Since I’m already nitpicking plot points, here’s another:
In Iron Man 2, Tony is dying of Palladium poisoning because of his reactor, which powers both the electromagnet keeping him alive, and his suit. Why can’t he plug a normal battery into the electromagnet and power his suit with a reactor that isn’t inside of him, like anyone else who wears one of the suits does?
That is the Jersey Shore!
The Champions player in me says it’s because he took the Inaccessible Focus limitation, but that doesn’t really apply any more because Rhodey was able to fly off in the MK II suit.
Having just watched both Iron Man movies with the director commentary, I’d say it’s yet another symptom of his self-destructive downward spiral leading to his recovery. And, rock star: he’d rather burn out than fade away, which is what he’d do if he wimped out. This also drove him to develop the new reactor which not only won’t kill him, it magically cures an otherwise uncurable case of palladium poisoning.
In the comics it’s an adamantium/vibranium alloy.
Patent pending.
Depends on which continuity you follow. As I understand it, the shield was made before adamantium: Adamantium (which is itself an alloy) was developed in a partially-successful attempt to replicate the material of the shield. The structure of the two alloys might well be similar, but that’s only a guess, since still nobody’s entirely sure what the shield is made of. It’s known that both alloys include iron and are ferromagnetic, and it’s known that the shield also includes vibranium (which is very difficult to alloy with other metals, which is part of the problem with replicating the shield), but that’s about all that’s known.
The wife and I just saw it and we really liked it, especially the last hour or so. I didn’t devolve into mindless action, but rather had characters in huge action. We saw all the key characters’ moments and loved it.
Everyone went nuts when Hulk smashed Loki. Biggest reaction I’ve seen to a movie scene since Aragorn killed the leader Urukhai in Fellowship a decade ago.
Far and away, the Hulk got the most cheers and praise when we saw it.
Great movie.
“Clench up, Legolas.” is correct.
As parents of two adopted kids, my wife and I were actually kind of disappointed in that line. We’re not the easily offended types and we’re not making a big deal out of it, but it seemed kind of in poor taste to us.
Then again, it could be much worse. 
I was more focused on the fact that Victor from Dollhouse was in it.
I’ve seen it twice now in China but some things get lost in the translation. Does anybody remember the subtitles during the Russian part? They didn’t show the English subtitles during that scene (it stayed Chinese). Unfortunately, most of the jokes were lost on the audience. For many of the lines, I was the only one laughing in the theater. The physical comedy bits do translate such as Hulk with Loki. While the Chinese theaters did not get the extra shawarma scene, I was surprised that both times my family were the only ones in the theater during the Thanos scene. I guess it’s a cultural thing, but I would have thought a couple of people would have stayed.
The subtitles were typical interrogation scene stuff, nothing plot-important, other than to convince the audience that Black Widow was in serious trouble. And that doesn’t get countered until they start speaking English, anyway.
There were a couple of funny bits in it, though. Towards the end (right before the phone rings), there’s something like
Russian mobster: Your ignorance betrays you. And here, I thought you were more than just a pretty face.
Natasha: You think I’m pretty?
Watching IM 2 last night, and it got me thinking that War Machine wasn’t called up because from a military point of view, he is a very effective weapons platform, but doesn’t bring a whole lot extra to the table. Fury could have called up a dozen of F-22’s with effectively the same firepower as War Machine (aside from repulsors), so didn’t bother (whereas Tony’s suit has all the subtle bells and whistles)
And even then you might be wrong.
Hee! I thought that, too.
I liked Agt. Coulson’s slightly bored look as he waited, hearing BW kick all kinds of Mafiya ass before she could resume their conversation.
Also, notably, in a crowning moment of awesome, Superman has wielded the Hammer.
AND Cap’s shield, I see! That must’ve been quite a day for ol’ Supes.
So, uh, as a non-comics reader… that’s from, like, the porn Marvel-DC crossover, right?
Really enjoyed the movie.
Minor nitpick: In Stuttgart, the chamber music should have been some of the more powerful and bombastic Wagner. Probably ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, just so everyone would recognize it.
I loved the way Hiddleston played Loki. That grin when he thought things were going his way was delightful. But Loki’s problem in this movie is he kept forgetting he’s the God of Mischief. When he was doing mischief, he was successful. But then he’d try to pretend to be a god of war, and blow it. I kept waiting for Thor to tell him that.
When the aliens were first shown, I was sure they were going to be restyled Skrulls. I’m glad they weren’t. Though that would have been an interesting segue toward an Avengers/Fantastic Four crossover. [ETA: Should have looked them up before posting. Apparently, Chitauri are Ultimate Skrulls.]
The invasion was rather generic sci-fi fare, wasn’t it?
I liked the punching bag scene. Capt Rogers had a little anger in him, too. I also liked the very impressive show of strength when he grabs the next bag and casually hangs it up with one arm.
I’m not even sure why they called them Chitauri. Whether Skrulls or Chitauri, their defining characteristic is that they are shape changers able to assume the form of the native race. Given the movie Chitauri were faceless cannon fodder, their name became almost immaterial. I’d have been tempted to invent a name for them out of whole cloth, rather than reference a property that they had no relation to.
If anything, the movie aliens kinda resembled the tech-ish Phalanx more than anything else (although being most closely associated with the X-Men, owned by 20th Century Fox, that race might be off-limits). I’d also be willing to bet a year’s salary that the Skrulls are also locked up by Fox as part of the Fantastic Four movie option buy.
For what it’s worth, in the comics, Thanos did recruit members of an alien race to serve in his army and they were called Kodabaks (but looked nothing like the movie aliens).
