noam-horvath Reviews

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Good film

[22 February 2021]

Good sequel to Iron Man

Majority of the time, you won't see Tony Stark in armor. That's refreshing.

This film's focus is all about the characters, an unusual direction for a sequel. It's no Transformers 2, that's for sure, but better than Iron Man 3

You do, however, get to see a bit of a darker and a vulnerable side to Tony, which happens to make him more complex, engaging, and sometimes, dangerous. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony flawlessly, and he's just as much fun, if not more, than before. Some may be put off by the dialogue-driven first half of the film.

The film isn't all about "let's hurry up and get him to fight somebody." In fact, it takes its time, and there's not a whole lot of action in the beginning, but there's a certain build-up that leads to the eventual confrontation with the baddies. The film isn't so much about a specific villain or a goal, but it is mainly about Tony, his psychology, and his reactions to life. Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts-she is as we remember her from the last film-charming and continuously getting Stark out of trouble.

Many interesting side characters make an appearance this time around. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) plays more of a prominent role as the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. Scarlett Johansson has great screen presence as Natalie Rushman (aka. Black Widow)-she holds herself pretty well in a great martial arts scene. Don Cheadle has replaced Terrance Howard as Lt. Col. "Rhodey" and gets to play a more prominent role as an Iron Man suit-armored partner to Tony.

This film, unlike the first film, tends to lean towards the idea of teamwork more. (Perhaps they're just prepping us for an Avenger film?) Mickie Rourke is engaging on screen as the Russian physicist villain Ivan, which he plays with dark relish. Although his technology-glowing, electrically charged whips-isn't anything new, he is always fun to watch. Likewise, Sam Rockwell is great as usual as a villain, the wisecracking Justin Hammer.

The plot simply continues on from the last film, after people have found out the true identity of Iron Man. While it's nothing too complex, the progression of the story is logical--it would surely bring some enemies out of the woodwork if they knew who he was. The film's pacing isn't as zippy as the first film, where something always seems to be happening, and some audiences may be disappointed as a result.

Suing the Devil (2011)

Moments of magnificence, but not as hyped as everyone says

[13 February 2012]

SPOILERS THROUGH: I finally saw this and thought it was well above average, if not perfect. I do not think it merits a 4. I think there was such an enormous buzz generated by this film that people were maybe expecting absolute perfection. I know I originally was although after seeing all the '1's, I actually went into this expecting something not so great so I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was actually very good. In my opinion suing the devil was neither a bad movie or a masterpiece, it was something in between, although it did have some moments of utter and complete magnificence.

The things I liked include the visuals which as many have mentioned were lovely. This film was beautiful to look at (shot in Austalia i understand) and I also was intrigued by the story itself and found it both complex and very moving. The performers were all very good and the sweetness of the main character gets you involved. It's an emotional and very poignant story and I wish I'd seen it in the theater.

That being said, there were some things that really prevented me from finding this to be outstanding and took the movie down a little. One was the length. It's not necessarily that the film was to long, it's just that so much was covered and crammed into that time, a lot in the courtroom and that it's both distracting and very difficult to follow. Sometimes a storyline would be developed and then suddenly dropped in the next scene and something entirely new would develop. I think there was plenty of CHARACTER development but not necessarily enough STORY development. I'd have liked to see less jumping around and more focus on a few choice events because it did seem like the movie was cramming to much into the story and it didn't flow well. Maybe it could have been a little shorter as well. It was also REALLY difficult to follow and that made it difficult to enjoy the film to it's fullest potential.

I also found it difficult to hear a lot of what was being said. It seemed like people were speaking to softly or something and that to interfered with the enjoyment aspect. But I was so intrigued by the movie I , eventually, was able to enjoy it anyway. The star who played the devil was superb.

Taken (I) (2008)

Action Jackson

[13 February 2012]

Just saw the movie in the sneak preview. First of all this movie will get a lot of those people who will whine about everything that is not realistic really (If you are one of those, you'll have a lot to whine about). But if you can just enjoy a movie as its intended to be and you appreciate some action this movie is near perfect. The main character is so pure and non complex. Finally an action movie that doesn't try to give some oddities to the characters to make them more interesting but just straightforward high speed action .

Watching this movie was a great experience and I was surprised that I could enjoy an action movie this much. My tip: sit down, enjoy the ride and don't moan about imperfections.