The other night I saw Iron Man 2 which I loved. Robert Downey Jnr floats my boat in a major way, and his character - Tony Stark / Iron Man - is a mischievious, one-liner-throwing, brattish-but-adorable charmer. I love him.
In Iron Man 2, without giving too much away, we discover Tony is rather unwell (which he is trying to keep secret from Pepper) and is also confronted with the US military seeking to obtain a prototype Iron Man suit for "security" purposes. The Senate inquiry is fabulous, with the playful billionaire defeating everyone with his savvy wit and gadget prowess.
I must also mention that with RDJ's facial hair, at times I mistook him for a George Michael look-a-like. Just saying. (And it wasn't in a bad way).
The bad guy - Mickey Rourke - sits in Russia swigging vodka and feeling very pissed off that he could be an Iron Man of his own. So after some serious welding, we have nasty Russian Iron Man out to get charming US Iron Man. Um..... The Cold War is well over! Shouldn't he be an Arab? haha. Just kidding. I prefer Russia v USA anyway. It's less realistic.
I must also point out that Mickey Rourke has some insane fingernails - very curved over. I imagine this is a bit of an evolutionary thing from curling your hands in boxing gloves a lot? Or simply an evolutionary mis-step from hobbits. It's very hard to get The Wrestler out of your head when you see MR - with the topknot and glasses a constant in both films - but that really just adds to the character (who I thought could have been way meaner).
Also a little sad was the cameo of DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) who appears as himself... If you aren't aware of who he is, check out the link. Quite the celebrity DJ. He died of an accidental overdose last August. Iron Man 2 is dedicated to his memory. Jon Favreau - actor, writer, director - acts in (he's the driver), wrote and directed Iron Man 2. This dude is such an overachiever. And so normal looking. He also wrote and directed Iron Man and has appeared more recently in Couples Retreat (great aeroplane fodder) and has a long history with Vince Vaughan and Will Ferrell.
The stage is also being set for the much-discussed Avengers film which is expected to include all the super heroes in one big, super, heroic film. Samuel L. Jackson prances around being mysterious and alluding to secret Avengers guff, and Scarlett Johansson turns out to be more than just a sexy distraction from the Legal Dept, with another little link to the Avengers also.
Returning from Iron Man 1 is Pepper Potts, constant companion to Tony and in Iron Man 2 taking over the company in Tony's distracted absence. Pepper is played deftly by Gwyneth Paltrow. I want to name my imaginary dog Pepper Potts such do I love that name. I also love her style. Whereas she was a little more curly haired in Iron Man 1, in 2 she is working the sleek hair. And a fringe. Pepper has a chic, simple, star-CEO thing going on, and her clothes reflect this. This is a woman who has about 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, yet manages to pull everything off looking classy and gorgeous. And slim. GOOP today is all about her fitness/diet regime. There is a green drink that looks hideous that she drank post-exercise. Ick.
The shoulder-exposed outfit is what I'm talkin' about here. I am obsessed! Primarily because I would love to (a) have her decolletage; and (b) wear that outfit to the races. I also sat and marvelled at her post-2-babies figure to fit so perfectly into it. I loved it.
