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[littlefallsmets]

I haven't seen it yet but I want to know if they maintain the story that Iron Man is just an employee of Stark Industries. And they have to have at least one sequel just so that they can bust out War Machine.

Both of these issues are... addressed.

[Ben-San]

I just watched Iron man a couple of hours and a few of jugs of beer back. I liked it, one of the people I saw it with said it should have had more action but more action would be eaten into Tony Stark time and I couldn't abide that.

See, the thing is that Tony's actual super ability isn't that he has power armor, it's that he's an inventor who can make power armor. To me, scenes of him building the Iron Man suit are more essential to the character than scenes of him fighting in it.

[smick]

Last act: crumby. The villainous plot laid by double-crosser Jeff "Rasputin" Bridges is more of a thumbnail sketch than a scheme.

I've got a *****ic suit man! My new suit and shit... man, industry...  in the parlance of our times, you know, and uh, uh, the board and investors, that's, that's cool, I'm, I'm saying, we need money, man. I mean uh... hasn't that ever occurred to you, man? 

[Golfhaus]

I've got a #####ic suit man!

Big f'in deal... Hillary wears a different one of those every day of the week.

Oh, wait... wrong filter.

[Doc]

Going back to that Slate article, Jeff Bridges has a line to Stark that goes something like 'You don't think that just because you have an idea you own it do you?' and it occurred to me that if one were inclined to over-analyse (and you best believe I am that one) you could see that as a statement about modern corporations perverting capitalism and demanding protectism and regulation so long as it benefits the corporation but not the consumer (see RIAA et al.). In the context of what other people have said in this thread who know more Iron Man lore than I do it makes thematic sense to me that his modern enemy should be corporations that have betrayed his capitalistic ideals.

[Death Ray]

I really liked the article on Slate about how the Iron Man character is basically all about how Awesome capitalism is. I have not seen the film.

The fuck*ng ridiculous Burger King product placement took me out of it for a long time, actually, but... c'mon, they named the KITT rip-off "Jarvis" for fuck's sake. For fuck's sake.

That fuck*ng Burger King plug also killed a nugget of enjoyment for me, especially since it now seems that the "I want an American cheeseburger" line, which got the audience yukking when I saw it, was simply constructed for the plug. But that too is how American capitalism works. You have to watch a 20 minute Coca Cola advert before the movie rolls, and then the movie itself briefly turns into a commercial for junk food. Putrid.

I also had to snort (and did) when one of the GI Joes in Rhodey's command booth said that they hadn't killed the terrorists because "they use human shields."  I offer this and this for anyone who still thinks we handle innocent lives like baby doves when we think there might be a terrorist amongst them. How many missile attacks must you launch against a country before you are officially at war with them?

[Ben-San]

I also had to snort (and did) when one of the GI Joes in Rhodey's command booth said that they hadn't killed the terrorists because "they use human shields."  I offer this and this for anyone who still thinks we handle innocent lives like baby doves when we think there might be a terrorist amongst them. How many missile attacks must you launch against a country before you are officially at war with them?

Unfortunately, if you want to make a movie with Air Force cooperation (which they did in this case) you play by the Air Force's rules. This is also the reason Iron Man was entirely undamaged by a collision that sheared off a fighter jet's wing; the original plan as I understand it was for him to be damaged in the collision, limp back to his house, and crash-land there, creating the "crash through the roof" sequence.

This doesn't mean they're required to paint the Air Force as infallible angels, but I would not be surprised if the USAF asked them to not have Air Force shooting at human shields. From a narrative standpoint as well, it gives an excuse for Iron Man to go in and preserves Rhodey's standing as a fellow heroic figure.

[Death Ray]

This doesn't mean they're required to paint the Air Force as infallible angels, but I would not be surprised if the USAF asked them to not have Air Force shooting at human shields.

I wouldn't expect the Air Force to want to be shown in the movie actually shooting at civilians either. What I find risible is the actual bit of propaganda that the "human shields" line provides, especially when it is disproven on an almost daily basis.

[Death Ray]

Going back to that Slate article, Jeff Bridges has a line to Stark that goes something like 'You don't think that just because you have an idea you own it do you?' and it occurred to me that if one were inclined to over-analyse (and you best believe I am that one) you could see that as a statement about modern corporations perverting capitalism and demanding protectism and regulation so long as it benefits the corporation but not the consumer (see RIAA et al.). In the context of what other people have said in this thread who know more Iron Man lore than I do it makes thematic sense to me that his modern enemy should be corporations that have betrayed his capitalistic ideals.

There is also a bit of Ayn Rand's "moocher vs producer" philosophy inherent in that line. Except for the fact that he has a sense of humor and is not a *****ic sociopath, Stark is a classic Randian hero.

[Death Ray]

There is also a bit of Ayn Rand's "moocher vs producer" philosophy inherent in that line. Except for the fact that he has a sense of humor and is not a #####ic sociopath, Stark is a classic Randian hero.

Hey...what's with the goddamn pound signs when someone tries to use the word r-o-b-o-t?

[Doc]

This is the first test my son. It's a wild ride, so hold onto your #####.

There is also a bit of Ayn Rand's "moocher vs producer" philosophy inherent in that line. Except for the fact that he has a sense of humor and is not a #####ic sociopath, Stark is a classic Randian hero.

This was my thought but I find it particularly interesting because it's being applied as a corporation exploiting individuals so that the corporation (or at least those at the top) can profit at the expense of both the the inventor and society as a whole. Whereas the classic Randian hero would work for his own profit and his enemies would want him to give his gifts to aid everyone equally the bad guys in this film obviously have no interest in sharing what they've taken as they believe it is theirs by right (too much 'they' in that sentence). A weird kind of capitalistic socialism or some doubled back permutation that is quite appropriate to our times of no-bid government contracts and so on.

[CortJstr]

Hey...what's with the goddamn pound signs when someone tries to use the word r-o-b-o-t?

Sigh.

[lprkn]

classic Randian hero

[Arachno-capitalist]

Im going to guess Death Ray aint know me and my history with Ayn Rand. My pets are named Howard Roark and John Galt. Ive never known a Randian hero to use an ax in violence, or act like a sociopath.

You know who was a really mindtrip? That guy who wrote slaughterhouse five and cat's cradle. Man did that guy have some issues.

[lprkn]

I know your thing with Ayn Rand, which is why I thought the picture was funny. And I did read Atlas Shrugged at one point. Hank Reardon's the man.