Warning: This post may contain spoilers.
I am Iron Man.
Today we saw Iron Man. And I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the best sci fi film I have seen since Blade Runner. Not that others — ET, Close Encounters, Serenity, iRobot among others — haven’t been good.
But this film rocked. And not just because of the Black Sabbath tune. In fact, it may get a place on my top ten films of all time.
What’s so great? The story. And Robert Downey Jr’s performance. When he’s on the screen, he owns it. I know action films don’t tend to get nominated for Academy Awards, but this performance deserves it.
The supporting cast. Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges are excellent. Gwyneth Paltrow, who can be annoying and whiny, is excellent.
The special effects. Awesome but they don’t eclipse the performances, and that’s what makes a great film. Versus a video game masquerading as one.
Bottom line. Run don’t walk to your nearest theater for this one. And stay ’til the bitter end, all the way through the extensive credits. You’ll be glad you did.
Sequel? Please.
—
I have an SG-1 action figure of the Prior hanging around from my last contest. So, here’s your chance to win a present to give your geek nephew or niece for his or her birthday or some other holiday. Tell me your top ten movies of all time in the comments on this post. Giveaway period: now through May 31st. Winner announced June 1st.
Here are mine, in no particular order.
- Blade Runner
- Serenity
- Princess Bride
- Usual Suspects
- ET
- Iron Man
- Wag the Dog
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Notorious
I’d also like to recognize 1930s and 40s comedies in general. Among the best: The Thin Man, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Philadelphia Story.
Same general terms as previous giveaways: Adults, US including Alaska & Hawaii, Void where prohibited. One prize winner, picked using a random number generator, gets the SG-1 Prior action figure. Entry period ends May 31st at midnight Eastern Daylight Time. Winner announced June 1st.
[tags] Iron Man, science fiction [/tags]
The Uncle says
Having seen Iron Man myself over the weekend, I will say that I mostly agree.
Not sure yet if I will place Iron Man quite that high on my list of Great Movies…
But I do think it the best of the “comic book” movies to date.
In fact, it was so good it almost feels a shame to place it in that category, especially given just how bad most of those movies have been.
As much as I hate to do it, I’d say that it is a movie that actually fits in the “must see” list.
I did a list of my own Top Ten movies in a very particular order- the one in which my addled mind remembered them:
*Reservoir Dogs
*Serenity
*2001: A Space Odyssey
*Clockwork Orange
*Princess Bride
*North by Northwest
*Shrek
*Airplane
*Rocky Horror Picture Show
*Close Encounters of the Third Kind
There are quite a few others that fought to get into the Top Ten but didn’t quite make it…
But of recent movies I have seen, the only ones that come close are Serenity and some of the animated movies that are supposedly primarily for kids.
And Iron Man, maybe. 😉