cave - I would have loved to have some sort of explanation as to why he couldn't remove the shrapnel and need for the magnet once he was back under modern medical care...

Another quibble - super-genius Stark's suit took several test flights before it was controllable. But the Iron Monger clone (reverse engineered by much lesser engineers from wreckage of a vastly inferior v1 design) was able to fly and more within minutes of the power source being plugged in.

At the very least, they should have had the bad guy steel Stark's v2 designs - that way "my suit is more powerful than yours in every way" is imaginably credible.

I still can't wait for the sequel though... :-)

I think the shrapnel thing is for old time's sake. I believe that's the original origin story. As for why he couldn't remove it, I suppose it's possible that it could be inoperable. Just because he's an engineering genius doesn't mean he's a master surgeon, too. I don't know enough about open chest surgery to comment further, though your point stands quite well.

Iron Monger didn't use the same flight system as Iron Man, IIRC. It looked like a beefed up version of the rocket booster on the first prototype suit, which worked on the first time except for shutting off mid-flight. So, I was okay with that. Mounting thrusters in your hands and feet is a great way to ensure unstable flight.

Obviously, Stane was boasting. That's one of his few talents. In fact, I thought the whole thing with the suit icing up was hilarious because it showed Stane was merely a braggart.

I imagine the electromagnet may have needed at most 10W of power, considering it had been powered by an old car battery. So why mount a 10-gazillowatt uber fusion reactor in your chest to power it?!? It sure seems like sub-optimal design, when a few AA batteries could have served the same purpose.... ;-)

He was already planning ahead for the suit at that point, methinks.

In the cave, sure... But why stick the reactor in your chest once you are back in civilization? Other than perhaps for cool points... ;-)

Dude, you're telling me you wouldn't do it? I'm surprised you don't have a glowing chest already.

Or were you waiting for it to come in the shape of an apple? *wink*

I suppose it depends on the potential risk of a meltdown of overheating... If the reactor control software was running any variant of Windows, hell no! ;-)

If the reactor control software had an OS at all, I'd never buy another Stark Industries product.

The question of why Iron Man still needed the suit after getting home has been raised many, many times in the comics. It is something you just have to accept and move on.

They could have written in some sort of throwaway line to justify it... For example, saying that his flesh had adapted to the radiation from the reactor, and he would die quickly if the radiation is removed for more than a few minutes. That would have worked perfectly.

That starts with shrapnel, and then give a reason why he is stuck with it and why it has such an on/off response to removing the reactor.

Is it wrong to wish that your comic book movies spent a little effort trying to be internally consistent? *grin*

I know and agree. Most people aren't aware that the suit actually has the patented Stark Plot Motivation Reactor in it, which is the first case of a character ever inventing a device that actually reached beyond the context of its fictional world and into the writing room.

The answer's easy... this is Tony.... because it's cool. :D

Ok, you've nailed it. Agreed.

The problem with Stane backstory is that he didn't have a ton in the comics either... it was nice to see them make the 'fanwank' that they did though... he does at least play the piano, and he had a chess set.

One thing that they never made clear that I think was interesting was that Stane wore a rather prominent ring like Raza did, and he went to the trouble of putting it on a necklace when he was piloting the Iron Monger.

I have to know if you stayed through the credits... :)

Of course. :-)

Awesome!

I jumped in my seat. hehe.

This brings up my one little snark in the flick.

Tony Stark seems to be a genius at making weapons, high-powered mini-reactors, and flying battle suits, but his artificially intelligent house appears to let just about any asshole in. Stane and Nick Fury both just walked in.

Yeah - he needs to change the PIN on the door more often!

Also - Potts had uncovered the dirt on Stane, but didn't try to call Tony to warn him until hours later when Stane had already had plenty of time to head over and rip his heart out. WTF?!?

Yeah, bad call on her part, though I think she suspected Stane was onto her and was trying to get under SHIELD's protection in a hurry. That they didn't bother to call Stark, though, is a bit of an oversight.

Well, he still had a huge hole in his ceiling...

aw, true! didn't even think of that.

::sigh::
just like a man to miss the most implausible bit... no frakkin way Pepper Pots was able to walk in stilleto heels on that metal grating floor at Stark Industries, much less run from Stane/IronMonger
LOL

I just assumed that her heels had mini repulser jets in them, like the Iron Man outfit. That makes sense to me...

Like I explained to Josie.. her walking in those heals was the only special effects in the movie. Everything else was real. :D

I'm sorry that we didn't make it to your party. With the stress from my friday, and the 2 parties the previous weekends, I didn't think I could handle another party. I wish I'd been there though, regardless.

One of these days, we will at last meet in person... :-)

Sweet! Robert and I are planning on taking Richard out to see it this weekend while he is home. The previews and trailers sure do make it look good -- and now your recommendation just tops it!

Did I say "SuhWEET!" ???