For every title in the movie database http://www.imdb.com/ , there is a section called Plot Keywords. For the recent film Iron Man, one of them is Exploding Bus. Further research reveals that there is a whole body suit full of these keywords, but most, like ‘Newspaper, Rock Music and Bald’ are not as informative.
(Incidentally, add another line to your ‘how to fritter away time on the internet’ list and click on some of the plot words for some extravagantly enmeshed films. It is possible to link Cinema Paradiso, Saving Private Ryan and Dennis The Menace by the crucial element of Person on Fire.)
It comes down to the exploding bus. The other details, like the cast, direction and plot are important, but your attitude towards blockbusters that trash public transport systems will dictate whether or not you buy the ticket.
If you do fork over your pennies you will find yourself watching Robert Downey JR ride a Humvee, in Afghanistan. He is playing a genius called Tony Stark who designs and supplies the US army with technologically advanced weapons. The guarding soldiers are anxious but he soon soothes their nerves by displaying his streetwise wit and sipping whiskey. The accompanying rock music helps too.
Suddenly, they are attacked by a missile. It turns out it was not a punishment meted out by the Taliban because they heard unlawful music, but an explosive entrance from a lesser known organisation called The Ten Rings. Stark is captured and taken to a cave, where he meets the leader, Raza, a guy that reveals his malevolence in the way he tosses a spanner. He must have skipped the health and safety day at the forge.
After the awkward introductions have finished and they have shared some sneer time, it transpires that The Ten Rings want Stark to build them a missile. It proves to be a watershed as the man who builds bombs is horrified when he is asked to build a bomb. He refuses but is forced to agree when a fellow prisoner is threatened with torture.
Through various manipulations of objects found in the cave, Stark is able to display his knowledge of the A-Team box-set and build his way out of trouble. When he returns to California he tells his right-hand man, Obadiah Stane (played by a bald, bearded Jeff Bridges, who oddly resembles an aging Nordic fisherman) his days of arms building are over and he wants to work for peace.
And so the process begins that will result in Stark developing a high tech suit and fighting the forces of evil. It’s a blast. Director Jon Favreau let the cast improvise some of the dialogue and it helps lend a sense of freshness to a heavily mined plotline. It is almost like watching the guys from Swingers riff on the idea of being a super-hero.
It is polished, witty and strongly resembles the sixties’ comic books of Stan Lee, who based the hero on Howard Hughes. It just about stays the right side of madness and is a thoroughly entertaining romp. Like a lot of first instalments, it suffers a little from a need to establish so much back-story and the gladiatorial clash at the climax is not quite worthy of the build-up but Robert Downey Jr elevates it from cliché. He plays the hero as someone who his spent his youth car-jacking in Grand Theft Auto when he should have been riding his tricycle. It is a great journey. If you go for the bus, you’ll stay for the ride.
(Incidentally, add another line to your ‘how to fritter away time on the internet’ list and click on some of the plot words for some extravagantly enmeshed films. It is possible to link Cinema Paradiso, Saving Private Ryan and Dennis The Menace by the crucial element of Person on Fire.)
It comes down to the exploding bus. The other details, like the cast, direction and plot are important, but your attitude towards blockbusters that trash public transport systems will dictate whether or not you buy the ticket.
If you do fork over your pennies you will find yourself watching Robert Downey JR ride a Humvee, in Afghanistan. He is playing a genius called Tony Stark who designs and supplies the US army with technologically advanced weapons. The guarding soldiers are anxious but he soon soothes their nerves by displaying his streetwise wit and sipping whiskey. The accompanying rock music helps too.
Suddenly, they are attacked by a missile. It turns out it was not a punishment meted out by the Taliban because they heard unlawful music, but an explosive entrance from a lesser known organisation called The Ten Rings. Stark is captured and taken to a cave, where he meets the leader, Raza, a guy that reveals his malevolence in the way he tosses a spanner. He must have skipped the health and safety day at the forge.
After the awkward introductions have finished and they have shared some sneer time, it transpires that The Ten Rings want Stark to build them a missile. It proves to be a watershed as the man who builds bombs is horrified when he is asked to build a bomb. He refuses but is forced to agree when a fellow prisoner is threatened with torture.
Through various manipulations of objects found in the cave, Stark is able to display his knowledge of the A-Team box-set and build his way out of trouble. When he returns to California he tells his right-hand man, Obadiah Stane (played by a bald, bearded Jeff Bridges, who oddly resembles an aging Nordic fisherman) his days of arms building are over and he wants to work for peace.
And so the process begins that will result in Stark developing a high tech suit and fighting the forces of evil. It’s a blast. Director Jon Favreau let the cast improvise some of the dialogue and it helps lend a sense of freshness to a heavily mined plotline. It is almost like watching the guys from Swingers riff on the idea of being a super-hero.
It is polished, witty and strongly resembles the sixties’ comic books of Stan Lee, who based the hero on Howard Hughes. It just about stays the right side of madness and is a thoroughly entertaining romp. Like a lot of first instalments, it suffers a little from a need to establish so much back-story and the gladiatorial clash at the climax is not quite worthy of the build-up but Robert Downey Jr elevates it from cliché. He plays the hero as someone who his spent his youth car-jacking in Grand Theft Auto when he should have been riding his tricycle. It is a great journey. If you go for the bus, you’ll stay for the ride.
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