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Saturday, May 8, 2010

In Defense of the Summer Blockbuster

I went with Lauren to see Iron Man 2 today and we both loved it, I intend to pick it up as soon as it becomes available on DVD and Bluray. Currently Iron Man 2 is enjoying a rating of 74% fresh at Rottentomatoes.com but if you gloss over the "fresh" comments you may notice a theme. The theme being that these people are expecting way too much from a fun superhero flick.

I know The Dark Knight has shown us that you can get more from a movie where a man dresses up in a costume and fights bad guys, but not every superhero movie needs to go that far. Granted without the proper cast, script or direction you can end up with Ghostrider or Daredevil, but the movie doesn't have to be a psychological profile on good and evil either.

Richard Corliss of Time Magazine writes "[Downey] gives Iron Man 2 its fascination. The rest is a cluttered, clattering toy story." Really? You are sitting down to write a review of a movie based off a comic book where a man dresses up in an iron suit and you're looking for what? Perhaps he can wax poetically regarding the fragility of life after he defeats a foe.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly writes "Downey's head and heart are in the right place, but the movie is more in pieces than whole, and more about iron than about men." Again we have another critic who came into the theater who must have thought her ticket was for The English Patient 2. Rather than adapt to the film they are watching and critique it for what it is trying to bring to the table, we have another critic who is trying to stuff a fun filled summer movie into a mold that it simply wasn't made for.

Iron Man 2 was a fun, action packed movie. It was a sequel that complimented the first in every way. It didn't provide timeless scenes or thought provoking dialogue but it did provide a man in an armor suit kicking ass with rock music blaring. Also, Scarlett Johansson in a tight, black outfit. What more could you want from a summer movie?

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