Iron Man II -May 7-

[Goonie]

Sorry, but too many characters KILLS a movie for character development.

Just think of it as prep for The Avengers.

 

[Solo4114]

Oh no, her, plus with the casting of Roady, which will require screen time.

Doom I tell you.

Sorry, but too many characters KILLS a movie for character development.

Might still turn out to be a fun, exciting movie. But I'm telling you, those that HAVE to have that are going to be very disappointed.

Exactly.

You've got 2-ish hours of movie time. You need to spend that time doing action/eye-candy, plot exposition, and character development. Now throw in not one central character (as in the first one with Tony Stark/Iron Man), but FOUR central characters (Tony Stark/Iron Man, Jim Rhodes/War Machine, Black Widow, Whiplash), AS WELL AS probably 2-4 secondary characters (Pepper Potts, Justin Hammer, Nick Fury, oh and apparently someone called Iron Maiden, too), and ask yourself how much time you actually have left to develop the characters and/or keep them feeling real.

Not much.

Especially with a movie like this, they'll default to the f/x and the plot. Now, that's not to say that you can't have a plot that is a good cracking adventure story, even with relatively minimal character development. But you're far more likely to get an unfocused, all-over-the-place mess the more characters and faces you throw into the film.



Oh, and for whoever said "Sam Rockwell's probably playing a rival businessman" you're absolutely right. Justin Hammer (Rockwell's character) is a classic industrialist opponent (much like Obadiah Stane was) in the Iron Man comics.

 

[mbmcfarland]

I'm still optimistic, even with the growing cast of characters. Marvel comics aren't known for having supporting characters that are particularly three-dimensional. That's not a problem, either. It's called "Iron Man" not "Iron Man and His Amazing Friends."

Are there too many characters in Star Wars?

-Mike

 

[Solo4114]

Depends? Are we talking original films, prequel trilogy, or EU? And are we talking EU biographies made up for everyone who was on screen for 0.5 seconds or more?

 

[mbmcfarland]

haha. Good point.

It's IM2, so I was thinking ANH and ESB: Luke, Ben, Han, Leia, Vader, Yoda, Lando, plus 3PO, R2, Chewie, and Boba Fett if you count non-speaking characters.

That seems comparable to Stark, Rhodes, Fury, Pepper, Natasha, Hammer, and Whiplash, plus Iron Man and War Machine.

 

[Solo4114]

Oh, I'm sure it COULD work out. But ESB had pretty good narrative focus, and side characters really were only there to help support the story. the problem is that, in comic book movies, generally speaking, they don't maintain narrative focus when they start packing in the characters.

To wit:

- X-men 3
- Spiderman 3
- any of the Schumacher Batman films.
- even, to a lesser extent, The Dark Knight (I still think that one had one villain too many).


It's a risk. It can work, but it's a risk. Most of the time, the calculation seems to be that bigger = better. More characters, bigger f/x, more action, etc. All that stuff, to me, loses sight of the most important element: the story. I did think X-men 2 was good, even with its "bigger" cast. But there's always a risk when you go "bigger." Is it "bigger" in service to the story, or is it "bigger" for the sake of saying "Now with 40% more bigness!"

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Minor characters like Boba Fett had very little screen time and eventually was picked up to be a major character in the prequels.

I see many of the sidekick characters as "teasers" for future movies. War Machine spinoff? Nick Fury for Avengers? Black Widow spinoff?

Many of the minor characters will probably get killed off within 5 minutes of the on screen appearance............as did Mr. Fett!

 

[mbmcfarland]

That's actually why I thought of the comparison with Star Wars: not because I think the movies are comparable in terms of quality, but because the secondary characters are there mostly to help advance the story of the main characters, sell toys and create the feeling of a "universe." Hopefully all the new characters in IM2 won't all get the full origin treatment like in so many other comic book movies.

 

[foxbatkllr]

As long as the movie maintains a Iron Man vs. Whiplash focus, I think it'll be fine. The minor characters should be relegated to supporting roles and setup for Iron Man 3.

 

[TK1536]

I saw a picture of those Kubrick toy figures a while ago with five or six figures, Iron Man and Whiplash were noticeable, but three of them were blacked out. The silhouettes suggested War Machine and two other large bulky characters.

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Remember that each one of these movies is a setup for AVENGERS! Nick Fury was introduced in IM1, Tony Stark showed up in Hulk 2, S.H.I.E.L.D was introduced in IM1....so on and so on!

I wouldn't be surprised if the last three minutes of IM2 after the credits end we see a teaser with Cap or Thor.

 

[rollerboi]

You've got 2-ish hours of movie time. You need to spend that time doing action/eye-candy, plot exposition, and character development. Now throw in not one central character (as in the first one with Tony Stark/Iron Man), but FOUR central characters (Tony Stark/Iron Man, Jim Rhodes/War Machine, Black Widow, Whiplash), AS WELL AS probably 2-4 secondary characters (Pepper Potts, Justin Hammer, Nick Fury, oh and apparently someone called Iron Maiden, too), and ask yourself how much time you actually have left to develop the characters and/or keep them feeling real.

Pepper and Nick will have minimal screen time with minimal plot exposition, i'm sure. Just the hot secretary and the "authorization granted" top guy. I bet Rhodes has less involvement than in the first movie, though he may provide some sort of crucial backup role.

My guess is it's going to revolve around IM and Whiplash, with the Black Widow thrown in as a distraction/eye candy. Everything else will be fairly 2-dimensional, much like it was in the first movie. It'll probably be an extended feature as well. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[rollerboi]

Ooh, here's a good summary write-up.

Iron Man's second film gives him two villains to face, Whiplash and the Black Widow. Whiplash blames Iron Man for his disfigurement/imprisonment and simply wishes him dead. The Black Widow is a disgruntled ex-girlfriend who worked for Stark Enterprises and is terribly jealous of Stark's success and sophistication and uses his technology and her assets to show her superiority over Stark and Iron Man. Added to this mix are a sexy secretary who is not only studying the criminals, but has a thing for Iron Man as well and Andy Rhodes/War Machine is expanded upon. Gotham is still a dark and foreboding place in which Iron Man begins to come to grips with his own psychology as he relives the deaths of his parents in his dreams... err... ok, you got me. :lol

 

[Solo4114]

Ooh, here's a good summary write-up.

Iron Man's second film gives him two villains to face, Whiplash and the Black Widow. Whiplash blames Iron Man for his disfigurement/imprisonment and simply wishes him dead. The Black Widow is a disgruntled ex-girlfriend who worked for Stark Enterprises and is terribly jealous of Stark's success and sophistication and uses his technology and her assets to show her superiority over Stark and Iron Man. Added to this mix are a sexy secretary who is not only studying the criminals, but has a thing for Iron Man as well and Andy Rhodes/War Machine is expanded upon. Gotham is still a dark and foreboding place in which Iron Man begins to come to grips with his own psychology as he relives the deaths of his parents in his dreams... err... ok, you got me. :lol

Erm...no.


War Machine is piloted by Jim Rhodes. So Rhodie is getting plenty of face time (otherwise the poster's pretty misleading).

Black Widow could be a villain (she was originally in the comic) but will eventually be sort of a good guy (girl). Black Widow is originally a soviet spy in the comics who eventually defects. She's now involved with SHIELD I suspect a minor love triangle (or affection/attraction triangle) will play out with her, Tony, and Pepper. We'll see.


As for bad guys: Whiplash is one (duh). Justin Hammer is another -- he's a rival industrialist who also bankrolls badguys and has them give him 50% of the take on any criminal caper. Black Widow could be one or could be involved with SHIELD already in the film.

And, if you look in the credits on IMDB, they also list an Iron Maiden character.


I think the odds are more in favor of cluster-**** than quality cinema, but you never know.

 

[rollerboi]

(The humor lies in the fact that I stole the IMDB summary for "Batman Forever" and simply changed the names and a few terms around. )

 

[Solo4114]

Ahhhh gotcha. I must've missed that.

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Does Pepper Potts become Iron Maiden? Chestplate complete with boobies!?

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Gwyneth Paltrow as Iron Maiden in Iron Man 2? No, But We Can Wish…

by loyalkng on July 18, 2009 Email This Post

Here’s a photoscan of Ms. Pepper Pots played by Gwyneth Paltrow from a Vogue magazine. As you can probably tell from the photo Ms. Paltrow is strapped on some cyberrobotic machinery, you would figure that this would hint at her involvement in Iron Man 2 as possibly the Iron Maiden, but it’s not… Such a ridiculous tease this image has become. Iron Maiden is based from the Dark Reign series of Marvel Comics where Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) becomes president. And while Iron Man is now a known fugitive, he suffers from slowly losing his intelligence. Of course he made plans to have backup, so that’s where Ms. Pots comes in as the Iron Maiden. Check out some Comic Scan below for who this Iron Maiden lady is.

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

Entertainment Tonight segment!

SPOILERS - WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.........YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO...GO AHEAD! CLICK ON IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EjQPf5bn6Q

 

[Goonie]

:cool The Iron man 2 trailer is here!
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/ironman/