Iron Man 2 - Two Times the Fun

Iron Man, of Marvel comics fame, is a cool super hero. His weapons and abilities are cool. His mask is cool. Even his colors are cool. He's an almost perfect super hero. Except when he's drunk. Just check your smell-tester at the theater door of the latest Iron Man movie. Well, if you're going to a movie in this genre, you probably know that ahead of time.

Iron Man 2 is a fun, gripping 2 hours and 15 minutes. It's a super hero movie, so it follows a certain formula, but it is one of the better of the genre thanks to Robert Downey Jr., and a crazy Mickey Rourke who shines in this film as a Russian mad scientist villain. Throw in Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle and Iron Man 2 rocks. Iron Man 2's well-done special effects also lend excitement and reality to the movie. The fight scenes and the "comic book" technology are awesome.

Robert Downey Jr.'s acting reminds me a bit of Mel Gibson's acting -- intense and quirky. The character he portrays, Howard Stark, aka Iron Man, is sort of a hyper-eccentric, and humorous Bruce Wayne. I really enjoy Downey Jr.'s acting (see Sherlock Holmes) and he doesn't disappoint here.

I'd never cared too much for Mickey Rourke, but I liked the way he portrayed his character, Ivan Vanko, in this film, Whiplash -- a great villain, and well acted by Rourke.

Gwyneth Paltrow's role could have been played by any actress and she really didn't stand out as Pepper Potts, Iron Man's executive assistant, CEO, and "love interest?"

Sam Rockwell who played Howard Stark's business nemesis seemed to me to be miscast as well. The role needed someone with more screen presence. However, it didn't detract from the movie on the whole.

I would definitely see this again and will buy the Blu-Ray disc or DVD when it comes out. Go see it.

7.7 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek the Blockbuster

I saw the latest and greatest Star Trek movie today. It was awesome squared. My kids, (15 and 18 years old) who are not particular followers of the Star Trek series enjoyed it very much, too. You really do not need any background information from the series to enjoy this movie. Though it is a prequel to the original series, it is it's own, self-contained and engaging story.

And it's filled with non-stop action. There's more action in this Star Trek movie than in any past movie from the series. Poor James T. Kirk gets the hell beat out of him from start to finish.

The special effects were amazing and the set design was outside the box... different. I liked the design of the Enterprise's bridge and Captain Nero's ship, inside and out.

Casting was terrific. Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock were spot on. Doctor "Bones" McCoy was played uncannily by Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana played a great Uhura. The other cast members were really superb too.

The story was well paced and engaging and didn't get bogged down anywhere in the film. It was a nicely done script with plenty of humor in the style of the original series as well.

Star Trek is my idea of a summer blockbuster movie. I hope they make another one! My recommendation...Go see it. You won't regret it.