Iron Man 2 Review

It's here! The sequel to the surprise summer hit of 2008 and the sequel to the movie that could've been our first movie review but we didn't start movie reviews until slightly after I saw the film so... enough of that. But it should be worth mentioning, that opening weekend, in 2008, was the first and last time I saw Iron Man and if I had to judge that film at that time, I'd of given it an 8/10. It was a good movie, and told Stark's story well, and looked great, but I wasn't blown away. But what about the sequel?

Two years later, a brand new movie, with a chance to go beyond the origin story and into the original storyline realm, and it's all a bit of the same really. The biggest issue Iron Man 2 has is the biggest issue that a lot of sequels have (Spider-Man 3, the entire X-Men franchise, those awful Schumacher Batman films), fitting in way too many new stories and characters for one film. Sure, the inclusion of more characters is looked at as fan service, giving fans the chance to see their favorite characters on screen, but it really is more annoying because it just makes things muddy.

So what's the actual story then? Well, I'll try to do this as spoiler free as I can, but I'll fail, and it'll be just as messy as it is in the film. First off there's the story of the film's villain, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who is made up just for the movie combining elements of Iron Man foes Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash/Blacklash. Vanko's motivation to kill Tony Stark because Stark's father deported Vanko's father to Siberia and gave him a miserable life. Then there's Tony's story, which is all about how he deals with the public image and perception of Iron Man now that he has revealed his identity and then how that effects his companions Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, who takes over for Terrance Howard from the first film).

But that's not all! Then there's the story of Justin Hammer, another wealthy inventor and arms-dealer, but just doesn't have the same edge that Tony Stark has, until he gets the right help. And there's also the little story of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) from S.H.I.E.L.D. who are monitoring Stark for the Avengers Initiative. Like I said, a lot, and that's without me even discussing the progression of the story, which I won't do, not after all that.

So, in terms of story, the film is a mess. Samuel L. Jackson is barely in the film despite what one would have thought from Iron Man 1's after-credits scene and all the ads, and the parts he is in are just him being his unintentionally hilarious self. And while I think Don Cheadle did a much better job than Terrance Howard as Rhodey, you barely see the character to even get any fealing for him, plus most of his scenes are in a suit. And Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow comes off as very boring, and lacks the character's Russian-ness, though she is visually appealing to say the least... Point being, all these characters are there, but they don't really do anything. If anything, the film should've really been about the rivalry between Tony Stark and his competitor Justin Hammer, which it was, but without all the fluff and extra characters that ended up getting more of a focus, because really, Sam Rockwell was the co-star here.

Everything else... the CGI was top-notch as usual, I really enjoyed how CG and real-life blended in really well in the first film so it was great to see that still in full effect. And there is a huge final battle scene near the end that animator Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack) storyboarded and it surprisingly shows despite it being live action, definitely one of the highlights of the film. The music? I could have done without all the AC/DC and cheesy guitar-rock, but it was almost fitting for a semi-trashy film that can never tell you when it wants to be taken as a drama or a comedy. Speaking of which, was drunken Tony dancing in the Iron Man suit really necessary? Have we learned NOTHING from Spider-Man 3? C'mon...

Overall, the film isn't bad. If you liked the first film, I think you should see the second, just to see it. But don't expect to be blown away. And to the people that really like the first film... what the hell? Really? You thought Iron Man was that great, what movies have you been watching?

Overall Score: 7.8/10

Moon Blu-ray review

My most favorite film of the summer finally gets it's home video release, as well as it's chance to finally get viewed by those who missed out on it's extremely limited release. Does Duncan Jones' fantastic debut film shine on Blu-ray just as it did in theaters? Well, that's what reading is for...

Just a fun side note, this is my second ever live-action disc purchase, seriously. The first being Star Trek; and being as this is a single disc, I'll break it down differently than I would a typical Blu-ray review.

The Movie
I could go on and on about why I loved Moon, from the compelling sense of mystery, to the great performances by Sam Rockwell, the beautifully retro sci-fi look that Duncan Jones gave the film, or even Clint Mansell's great score for the film. There's just so much to love about Moon, but it would be ridiculous for me to repeat myself, so I'll just leave a link to my original review of Moon, which was given a prestigious VFH Seal of Approval.

Anyways, visually, the movie in 1080p looks just as beautiful if not better than the small screen I saw it on in theaters. And for most people viewing this Blu-ray, it's the first time they're seeing this film, so it's nice to see it looking so good. But that's also kind of a sad fact, since Sony Pictures Classics didn't really give this film much of a media push, that the home release is the only chance most people would have had to see this critically acclaimed film, and it's become very evident in its lack of recognition in this awards season.

Commentary
There are actually two commentary tracks on the Moon Blu-ray. The first of which is between Writer/Director Duncan Jones, Director of Photography Gary Shaw, Concept Designer Gavin Rothery, and Production Designer Tony Noble. While there's a lot of neat trivial facts pointed out during this commentary, I found a lot of it was filled with these fours guys goofing off and getting a little off track or just talking over each other.

The second commentary track is just between Duncan Jones and Producer Stuart Fenegan, and is like night and day from the previous one in the sense the this one is all serious. Granted there's some joking around, but Duncan and Stuart are never speaking over each other or going off on tangents like in the other commentary track. There's some repetition of trivial facts, but granted that there's a different individual here it's understandable. Honestly, if this was the only commentary track, the set would be better off, but at least this is included instead of just the other one.

Extras
Aside from commentary there are some other special features available on this Blu-ray. But unlike the film, these are sadly mostly all in standard definition, and kind of ruin the point of having a Blu-ray in the first place. The other issue I had is the exclusivity of the special features. There are two behind the scenes videos showing the production of Moon, the first, The Making of Moon, runs over 16 minutes, but has been available for free on iTunes since mid-December. The other making of short, Creating the Visual Effects, isn't available eslewheres, but it too is short, running just over 11 minutes. They're both really interesting, sure, I had no idea all the scenes on the Moon surface were make with miniatures, RC cars and matte paintings; but the short run time and standard definition isn't really satisfying.

But there's more! There are two Q&A session with Duncan Jones included on the set. One at NASA after a screening of the film (20 minutes and HD), and another from the film's Sundance Film Festival premiere (11 minutes and HD), the latter of which includes the production staff and Sam Rockwell as well. I found both to be pretty informative regarding the film's influences and scientific background, and I'm glad the Sundance Q&A was included because it's the only part of this set with Sam Rockwell saying something about the film. But like the Making of short, the Q&A with NASA has been available since the film's release via the official Moon website, so it doesn't feel like a special inclusion here.

Lastly, included is an, unrelated to Moon, 2002 short film of Duncan Jones' called Whistle, which until now hasn't been commercially released. Like Moon, it's kind of hard to explain with delving too much into detail, but it's certainly got some smarts to it. I was a bit unsure of it at first, but I really liked it come the end, and it's nice to see Jones' leap in film making. Heck, I even got a Twitter response out of Duncan Jones just for saying that I liked it!

There's the lone trailer for Moon included here as well, along with trailers for other Sony Pictures films. BD-Live is then menu, but upon accessing it all I got was an empty menu where I supposedly should have Sony Pictures content, quite frankly I don't care though, since BD-Live is generally a forgotten feature.

Final Thoughts
I loved Moon, and I still do, there's no arguing that. In fact, I'd say it's one of most inspiring science fiction films released in the last 10 years, even if itself is inspired by numerous classic sci-fi films. Sam Rockwell is fantastic, Kevin Spacey's voice work is so fitting for a robot, Clint Mansell's score is brilliant, and Duncan Jones did a wonderful job of showing off his talent as an emerging film maker. Sure, the extras aren't the greatest, especially if you're looking for an HD experience (that's why you bought a Blu-ray player right?), but they are informative for those interested in the science and production of the film. If you missed the chance to see Moon in theaters, please, do yourself a favor and watch it on Blu-ray (or DVD if you must), this film is just fantastic!

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Be sure to read my original Moon review, in which the film was given our VFH Seal of Approval.

Moon review

Duncan Jones makes his feature film directorial debut with Sam Rockwell in the lead, in a science fiction film like no other. Does Moon stand-out amongst other science fiction greats, or does is need to come back down to Earth? (Yes, puns are great ways to open reviews...)

What will probably come to many viewers minds before even seeing this film is just who is Duncan Jones? To get this out of the way, he is the son of famous singer (and actor, I suppose), David Bowie. It's not something that effects the movie, but if you're wondering how some random guy was able to get a film like this out... yeah. Honestly, after watching Moon, I don't think anyone needs to label Duncan Jones as Bowie's son, "director of Moon" will probably work just fine. Personally, what caught my attention for the movie was the brilliant, retro-chic poster (you can click that one up there for a better view) for the film, which then led me to see the even more brilliant trailer.

As for the film itself, Moon centers around commercial astronaut, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who has been alone in Lunar Industries' Sarang Moonbase for nearly three years, monitoring the mining of Helium-3, Earth's primary source of energy. Just a note, the movie never actually gives a specific date as to when the movie takes place, but perhaps it was to protect the plot (I can't much more there). Though he is the sole human on the Moon, Sam is monitored by a computer system, Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey); but before you get ahead of yourself, the relationship between Sam and Gerty is nothing like Dave and HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

But all is not well; while prepping for his last few weeks on the base, Sam starts to believe he's losing his mind from being there too long. On a regular maintenance drive, Sam accidentally crashes after seeing what he believes to be another person, however, he awakens soon after back at the base, as if the crash never happened. On another check outside the base, Sam stumbles upon a crashed lunar rover, and the man inside is himself. As VFH standard, I cannot give away anymore for reason of spoilers, but the film involves Sam interacting with his duplicate, in a story that delves into a conflict of man vs. himself in more ways than you could imagine.

To say the least about the story, since it's really hard to delve into without spoiling, I really had no idea where it was going to go; and that's a good thing in my opinion. Of course, I did have some idea, having already watched the trailer about fifty times, and reading a synopsis or two, but the film has plenty of suspense and mystery, and I think those traits always have a place in science fiction.

The main thing that makes Moon very unique is that the cast really only consists of Sam Rockwell. Sure, Moon is not the first film t feature one actor playing a duplicate or twin of themselves, but how many films only have one cast member? To be fair, there are others, such as Sam's wife and daughter which he only interacts with via pre-recorded messages, and there's Gerty, but the interactions between the characters of Sam is a truly unique thing to witness. In fact, the last film I saw with Sam Rockwell in it was 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I can't really judge the guy on his experience, but if Moon is anything to go by, he can actually pull off this serious (though sometimes comedic) role. If I have any gripes, it's probably due to the unnecessary choice language by Sam's character; I'm all up for cursing, but sometimes twelve f-words in one sentence aren't needed to express your emotions in a film.

In addition to the casting and setting, what really made the film for me was the soundtrack. While some tracks repeated throughout the film, Clint Mansell's score for the film is epic, and makes the desolation of the Moon even more dramatic, and the engaging scenes so much more thrilling. Really, I don't think Moon would be half as memorable and/or compelling without the great soundtrack.

Overall, what I really enjoyed about Moon over other sci-fi films was the conflict of man vs. himself, instead of the typical man vs. machine or man vs. extra terrestrial; it's a science fiction film that proves you don't need fancy special effects or complex alien races just to make a unique, thought provoking experience, and I think that's what made me really enjoy it. If you can manage to find Moon playing in your area (as it's currently on very limited release), please do yourself a favor and check this out if not once, a few times.

Overall Score: 9.8/10

Had Moon been a famous director's fifth theatrical film, I probably wouldn't give it as much praise; not that it's a bad film (far from it), but when a directorial debut is this compelling, it's truly special. So for the fact that this is Duncan Jones' first feature length film, he definitely deserves some high recognition; that or a VFH Seal of Approval. What's even more fascinating is that Jones was able to make a truly unique and special science fiction experience on a lowly $5 million budget (and yes, that's actually low by today's standards). Perhaps he adjusted the story to the budget by having only one cast member, but regardless, Moon is a movie you'll probably want to watch a few times to fully understand it, and in the end, its thought provoking story is really what makes it shine.

For more on Moon, see Moon-Movie.com