Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut.

[shadydave]

Saw Iron Man 2 last night! I liked it! The story was a little bit rambly (mostly with character interactions, I assume for future movie(s)), but they wrapped up the main plot pretty well. One quibble was that I thought there wasn't quite enough Tony/Pepper in this movie to set up the end, but it's not like there wasn't ANY.

Also, there was a lot of Hollywood science in this movie. A LOT. I think Tony Stark creating a new element in his basement might win the prize. "Industry, science, and technology! Big men putting screwdrivers into things! Turning them, and ADJUSTING them!" < /mst3k> I did love the cheesy awesome videos of his dad for the Stark Industries OF THE FUTURE!!, and the EXCELLENT THEME SONG during the credits. (But speaking of music, I was a little perturbed they didn't actually play "Iron Man," wtf.)

I do find it moderately hilarious that for superhero movies, their weak point is definitely the supervillain fights. They have trouble with the pacing, I think -- they're over just a leeeeettle too soon (would it have killed them to have the droid fight be a little longer?), and don't have quite the level of emotional conflict to go with the physical fighting. Obvs monologue-ing is not the way to go, but Whiplash had all of like two conversations with Tony, so I feel we could have stood a little more interaction between them at the end.

That being said, Black Widow's fighting style was SO COOL.

I've always thought Iron Man's biggest strength was the cast breezily bantering their way through the plot, though, and this movie definitely did not disappoint. Even if, as Kirstin says, Samuel L. Jackson's main purpose was to show up and dispense wisdom not unlike a fortune cookie. At least he was a BADASS fortune cookie! Who yelled at Tony to get off a giant donut! I liked new Rhodey, and the extremely smarmy Hammer, and Whiplash's elegantly manicured nails. Everyone else remained awesome. So yay!

Today we went to my cousin's graduation, where we all got promptly sunburned because they said it was supposed to be gray and rainy. LIES.

And then we watched Doctor Who! I really liked this episode! Even though I'm still perturbed they brought up the companion-shipping in the first place, I was really pleased it got resolved pretty quickly with a minimum of fuss, through Rory getting to be awesome. Yay! Also, the Doctor jumped out of a stripper cake, which wins at EVERYTHING FOREVER.

Nitpicks:

-- Ah, pastede on yay Venice. I particularly enjoyed Eleven 1960s-Batmanning his way up the Campanile.

-- Way to kill off the PoCs. Again.

-- They replaced vampire fish boys EPIC LEAP from the trailer with CGI! SADFACE, I WANTED TO SEE THAT.

-- Also, if the vampire fish aliens are only irritated by sunlight, and the Countess just covered the sky in weird clouds anyway, HOW DID AMY BLOW UP VAMPIRE FISH BOY WITH SUNLIGHT REFLECTED FROM HER COMPACT?

-- Also also, why did the Countess still look human if she took off her perception filter?

Stuff I liked:

-- STRIPPER CAKE.

-- They did an awesome job on costumes and sets. Everything looked so pretty!

-- Was it just me, or were those some nudges at Twilight? The Doctor talking about dazzling, the girl being named Isabella (though luckily for Amy, she was actually competent and useful)...

-- Rory! He was an excellent combination of bewildered, indignant, and AWESOME.

Next week looks really cool! I was accidentally spoiled by the pregnancy thing, so I'm kinda glad it's a timey-wimey issue, as otherwise I think it would be a little WTF.

Comments

[libraflyter.livejournal.com]

Huzzah Iron Man 2! It was indeed relying entirely on the charm of its cast, who were all most excellent. I have decided that it is actually a good sign: if I had to choose between good fight scenes or awesome acting, I'd prefer the awesome acting, now with more witty banter (Tony's attempted strawberry gifting was hilarious :D). Also, Pepper didn't really quit being CEO. She was just justifiably freaking out and once she calmed down she returned to being a high powered business woman, now with a snarky high maitenance boyfriend. And did you catch the Captain America? And Thor! *does dance of fangirlish glee* YAY DOCTOR WHO! -- Way to kill off the PoCs. Again. But it did give us "THIS. IS. VENICE!!!" So not a total loss. (though yeah, getting repetitive now. Though it wasn't as egregious as Black Guy Dies First from Time of Angels) Clearly, Amy actually used her reflected awesome to smite the vampire fish alien. -- Also also, why did the Countess still look human if she took off her perception filter? Ooh, I got this one! She'd actually *fixed* her perception filter, to make sure she looked human so she could commit suicide. The number of endangered aliens that try to colonize Earth is rather incredible. It seems that at least once every series, some species or another thinks Earth is the best place to repopulate the species. The Racnoss. The whatits from Pompeii. The Gelth. The vampire fish aliens. That dude from City of Death. If they just picked another planet, they'd have much better odds.

[libraflyter.livejournal.com]

Argh, WHY DIDN'T YOU SPACE PROPERLY????

Sorry for run on paragraph.

[shadydave.livejournal.com]

I shall forgive you for the sake of your icon :D

[shadydave.livejournal.com]

I have decided that it is actually a good sign: if I had to choose between good fight scenes or awesome acting, I'd prefer the awesome acting, now with more witty banter

Yeah, otherwise you end up with Wolverine ::shudder::

Tony's attempted strawberry gifting was hilarious :D

I knew there was a correlation between you and strawberries! Heeeee.

Pepper is made of win. That is all.

And did you catch the Captain America? And Thor! *does dance of fangirlish glee*

I did! (Even with my negative comics skills, heh.) It was hilarious/awesome, respectively.

My sister didn't know Kenneth Branagh was directing Thor and was uberly WTF when I told her. I was amused.

But it did give us "THIS. IS. VENICE!!!" So not a total loss.

Yeah, it's more of a repetition thing where it's becoming a problem. Someone needs to send them SPooN and a note that says "HOW NOT TO DO IT".

Clearly, Amy actually used her reflected awesome to smite the vampire fish alien.

Ah, it all makes sense now!

Ooh, I got this one! She'd actually *fixed* her perception filter, to make sure she looked human so she could commit suicide.

But didn't she leave it behind? That's why I was confused.

It seems that at least once every series, some species or another thinks Earth is the best place to repopulate the species. The Racnoss. The whatits from Pompeii. The Gelth. The vampire fish aliens. That dude from City of Death. If they just picked another planet, they'd have much better odds.

To be fair to the vampire fish people, they didn't really get to pick where they were going, they just fled through the Crack. However, this is kind of a trend. We need an episode where displaced aliens show up and are like "Can someone give us a ride? It seems to be a really bad idea to stick around here."

[libraflyter.livejournal.com]

I personally find the Kenneth Brannagh directing thing deeply reassuring, because it ups the odds of epically entertaining faux-Shakespearean shenanigans, which is roughly 75% of the reason I <3 Thor (the other 25% is the Norse mythology pr0n, when a suitably educated writer is on the scene).

re: Black Guy Dies First. All they have to do is have a few eps where the surviving guest stars are the POCs for a change. And then not kill them on the second round. It's very simple.

We need an episode where displaced aliens show up and are like "Can someone give us a ride? It seems to be a really bad idea to stick around here."

Hee, that would be great. It would be fun if the Doctor gave his "second chance" speech and the aliens were all "Oh, okay. Can you give us a lift?"