Iron Man isn’t really my kind of superhero. I mean, how can you root for a millionaire lord of war? Tony Stark certainly isn’t the everyman. Robert Downey Jr. however brings so much of his charisma to the role that they are one in the same. Downey actually is credited with some of the more memorable Stark moments as he adlibbed the speech he gave while showing off the Jericho and he told the director that Stark should sit on the floor during his return press conference. Downey actually allows you to enjoy Stark as a character. This is certainly to the film’s benefit and it renews a past love of Downey as an actor for me.
The film much like it’s subject has a glossy outer shine that you expect from multimillion dollar bill, but at its core is human. The story is not overshadowed by the effects or the action sequences. The film, when broken down, is about a man who comes to a realization that he has been an accomplice to mass murderers and must atone for that sin. This is why this film is such a success. Also important is that Jon Favreau brought the fun back to superhero movies with brisk action scenes that take up very little of the film and focuses more on the elation of being superhuman and Downey’s perfect performance.
I know some films promote themsleves as “the most fun you can have at the movie theatre” which is something I never really get. But in my estimation this is one movie that comes very close to justifying this expression. It is a great expreince to be had while munching on overpriced popcorn.
9 out of 10: This is what summer movie going is all about. Is the April 29, 2010 midnight showing of Iron Man 2 sold out yet? Cause I am there.
3 comments:
i think it's funny how defensive you came at this review considering in the end you gave it a 9. Also, considering there were so many grievances (some of which you pointed out) there seems to be a fairly large descrepancy between how you rated/how you felt about the film.
Be that as it may, I thought this was a pretty good (i'd give it 3/5 stars)and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed most of it.
The real question is how you feel about "Narrow Stairs"
I really think it was that good. I just enjoyed myself really. Which, as you point out, I was surprised with. I went into it thinking, "Iron Man sucks as a superhero, this can't be good." I pointed out the grievances first because I knew those were going to be thrown in my face for liking it so much. (one I didn't mention, no super villain - Is The-Dude-gone-bad really a super villain?) The other problem with my main grievance (horribly stereo typed villains) is that that is the true origin story of Iron Man, throw Vietnam baddies in for the middle eastern ones, so I can't really argue much with it.
Anyway
Narrow Stairs
After a few listens, I'm enjoying it. I think they got a bit spacey with their eight minute tracks and ambient noise permeating everything, but it is an enjoyable experience. Less pop-oriented than Plans, but more pop-oriented than Transatlantacism. The early favorite is Long Division, though anyone who knows me could have predicted that with just one listen. The production is a thing of beauty to me. It keeps the ambient masturbation interesting and it makes the record feel dynamic and new with each listen. Songs like Bixby Canyon Bridge and I Will Possess Your Heart benefit from this the most but You Can Do Better Than Me is no slouch in this area either. The lyrics of Gibbard are getting worse with each c.d., but The Ice Is getting Thinner, while being a horrible last track, has some pretty vintage Gibbard lyrics. I feel in three weeks I might love this album, but in five it will fall into the Plansatlantacism void recent Death Cab albums, I listen to them but don’t feel love I had for their earlier stuff.
Your thoughts?
I've been spending a lot of time with it this week, sifting through my likes and dislikes, a feat I've found to be quite daunting consdering the overwhelming sonic similarities from track to track. Beginning with the 5th track "Talking Bird"-easily the least dynamic of this bunch- until "Long Division" the slight variations on mid-tempo Death Cab give this album a "sameness" of sound a quality that I suppose does harken back to an earlier period but didn't sound quite as vanilla as this. "Long Division" finally exerts some modest muscle in the album although the muddled analogy Gibbard works with prevents it from becoming one of the album's serious contenders. "Pity and Fear" has to be new school Death Cab at its worst, an unremarkably slow song that builds to nothing with equally disdainable lyrics (see "Your Heart is an Empty Room," "Someday you will be loved").
While I was initially willing to give this album the benefit of the doubt, Gibbard's lyrics have finally taken the ultimate plunge into vague nothingness, songs that say nothing and "everything" at the same time...but mostly nothing. This trend began with "Crooked Teeth," a song whose bland double-negative chorus still makes me cringe.
Take a song I like- "Cath...", yet another lyrical narrative/ character study. Here, our narrator provies a glimpse into a woman's life whose decisions have have left her in a loveless relationship that's just transitioned to a loveless marriage. The idea itself- that small reoccuring errors of judgement can lead to more comlex life altering mistakes- never gets past the superficial. Put a twangy guitar to this and it's basically a pop-country song. Compare this to a similar excercise on "Death of an Interior Decorater," the examination of a frigid mother whose moods have left an indeliable mark on her family (taken from the film "Interiors").While certainly not my favorite death cab track, Gibbard's focus wasn't quite as broad and didn't seem as forced as the gooey sentiment on "Cath...". There's no denying that "Cath..."s female protaginist has a much broader appeal but its this chipping away of nuance that began with "Plans" now seem to have completely eroded. Even theefforts that seem quintessentially "death cab" are pretty standard fare- ice melting, twin beds? C'mon.
One of the most dissapointing tracks here is "You Can Do Better than Me," a song you correctly point out is effectively produced and musically interesting so basically a cut above most things here. But again, its another lyrical re-tread of material used to greater effect elsewhere. It might be unfair to make constant comparisons but after 6 full-length albums one's got to stand accountable from mining from your own bag of tricks. I also don't usually harp this hard on lyrics but let's face it: I'm not listening to this band for musical ingenuity.
All of this is such a shame for an album that starts out with such promise, especially "Bixby Canyon Bridge," a track that trumps the the rest of the album by such a great margin that I am constantly finding myself dissapointed that the rest of the album is so lackluster.Even the 8+ minute version of "I Will Possess Your Heart" is a surprisingly effective slow burn and a smart lead off single ("No Sunlight" is defo next) and doesn't feel nearly as lengthy as it actually is. People using this track as a shortcut to claims of maturity are ill-advised- this album feels and sounds far simplier than the multi-layered introspection seen on "Plans."
I have no doubt that I will continue to trudge on with "Narrow Stairs," due to some hardwired loyalist responsibility and not the record's actual content (a subject no doubt worthy of its own blog post) and hopefully come out the other side feeling more generous. From here, things aren't looking so hot. C+
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