BSR! Roundtable Discussion: Iron Man

Swank-mo-tron: So, we’ve all seen Iron Man now and I want to start out by saying that the film was great, but I think the best scene of the movie was the one that played after the credits. Clang! Boom! Steam! and I were talking before the movie and we said that Iron Man was at a disadvantage because there’s no one thing about him that screams Bad-ass to a comic nerd. He’s not Wolverine and can extend his claws. He’s not Magneto and can’t pull the Iron out of somebody’s blood. He’s not Batman. But with the action in the film, the movie got 80% of the way with the bad-assery. It was the last scene, with Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, that gave nerds, or me at least, that last 20% and had me tearing up with joy.

Estebot: What’s this about Nick Fury? It sounds like I missed something. I also really enjoyed it. I have only really read a little bit of Iron Man in the comics and I wasn’t a huge fan of the character (partially because of what Swank said – not all that bad-ass), so I wasn’t expecting too much, but I REALLY liked it.

Swank-mo-tron: Nick Fury was in the last scene of the movie, post credits. You really fucked up by not waiting.

Mookatron: Nick showing up was cool, even if Samuel L. Jackson has almost turned into a parody of himself lately. As for the flick itself. Awesomer than awesome. Smart, funny, little tidbits for all us nerds in the audience (the house computer is named Jarvis? Nice), well paced, great cast, top-notch special FX, and story that not only flows and makes sense, but doesn’t have any speedbumps. No moments where you go “okay…that was just lame/stupid/non-sensical/gratuitous. And the MVP of the whole thing is Robert Downey Jr. Kudos Mr. RDJ. Best comic movie ever? The debate can begin! Oh, and best scene? Tough call without seeing it a few more times, but I think I’d have to go with landing in Afghanistan to take out the bad dudes in the newly minted armor. Even MORE awesomer than awesome.

Swank-Mo-Tron: Any nerd surprises for anybody in the film?

Mookatron: So I had a pulsating circuit during one particular scene of the movie and had do some research on it to see if the hunch I had at the time was correct. AND it was. I R AWESOME! So the scene is towards the end when Stane (Jeff Bridges) has his crack-team of Stark Industries scientists trying to figure out how the “arc generator” works and scale it down to a more manageable size. Needless to say they’re having difficulty doing it and Stane is none too happy. He snaps at a guy in a lab coat with a one of those really bad “shave the top of my head (but not the sides!) to make it look like I’m bald and thusly in my 50’s” haircuts that are seen in film from time to time. The scientist looked familiar, and after some extensive research (okay, a quick glance at IMDb) it turns out it was Peter Billingsly. Yep, Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” has grown up and works at Stark Industries. I guess he didn’t shoot his eye out after all. He’s actually a producer these days. And he just happens to be a producer on “Iron Man.” AND he’s worked with Favreau on most of his movies. Still…he’ll always be Ralphie to me.

Doctor Cyborg Robot M.D. Attorney at Law : Ralphie. You don’t say. Well on to more important business, what did I think? I did like it, but I don’t think that it was even close to the best super hero movie to date, because that movie was made in 1989 and is called Batman. I thought the action was cool, but I also thought it was too long. I am not just saying that because I have a secret prejudice against it because my nickname through robot medical school was Iron Man. (At least that is what the fem-bots called me.) I liked the Nick Fury ending, but I didn’t like the soundtrack. My favorite scene was when the Dude drove up on a Segway smoking a gigantic cigar. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was great, and I would go see it again.

Arse-Bot: I thought the movie was fantactic! The action sequences were amazing, the character development and plot was great, and Robert Downey IS Tony Stark! Perfect casting! JF did a nice job pacing the film especially considering it was just over a 2hr. flick. He stayed true to the source material and put in several “Easter Eggs” just for us nerds watching the movie! Of course, the movie was not without it’s faults, but I don’t think there are any worth mentioning here! Go see it! Great clip at the end of the credits too! Blew my mind!

Swank-mo-tron: So, I guess the consensus from those enthusiastic enough to reply to is that we all really liked Iron Man and can’t wait to see an Avengers movie…..

Anybody else have anything to add?