Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’
Iron Man 2
Iron Man is, for better and worse, a superhero for our times. Played with charismatic aplomb once again by Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark is a bundle of contradictions—narcissistic yet selfless, deeply flawed yet ultimately heroic. While some superheroes skirt the celebrity culture that surrounds them, Tony dives in and swims in it, constructing for himself an outrageous public persona that both reflects and protects his true self. He struggles with his flaws, trying to correct them even as he excuses them. So for a man of iron, Tony is the superhero who seems, paradoxically, the most familiar to us—the most like ourselves.
And that, I think, is where the power in the Iron Man series lurks. Tony is not a “too good to be true” halcyon like Superman, nor is he a tragically flawed antihero such as those found in Watchmen. He’s a frat house kind of guy who wants to do good, and often does so—in spite of himself.
Iron Man 2 has all the baggage you’d expect in a 2010 superhero film. While it’s a touch less problematic than its predecessor, it still fires up some foul language, some gratuitous sexuality, some heavy-duty (though not grotesque) violence.
But it also gives us a prism through which we can examine evil, ponder good and see someone who’s willing to face down the former to hold up the latter. Tony Stark should not be a role model. But he does suggest that furiously flawed folks—jerks like us—can be heroes.
Recommended Movies:
A Nightmare on Elm Street
It is almost foolish to attempt to offer any sort of profound critique on one more Nightmare on Elm Avenue flick. Since Freddy Krueger first scraped collectively and waggled his metallic claw-fingers again in 1984, there has never been any mystery about what an audience will get from this seemingly never-ending franchise.
Every time he’s ingloriously shoved back onto middle stage, we see the identical grisly charred killer in his murky, ever-burning boiler room. The identical tormented, sleep-disadvantaged teens being stabbed, pummeled, slashed and then left to dribble, gush or vomit buckets of gore. The same over-amplified crashes, screams and orchestral shrieks designed to not solely make moviegoers soar however depart them suffering from a untimely case of tinnitus.
There is not any vital political or social subtext to ponder. (Though some critics tried because the years have flown by.) No scintillating dialogue to relish. (The script comes off sounding like one thing crafted with cigarette burn marks on the back of a cocktail napkin.)
The only actual difference this time around is that the pre-charbroiled Freddy has escalated from twisted youngster killer to lurid pedophile.
So if there’s something deserving severe critique, I suppose it would have to be the filmmakers who determined to remake this mess. (Again.) And the millions of souls who sit and watch it. (Again.)
Download Full A Nightmare on Elm Street Film
Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic
Recommended Movies: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Incoming search terms for this Movie: dantes inferno animated epic stream
Dark Relic
Recommended Movies:Shutter IslandBatman: The Dark KnightThe Road
Clash of the Titans
Recommended Movies: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King