Big night for Steve tonight. I just got home from seeing Iron Man, Smallville was huge, and…well, that’s about it. But those two things alone are enough to make tonight a HUGE night and a great one. Let’s talk Iron Man.

You can go to just about any website this weekend and find at least one or two reviews of Marvel’s latest motion picture offering. Ain’t It Cool alone has five reviews from regular contributers and a plethora of reviews from readers of the site. So, the question is, “What can you add Steve?” “What can you say that hasn’t already been said?”

Three words, “OH MY LANTA!!!!” I think that about sums it up. GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!

Seriously though, Iron Man is quite possibly the best offering from Marvel since Spider-Man 2.

For me, judging a super hero movie comes down to two big things:

1. Is it true to the source material?

2. Is it fun without making fun of it’s content? In other words, is it too campy?

First, you could take the origin story that is Iron Man the movie and use it to replace the original origin story from the comics with it, and you would still have a long lasting character and long running comic book that wouldn’t look much different from what we have had for nearly forty years of Iron Man in the comics. Pretty true to the source material I would say.

Secondly, Iron Man is fun. There are some awesome moments throughout the movie. Not just the action scenes, mind you, the whole idea of watching Stark create the armor is great and it breeds some funny stuff. But, it never goes to the point of MAKING FUN of what Iron Man is and who the character has been. It’s no Batman Begins in terms of “darkness” or seriousness, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s a totally different character and a totally different universe. Unlike Bruce Wayne who merely plays the role of a billionaire playboy, Tony Stark IS a billionaire playboy. He takes the true hero’s journey in this film, and therein lies the drama. However, the drama isn’t so heavy that you miss out on the fun of a full fledged super hero movie.

As far as all the other elements of a movie go, Iron Man comes up all A’s. Everyone turns in great performances, Jon Favreau directed this movie in expert fashion, and the special effects are so good, that you don’t even notice them. It’s hard to tell when you’re looking at a digital effect and a practical effect. That’s a great thing.

Iron Man suffers from one weakness. It’s so good that there are fifty million outstanding reviews out there. If you read them all, you may go in expecting the CITIZEN KANE of super hero movies. This is not Donner’s Superman. But it’s close. I look forward to a second one not in hopes that things will get better, but because the first one is that good. So, go in expecting to have fun and watch a good movie and you won’t be disappointed at all.

If you want spoilers, or my thoughts on more specific moments of the movie (Read: My reaction to the scene after the credits.) then check out Geek Out Loud early next week. Make sure you go to geekoutpodcast.com to listen and subscribe.

In closing, go see this movie, and stay through the credits. Then come back here and leave a comment or two.

So this puppy’s later than an issue of All Star Batman and Robin.  The stuff may seem a bit dated, but I get to talk about all of the stuff that has excited me lately, namely, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Smallville.  I do go off on a tangent or two here and there, and the Heroes talk is really short, but don’t worry, later this week, we’ll catch up on Heroes.

So settle in, grab a cup of coffee, and get ready to immerse yourself in total geekdom with me.  

Don’t forget to join the conversation by adding your comments or E-mailing me.

Hope you enjoy.

 

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Here are a few items of interest that are floating around the internet today.

First, the CW has posted their official description of Smallville’s Season 7 premiere, “Bizzarro.”  Check it out over at Krytonsite. Spoilers are present, so beware if you want to remain spoiler free for the season.

 Also, while the news about the Justice League movie that I commented on a few weeks back is still a little up in the air, what is for sure is that George Miller is directing the film and according to Obsessedwithfilm.com the film will be prodeced by Barrie M. Osborne and shooting in Australia. While it’s still not clear if the film is going to be digital animation done with motion capture, or animated, or live action, it is apparent that the thing is underway for sure. By the way, if you are curious as to who Barrie Osborne is, click on his name and check him out. He has produced movies the likes of THE MATRIX and THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. So, here’s a producer that is used to working on a large scale, we’ll see how he handles the task of tackling this movie.

Superman Homepage has posted screen shots from the upcoming season premier of THE BATMAN, Kids Wb’s Saturday morning cartoon following the adventures of the caped crusader. The pics look pretty cool.

The CW showed the first teaser for Smallvilles seventh season. Check it out:

Oh…and today Paramount released a teaser for IRON MAN. Click here to check it out in quicktime.

I almost feel like since San Diego that there has been a rivalry between the Iron Man property and The Dark Knight. Maybe it’s just me, but Iron Man captured the buzz at the San Diego ComiCon. The Dark Knight walked away with all the buzz from Wizard World in Chicago. We’ve all heard about the incredible footage shown at Wizard World, but the only teaser we got was a voice over. Iron Man took off his Iron glove and used it to slap Batman in the face. This is a teaser to get us geeks excited, and peak the interest of casual movie goers. The Dark Knight teaser feels like Christopher Nolan said, “Well, I have to give the studio something, so here. Use this. You don’t see anything, but at least they’ll hear something.” Compared to Iron Man? Weak. But that’s just petty speculation.

Here at my own person Fortress of Solitude, the League of Geeks has had an interesting discussion about what we would do with a certain property if it were brought to the big screen. So, tomorrow, check out Geek Out Online for the first ever “How I’d Do it…” featuring The A-Team. This promises to be some funny stuff.

I mentioned earlier today the warm reception that Iron Man got at ComiCon.  Actually what I mentioned was the fact that Iron Man was the highlight of the Con for most people.  Well, Marvel is obviously super-excited about the reception Iron Man received in San Diego (or as it was originally pronounced Sahn Dee-Ah-go, scholars maintain that the actual translation has been lost)(Sorry, Ron Burgundy moment.).  So, they have posted several videos from San Diego one their website.  Among the videos are John Favreau discussing the movie and characters.  The most interesting to me though is the video of the Mark 1 Armor.  the Mark 1 Armor is, obviously, the first suit that Tony Stark builds.  What’s coolest about this armor though is just how closely it resembles the original armor from the comic book.  Surprisingly, this is one of those instances where the designers don’t feel the need to heavily redesign a look from the comic to make it work on screen, and it actually works.  I know that because I’ve seen the footage from ComiCon.  You can too, if you know where to look.   Check out the old school pic of Iron Man’s Armor from the sixties and click here to compare it to the Mark 1 version from the movie. I have to be honest and say that I’ve never been a big fan of Iron Man.  As of late, I especially do not like Tony Stark in the comics.  The animated movie that was released back in January left a lot to be desired in my opinion, but this looks like it’s shaping up to be an awesome ride.

Click hereto check out the video with the armor, the car, and some comments from people involved with the film.