We who have seen Iron Man 2, salute you!

[TPWombat]

Liked it but had my suspension of disbelief ruined by the crappy stewarding at Monaco. Theres a plasma-whip-wielding psychopath cutting cars in half and nary a waved yellow flag in sight. Though I could understand the safety car driver refusing to go out.

[obfusciatrist]

Yeah, it was my understanding that Stark was intentionally goading Rhodey into stealing the suit for the military, thus I assumed he’d made a self powered suit specifically for that purpose (and earlier in the movie made sure Rhodey was aware it existed).

[Khadaji]

I thought it was made pretty clear that Stark wanted Rhodey to have it. When he meets with Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff says that his security is designed to prevent anyone from mistakenly taking the suit.

[Clark_K]

@Khadaji

I thought it was made pretty clear that Stark wanted Rhodey to have it. When he meets with Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff says that his security is designed to prevent anyone from mistakenly taking the suit.

Seems to me it’s one thing to metaphorically leave the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked so Rhodey could take it. It’s another thing to come up with a completely new design just for Rhodey. If that was the case, they should have made some mention of it.

[Justin_Bailey]

@Clark_K

Seems to me it’s one thing to metaphorically leave the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked so Rhodey could take it. It’s another thing to come up with a completely new design just for Rhodey. If that was the case, they should have made some mention of it.

They did. In the first movie.

[Bosstone]

@Khadaji

I thought it was made pretty clear that Stark wanted Rhodey to have it. When he meets with Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff says that his security is designed to prevent anyone from mistakenly taking the suit.

I took that line as an indication that Stark was really, really screwed up, that if he’d been in a sober, right frame of mind, Rhodey probably couldn’t have taken it. But you could be right.

[Green_Bean]

@Clark_K

On another topic, I thought the armor was powered by the arc reactor in Tony’s chest. In other words, no one else could use the armor because Tony had the power source. So how did Rhodey just slip into a spare suit of armor and use it for combat, flight and all the rest?

I didn’t understand when he landed at the Expo, took off his suit, and the reactor was all of a sudden hidden beneath his clothing.

@TPWombat

Liked it but had my suspension of disbelief ruined by the crappy stewarding at Monaco. Theres a plasma-whip-wielding psychopath cutting cars in half and nary a waved yellow flag in sight. Though I could understand the safety car driver refusing to go out.

Yeah, I was wondering about that. I know nothing about car racing, but I figured that there would have to be a way to signal the drivers to slow down or stop. Not having that would be suicidally stupid. Wouldn’t they have radio contact, too?

I also kept thinking, “jeez, doesn’t anybody have a gun?” Wouldn’t they have police at that sort of event?

[The_Hamster_King]

@Bosstone

While watching the credits and waiting for the stinger, I noticed a particular credit saying “Expo Action Scenes: Genndy Tartakovsky & (some other guy).” The funny thing is, the Expo scene was completely and entirely Genndy’s style. It could have come straight out of Samurai Jack, with the horde of heavily armed and distressingly capable droids that can be destroyed wantonly without actually resulting in a loss of flesh-and-blood life.

Another pleasant surprise in the credits: The bouncy, upbeat “science will bring a better tomorrow” song that ran in the background during Howard Stark’s movie was written by none other than Richard Sherman, the songwriter who wrote “It’s a Small World” and a zillion other Disney classics. I can’t of anybody who could do a better job of recreating the clean-cut, upbeat, we-can-do-anything vibe of the mid 60’s than one of the guys who created that sound the first time around.

[Shawn1767]

I see that many posting on here enjoyed it, but is anyone else getting tired of the “Iron Man fighting different iterations of the Iron Man Suit” plot points? If they make an Iron Man 3, what’s it going to be about–Iron Man fighting some other person who knows how to build/use an arc reactor and making a suit from it?

[bienville]

@bouv

He’s not technically Blacklash, he’s Whiplash, and even then not the Whiplash that is in the comics. He’s closer to the Crimson Dynamo, in that he’s Russian and more powerful, but essentially he’s new.

Is the name Whiplash even used at all during the film?
In the credits he’s “Ivan Vanko/Whiplash” but I don’t recall the name Whiplash being used at all.

I liked how they only sublty threw in the name War Machine. When Rhodey and Tony first face off in suits, Tony says something like, “You think you can wear that suit? You want to be the war machine?”

The dialog uses “war machine” as just a figure of speech, Tony is making a suggestion that Rhodey sees himself fulfilling a particular function- that of a one man war machine.

I don’t think Rhodey is subsequently ever addressed or referred to as “War Machine”.
Similarly in the first Iron Man movie , Obadiah Stane says in conversation with Tony (about Tony wanting to abandon weapons manufacturing) “It’s what we do. We’re Iron Mongers.”

Once Obadiah puts on his armor, I don’t think he’s ever referred to as “Iron Monger”.
.

[Simplicio]

@Chronos

Another question: When Tony is looking through his dad’s notes, the equations looked authentic, but I didn’t get a good enough look to see what they actually were (aside from recognizing the tesseract on the last page, of course). I’m guessing that they just took a random scientific paper or textbook and copied the equations out of it; does anyone know what the source was?

I saw an electron level diagram and the Einstein field equations. So I’m guessing they just flipped through some science text books, or had someone in the crew call on a vaguely remembered physics major.

[MTCicero]

@Shawn1767

I see that many posting on here enjoyed it, but is anyone else getting tired of the “Iron Man fighting different iterations of the Iron Man Suit” plot points? If they make an Iron Man 3, what’s it going to be about–Iron Man fighting some other person who knows how to build/use an arc reactor and making a suit from it?

Seems that the villain in Iron Man 3 will be the Mandarin.

I wonder if they’ll also incorporate the “Demon in a Bottle” storyline?

[Raguleader]

A random thought on the movie:

When Vanko hacks into Hammer’s computer system, and explains it away as “Shit Software”, did anybody else think that he just put in the default ADMIN password, assuming that nobody at HammerTech had thought to change it to something less… well… shit?

[Chronos]

I saw an electron level diagram and the Einstein field equations.

Whoa, I’m slipping. Even at a glance, I should have recognized the Einstein equations.

And even if the equations don’t have any relevance to the movie, I like that approach better than the “slap some random symbols in a random configuration on a chalkboard” approach I’ve seen in some other movies (The Time Machine, I’m looking at you!).

[Lantern]

Decent film but not as good as the first one. The action scenes in particular were terrible. Rourke was terrific though and his first scene which set up the character and story was brilliant. Didn’t much care for Cheadle; he lacked the easy charm that Howard brought to the character. As usual Johanssen was too bland though her big action scene was nicely choreographed and the best in the film.

[MTCicero]

@Lantern

<snip>
Didn’t much care for Cheadle; he lacked the easy charm that Howard brought to the character.

I totally agree with you on this. I agree that Don Cheadle is an amazing, amazing actor (I especially love his performance in Boogie Nights), but one of IM2’s greatest flaws was that all the scenes wherein Rhodey and Stark talk about their friendship, etc., felt forced and contrived. And it’s probably why I thought their brawl at the party was the movie’s nadir.

And I also don’t get all the Terrence Howard hate vis-à-vis the first film. I totally bought that Rhodey cared a great deal about Tony in the first one, not least because of the fun, easygoing rapport that the two actors shared.

[Shirley_Ujest]

@Raguleader

A random thought on the movie:

When Vanko hacks into Hammer’s computer system, and explains it away as “Shit Software”, did anybody else think that he just put in the default ADMIN password, assuming that nobody at HammerTech had thought to change it to something less… well… shit?

That was a lovely little scene.

Shit software.

My other favorite line between Hammer and Whiplash was :

“I want to take a dump on Tony Stark’s front lawn.”

“I can do that for you. No problem.”

[Oakminster]

Caught this today at a matinee. Ticket was $6, Coke & popcorn was $8. Just feels wrong that snacks cost more than the movie.

Liked what I saw. Fun flick, plot was a little thin, but lots of 'splosions.

Random irritants:

1. I don’t think Generals initiate salutes to junior officers. Looked pretty weird when the General saluted Rhodes.

2. Why bother jumping out of an airplane for the Expo entrance? If you can fly, the airplane is just wasting fuel.

3. I was pretty disappointed they don’t use Black Sabbath’s Iron Man. Thought I’d seen it in one of the TV ads…

Bonus bits:

1. Nice bra shot on the hot redhead. Gonna have to wiki her to figure out who the character is.

2. The other redhead was hot, too.

3. Cap’s Shield and Thor’s Hammer.
   Until Cowboy Bill Watts joins the Communist Party, make mine Marvel.
   

[MTCicero]

@Oakminster

Until Cowboy Bill Watts joins the Communist Party, make mine Marvel.

Excelsior!

[Bosstone]

@Oakminster

1. I don’t think Generals initiate salutes to junior officers. Looked pretty weird when the General saluted Rhodes.

When Rhodes showed up at base after [del]stealing[/del] procuring the prototype suit, you mean? I dunno, I think I’d be inclined to salute a guy who showed up like that.