Last movie watched...

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Iron Man 1 is undoubtably the best of the three but it does suffer in the last act with the fight with the Iron Monger and the Arc Reactor meltdown ( another beam shooting doomsday device).

I'd say this is the problem with most new superhero origin movies. The first two acts iuntroduce the hero then show how they become a superhero, overall the first two acts make pretty interesting and entertaining character pieces, then the final act is just a big cgi ejaculation where the hero has to fight/deactivate the bad guy's maguffin. Not always a doomsday beam either, sometimes it's doomsday gas, like in Burton's Batman or The Amazing Spiderman.

[von Boom]

Maguffins are best served hot with lots of butter or clotted cream.

[Theblazeuk]

To be fair this is also the structure of most comic book arcs, period. They generally end with a big punch up/shoot out etc.

My favourite bit of all the Iron Movies is the 10 minutes where he decides to actually be a superhero and help some people being massacred. The other two movies he struts around and everyone says how much of a hero he is and how he's brought world peace (wtf) but does very little other than exacerbate/react to people attacking him. Conversely Spiderman movies have kept it right for the most part where Spiderman helps people even whilst being attacked - and furthermore is generally attacked whilst helping people, rather than swanning around being ridiculous. Granted Tony Stark is a different character but like Man of Steel, he's not actually that heroic beyond the fact that the people are not nice people either.

Now that I think about it even Batman is doing the same, albeit in the wider context of trying to bring down the corruption controlling the city.

[Frank]

To be fair this is also the structure of most comic book arcs, period. They generally end with a big punch up/shoot out etc.

Which is why Wagner's habit of giving the epic Dredds either deliberately anti-climactic or diffused conclusions is so paradoxically satisfying.

I accidentally saw the last Batman film again yesterday, and it's a textbook example of the tendency towards needless narrative redundancy. It's a really simple story, which the makers have chosen to give complexity by including lots of extra characters and subplots which have no real effect on the actual story. Is it really such an odd idea that you should be filling all that extra screen time with stuff about the characters and their relation to each other?

I sort of enjoy it, but I'm really only waiting for Tom Hardy's comedy turn as Bane.

[radiator]

That hulk article makes a very good point about the last two bat movies, and goes a long way to explaining to me why I loved TDK so much, but was left so cold by TDKR.

TDK has quite a far-fetched plot, but there's a purity to it. You're never in any doubt about the characters motives.

TDKR on the other hand stacks up shock twists and reveals in a massively over complicated plot, all of which conspires to keep the audience at a distance. It feels waffly and overlong where TDK, despite its length, feels tight.

There's also the broader issue for me that TDK had clear themes and  message, where TDKR feels like they're  throwing out all these references to the financial crisis and Dickens, but none of it really pays off or says anything in particular.

[Sideshow Bob]

Just back from local cinema ( Falkirk, Scotland ) after seeing Kick Ass 2 with my son.....He's a comic book fan as well....
A great movie and very much like the comic,  apart from the violence being 'toned down' in a couple of instances... [spoiler]For example The Red Mist character ( now The MotherF****r ) doesn't mow down a bus load of kids or kill The Stars and Stripes dog, and there is no rape scene ( thankfully )of Daves' girlfriend......[/spoiler].......Other than that it is full of the type of 'over the top' violence that was in the first movie....

For those that have read the comic, there is a slightly different ending, leaving it open to  a third movie chapter no doubt named Kick Ass 3, but all in all a very good enjoyable hour and a half of fun.....
Some great stunts and stand out performances from Hit Girl ( Chloe Moretz is wonderful ) and the villains' henchwoman Mother Russia ( One very big, and very scary woman ) ...

If you liked the 1st movie you'll have no complaints about this one.....If you didn't like the first one...( whats wrong with you !!?? )... ....... give this one a miss as it's ( a lot ) more of the same...
Cheers...

[Mabs]

Nice to hear you and your son enjoyed the film, SB!

How did you find Jim Carrey's performance in the film? I enjoyed the first film too and the stand out for me was Nic Cage without doubt, do we miss his absence in this film or does Carrey make up for it?

Cheers.

[Sideshow Bob]

It was an excellent movie Mabs,
And Jim Carrey's performance is excellent as well,  [spoiler]although fairly short lived[/spoiler]...
It's not 'central' to the movie,  as Cages' was,  but it's certainly a great performance,  and he looks nothing like his usual look, at all...... If you know what I mean....In fact if you didn't know who it was, you would think he looks familiar,  but who is he ??...I 'kind of'  recognise him, sort of thing....
This whole Movie concentrates more on Hit Girls' attempts at 'fitting in' with her new life, [spoiler]not particularly successful but on occasion very funny[/spoiler] and Dave's need for a partner once Hit Girl 'drops out'....
It's well made, funny, very violent, and superbly acted by both Moretz and Aaron Johnson.....If you really liked the first one, you'll love this !!  ......Highly recommended !!...

On another note :  I'm actually surprised at Carrey's stance about violence in this movie, and his distancing himself from it....Not that it's done the Movie any harm publicity wise, in fact probably the opposite......It's just that he knew what he was getting into,  and although real events may have since altered his opinion about violence in movies, and it is his 'right' to take the stance he does......I'm just not sure that's the 'way' to do it....
Perhaps giving his pay check to an organisation for victims of domestic violence ( or something similar ) may make it seem a more 'sincere' viewpoint, and less of a 'look at me and what I think / publicity type thing'......but that's only my opinion...

But you are back to that old chestnut of : Do violent movies ( or comics ) encourage or 'glorify' violence and are they likely to encourage people to emulate them ??? and that's an argument I'm fed up hearing....
Cheers

[Mabs]

Thanks for that, mate.

Interesting stuff too, for example I did not know about what you've outlined about Carrey. Other than that It sounds like you had great fun and I'm also looking forward to it! Cheers!

[Sideshow Bob]

Sorry Mabs,
Also meant to say,  apparently there is a 'post credits' scene....a bit like the recent Avengers / Iron Man movies.......Which I missed and only found out about on the way home.....
Cheers

[Mabs]

No worries, I probably would've missed it too! 

Its become quite a norm with comic book films of late, barring the Dark Knight trilogy. At least I don't remember them having post-credit scenes!

[von Boom]

I find these post credit scenes getting a bit tiresome. Is there? Isn't there? Just have the epilogue at the end of the film and roll the credits. The ubergeeks will stay for the credits anyway so why force everyone to sit through them?

[Link Prime]

I find these post credit scenes getting a bit tiresome. Is there? Isn't there? Just have the epilogue at the end of the film and roll the credits. The ubergeeks will stay for the credits anyway so why force everyone to sit through them?

Unless they're all like (the 1st part) of Iron Man 3's credits.

[Spikes]

Well, more like the next film im gonna watch. And that will be Carlos the Jackal.
Managed to, finally, track down a cheap copy. The 3 disc blu-ray was £9 in the HMV sale, plus i still had a gift voucher with a couple of quid left on it. Nice.

[Charlie boy]

Finally got around to seeing Despicable Me 2
I was actually surprised the moment I walked into the screening room and found it close to being completely full even after the amount of time the film has been out. And I'm going to come right out and say what a nice film it is. You have a very brief introduction of an attack-of-sorts on a secret research centre and from there we see the lengths Gru is going to to keep his girls happy. Family, loyalty and falling in love are so important to the plot and development and it was such a surprise- especially given my last cinema outing was Man of Steel!- to see it all done so well and easily. I laughed throughout- even the touching scenes will have a gag of some kind coming right after them and the end musical numbers were well put together. What was interesting for me was I went to see the 2D version for not liking 3D and as the end credits are rolling, the minions keep popping up to arse around as they do but by simply blacking out parts of the screen- it looks like some of the stuff they're doing is actually in 3D, which had me wondering how it would look on a 3D screening. But anyway, I'll end by saying I kept chuckling on remembering parts of Despicable Me 2 last night and I'm very tempted indeed to go and see it again.