Awesomeness Overload

Just a few thoughts…

Yesterday, I got so down because I couldn’t go to the FCBD over at  Galleria that I headed for SM Taytay to watch Iron Man a little past sunset. And I figured that I’ve been working hard the past few weeks (can you say literally no sleep?) that I sort of deserved to treat myself to some fanboy geek-level movie. Besides, I almost wet my pants a few years back when rumors of the film leaked through io9.com.

It’s such a fucken awesome movie that I just had to watch it twice (only got up to piss). The fanboy in me was screaming out of excitement. It has got to be one of the best superhero comic book movies I’ve seen! This coming from someone who got generally disappointed with the whole X-Men trilogy (though there are golden fanboy moments every now and then) and yawned heavily during the Ghost Rider showding.

*    Robert Downey Jr. is such a great actor. He attacked the ego-centric role with little effort. Oh wait, tagging him for the role really is a no-brainer, because aside from his splendid acting, he’s also playing a role close to his heart, an alcoholic to rival Downey’s druggie infamy. Hmm, Tony may have had a druggie period in an alternative universe…

*    In this universe, Jarvis the Stark family butler, is the AI system that serves as the platform on Tony’s smart home.

*    Obidiah Stane here, played by Jeff Bridges, instead of being the head of his own Stane International who took over Stark Industries, is depicted as Howard Stark’s business partner, although he did don the Iron Monger suit. Before the showing, there was this funny rumor that the main villain in the movie would be an open source big wig.

*   Gwyneth Paltrow looks old here. Old and tired. And it’s just odd that when he was "operating" on Tony, she knew she’d have to twist the thingie to the right to fasten it even without Tony telling her. By the way, I remember a scene from the Age of Apocalypse-set X-Universe where Tony was in cardiac arrest and was immobile, and Johnny Storm (I think) had to stick a large syringe into his chest. This seriously reminded me of that famous scene from Pulp Fiction, with Uma Thurman waking up from a potential overdose after John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson (who, by chance, plays Nick Fury in that famous scene with Tony Stark after the closing creds) had stuck a syringe to her heart.

*   Jim Rhodes has got to be one of my favorite characters from the Iron Man book. And Terence Howard is one of the best actors out there. The Jim here is a discreet amalgamation of the Jims from various Marvel universes. For instance, he is referred to as "Rhodey", a nickname used in the Ultimates universe, but still works in the military, which, in the mainstream comic storyline, he had left after the Vietnam War. And my most favorite line from the movie:

Rhodey: (Looks at the unpainted gray Mark II armor) Next time, baby.

*   Based on product placements:
       >  Tony is a Verizon subscriber, using an LG mobile phone.
       >  A whopper is the first American food Tony ate after he got back from Afghanistan.
       >  The United States Air Forcfe uses Dell computers, while -
       >  - the Afghans have an HP-like laptop sitting in the cave where Tony was held captive

*    And then there was the  famous last scene with the black Nick Fury (a nod to the Ultimates variant of the character) at the Stark mansion to talk to Tony about the so-called Avenger Initiative. This caused some serious jaw droppage due to massive amounts of awesomeness! Avengers Initiative? Are they fucken kidding me??? Holy SHIT! This sounded like a double-sided coolness…1) Avengers…and 2) Avengers: The Initiative, which is a story arc set right after Civil War.

*    Can you say Strategic Homeland Intervention, Engagement and Logistics Division? AHAHA!

*    Director Jon Favreau plays a character tagged as "Hogan" in IMDB, which is obviously a reference to Happy Hogan, another one of Tony’s most trusted friends and personal assistant/chauffeur. He is seen with a group of similarly-clad men-in-blacks, hinting that he’s one of Tony’s bodyguards, which I think is only logical since Happy Hogan was a former boxer in the comics. However, in the comics, Happy and Pepper had an affair behind Tony’s back and were eventually married. Tony recently died after the Civil War arc.

*    Stan Lee once again appears as himself, although Tony mistakes him for Hugh Hefner.  Casting Clark Gregg to play SHIELD agent Phil Coulson seem like a weird choice considering how mild-mannered the guy is. I noticed in the closing creds that Tom Morello is listed as a guitarist, it’s also revealed that he plays a minor role in the film, and ‘Insurget #5′ is the best IMDB can provide.

*    Other Marvel movies listed in IMDB are Ant-Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk. My spider senses are telling me that these are founding members of the Avengers (the Wasp, I’m guessing would be in Ant-Man). I believe that Nick Fury would also be having cameos in each film as SHIELD closes in on every superhero to form the Avengers. The possibility of an Avengers movie was kinda confirmed last year here.

OH WOW. With this current lineup of movies, it’s only gonna keep on getting better!
I JUST CAN’T FUCKEN WAIT! In my dreamworld, this series of movies would eventually end up with a massive Marvel cross-over like this, which encompasses the entire Marvel Universe, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Ghost Rider and even the Blade movies.

*drools*