Review: Iron Man 2

As everyone knows, one of the cardinal, unbreakable, unyielding rules of the universe is that Samuel L. Jackson is a Bad Ass. So with the inclusion of Sam, along with Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle going to town on robots in mechanize battle suits, plus Scarlett Johansson kicking ass and not taking names, the Bad Ass level of this movie is pushing the limits.

I've been pumped about this movie ever since the first movie came out. I loved all the characters in the first one, and Don Cheadle replacing Terrance Howard didn't phase me at all. The interaction between Tony Stark and James Rhodes is arguably better for it. Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. Witty, sarcastic, eccentric, and narcissistic (agreed). The witty sniping between the two characters was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The story of this movie was pretty solid, involving Tony dealing with the aftermath of his public unveiling as Iron Man at the end of the first movie (OMG SPOILERS?! Sorry but if you haven't seen the first movie, not only should you not be reading this article, but you should not be doing anything other than seeing the first movie,) as well as the government and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s relationship with the now ousted superhero. If you liked the first movie, it's got a lot of the same feel with Tony doing what he does best. Being Iron Man, and showing off.

The fact that Marvel is trying to get it's continuity together in order to form a basis of movies that will serve as the lead in to an eventual The Avengers film is nothing short of awesome. They're dropping little (and sometimes big) hints about other characters, past events, and future events that will shape the film when it comes out and for a self-proclaimed comic aficionado, that makes me giddy as a school girl. A very giddy school girl.

In the end, I would say that this movie is a good continuation of the feel of the first movie, and that if you liked the first movie you're definitely going to like this one too. When Tony and Rhodey get into action, you're going to get excited, because let's not beat around the bush; What's better than Iron Man kicking ass alone? Iron Man and War Machine kicking ass together. I'm giving this movie a 9/10. Get up from your computer, corral your posse, and go see this movie.

Review: Kick-Ass

If you know me, you know of my passionate love for comic books, and things comic-related. So with this trend of turning comic books into movies gaining more and more momentum, I've been having to go and see more and more movies. I'm not complaining.

Kick-Ass is one of the latest comic book movies to hit theaters, and it does not disappoint. The trailers leading up to it all made it out to be this kid living out a pipe dream of becoming a real-life super hero, and then he and other costumed vigilantes fighting bad guys. The movie itself is pretty much that, but a lot, a lot more violent. And by violent, I mean awesome.

There are a couple of good fight scenes, and they were all pretty graphic. Being a big fan of graphic violence, I was enthralled by these scenes. Watching these people do fancy acrobatic combat combined with guns, knives and batons was really enjoyable.

The movie's story was really good, and bar a kind of deus ex machina ending, I thought it was all within the realm of realism. The characters were surprisingly well written, with comical quirks and lines for everyone. You feel for these people. The nerdy protagonist is one of those characters you almost can't help but like.

If you like comic book movies, awesome fight scenes, and Nicolas Cage being a bad ass, you're gonna like this movie a lot. I certainly did. Giving this movie 8.5/10.