| The good part of this movie was the acting. I | | | | predict it's going to bite this series' internal |
| thought all the actors did a fine job. The battle | | | | consistency hard.o And while we are at Monaco: |
| scenes were OK, too, so they didn't get in the | | | | Those Formula One race cars have more |
| way. | | | | telemetry than NASA satellites -- as soon as |
| Here are some Technofiction issues I noticed:o | | | | there's trouble on the track, every driver hears |
| The speed with which Tony Stark's blood is | | | | about. They would all slow down and stop as soon |
| getting poisoned. First off, the explanation of why | | | | as Vanko first wanders on the course.o Moving |
| it was getting poisoned didn't work for me. | | | | on from Monaco, the Justin Hammer character |
| Palladium is nothing special as an element, so it | | | | bothered me. Sam Rockwell did first-rate weasel, |
| shouldn't have been that hard to contain it. | | | | but he never convinced me he had enough |
| Likewise, whatever super element Tony invented | | | | competence to become a CEO. I kept wondering, |
| in the last half should have been intensely | | | | "How did he get to be CEO of this company?"o It |
| radioactive, which meant it wasn't going to last | | | | bothered me that both Stark and Vanko could |
| long, and should have been a lot harder to contain | | | | invent stuff in minutes rather than years. On the |
| than palladium. And, finally, this inventing was part | | | | other hand, I loved the inventing scenes. Those |
| of that Hollywood tradition of playing fast and | | | | were pure pleasure to watch.o Relating to that, |
| loose with time and space that always grinds | | | | the mysterious way the father, Howard Stark, |
| me.o Closely related to this first problem, the | | | | passed on the final clue to solving the poisoning |
| problem Tony has in telling Pepper what's going | | | | power source problem didn't work for me. It was |
| on. This makes no sense because she can't plan | | | | cute, but way too contrived for me to suspend |
| well if she's in the dark.o And yet another closely | | | | belief on. The utility of breakthrough engineering is |
| related issue: Tony can't think of anything better | | | | way too hard to convince people of, even in the |
| to do for his final birthday party than get drunk | | | | best of circumstances. Doing something cute like |
| as a skunk in his Iron Man suit? My goodness! He | | | | this would insure that some other bright inventor |
| can do the drunk as a skunk business anytime! | | | | would get credit for this discovery from some |
| It's another sad Hollywood plot device.o Finally we | | | | independent line of research.o Finally, there was no |
| move on. When his friend, James Rhodes, | | | | effort by Stark to move the final climactic battle |
| commandeers the other suit, this demonstrates | | | | away from populated areas. When the police |
| not only the military but the terrorist potential of | | | | arrest Justin Hammer at the end of the battle, |
| these suits. There should have been a lot more | | | | they should have been arresting everyone on the |
| rogue operator security built in much earlier in the | | | | scene from both Hammer and Stark industries |
| development program.o The briefcase suit that is | | | | just to be on the safe side. |
| used at Monaco was neat CGI, but it opened a | | | | And that's what I have for you. It was a fun |
| big can of worms in terms of what these suits | | | | movie for the acting chemistry, and I enjoyed |
| can do. This is as bad as creeping transporter | | | | that a lot. But the Technofiction holes are pretty |
| technology is in the Star Trek franchise, and I | | | | standard for a summer comic book movie. |