American Awakening...

Take that, Hydra...




I know I said I don't do reviews anymore, so I'm labeling this a commentary...

First off:

Go.

See.

This.

Film.

Follow that with a hundred exclamation points. I am absolutely in love with it. It's fun, earnest and filled with everything I had hoped it would contain. The script by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely with an uncredited polish by Joss Whedon, is great and the characters are real, interesting and you care for them. Something that doesn't always happen when watching a film these days. This is Joe Johnston's best film, by far. This puts him in a whole new league in my opinion. He's always had potential, but there seemed to be something holding him back in each of his films. Usually it's the script. It is no surprise then that this is the best script he's had to film and it shows.

Although "The Dark Knight" is my favorite superhero film, this is my favorite adaptation. It's the closest thing I've seen to a perfect adaptation of the material. In a word, it is authentic. It takes things from many periods and many storytellers. There's the familiar Joe Simon & Jack Kirby stuff as well as the classic reboot by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. But they also left room to use plot lines from the likes of Ed Brubacker and Mark Millar. You can tell where they leave off, and more than others, I can see how you could spin off several properties in the film. Bucky for "Winter Soldier," "The Howling Commandos," and even a glimpse of what a "S.H.I.E.L.D." film could be.

But this is a film that lives on its own. Unlike "Iron Man 2," where two thirds of the film felt like a set-up for "The Avengers," this film is totally self contained. There is no need to see or have seen another Marvel film. I was even fascinated by the closing credits and the way Johnston used them. Pure brilliance. If you waited around after the credits then you saw the teaser trailer for next summer's big offering, but I want to see a sequel to this film. And I hope at least part of it stays in the past that Steve Rogers longs to be in.

Because I know how he feels...

Small Change...

When it's all said and done later this year, "Iron Man 2" will put somewhere between 200 - 300 million dollars in the Mouse's vault...

Not bad for something they had zero to do with. But since they now own Marvel, they own the profits in the end run/long run. Even though Paramount Pictures is the distributor, they only get a distribution fee. The bulk of the profits fall back to Mighty Marvel and therefore, Disney. And this is all before DVD/Blu-Ray/Pay-Per-View/Cable/iTunes.

The same is true of next year's "Thor" and "Captain America" and 2012's "Avengers" and the as yet, undecided project. That one will be the last one distributed by Paramount and all other sequels of these franchise and anything else Marvel does will go under Walt Disney Pictures or Touchstone Pictures. That distribution fee won't exist or be needed.

Of course, then there's the other Marvel films that various studios are producing:

Spider-Man 4 over at Sony (Columbia/TriStar).

Ghost Rider 2 over at Sony (Columbia/TriStar).

Fantastic Four 3 over at Fox.

X-Men 4 over at Fox.

Wolverine 2 over at Fox.

Deadpool over at Fox.

A lot of Marvel aka: Disney projects not handled by Disney, eh? The funny thing to think about is how many other studios have films that are in production based on something owned by another studio? There are two or three other studios that are making films based on Disney characters (yes, Marvel characters are now Disney characters). And Disney will make some cash from each of these productions. Now it won't be as much as if they were making the films in house, but it's still cash. And make no mistake in thinking that Disney isn't watching what the other studios are doing with their properties. They will be making sure they follow those contracts to the letter. The L-E-T-T-E-R. Any deviation that causes them to be in violation would be pounced on before you could even think about it. Disney will make sure that this happens as I'm sure they're salivating at the idea of producing their own Spider-Man film. This is probably why you've seen Columbia Pictures work at getting a "Ghost Rider" film into production by September (because that's when the rights will revert back to Marvel/Disney).

By the end of this year there will be at least one or two films in pre-production on the Burbank Lot that will be Disney's first Marvel productions. Now, they've gone through the library of characters and narrowed down the prospects of what they want to do over the next few years of filming. But as of 2013 you should expect at least two films a year from Disney Studios featuring Marvel characters. It'll be part of their summer/holiday tentpole strategy. Just as Warner Bros. plans on releasing DC characters as their tentpole films as a replacement for the Harry Potter franchise.

So expect a lot of films over the next few years about guys wearing underwear on the outside of their clothes from the Mouse...

IMAX MAN 2...

I am Iron Man...


The Imax posters for "Iron Man 2" are out...



Next month Marvel and Downey Jr. are gonna take it to the next level...

Hat Tip to Super Hero Hype for the Iron Man poster and Screen Rant for the Whiplash poster.

More Shell Games...

The new "Iron Man 2" trailer is out and it looks awesome...

Take a peek and count the days. This film will be huge.

Did I mention it was awesome?

Oh yeah, I did.

I Am Iron Man, Again...

The trailer for "Iron Man 2" has finally landed on the Net and in glorious QuickTime no doubt...

Check it out and then go online and order those tickets now. You really don't want to be the guy that has that nasty "Sold Out" sign come up in front of you as you get to the teller, do you?

Downey Jr. is the man, man...

International Too, Uhm Two...

Who you looking at?


Who?!


That's what I thought you said!

Take a look at "Iron Man 2's" first one-sheet international poster...

Nice and brooding. Who would have thought with the perfection of CG it would turn comics into powerhouse films and Marvel into a powerhouse producer?

Shellhead without the shell...

Iron Man x2...

I am Iron Man...

Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh...



Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh...

They've released a new teaser poster for "Iron Man 2" today...

Pretty cool finally getting to see War Machine, ain't it?

Same Make, New Model...

Brought to you by a grant from the Stark Corporation...


The new issue of Empire is something worth getting if you're into Marvel superheroes that wear cool armor...

Nice looking new outfit for Shellhead, huh? Looking forward to this almost as much as Bob Iger is looking for that distribution deal with Paramount to end.

2012 can't come any sooner..

First Pic From The Second...

Iron Man 2 to be correct...

USAToday has an article out that shows us the first pic from Marvel Studio's big 2010 summer blockbuster.

I like the progression of Suits in the background. Suits? Get it? Seriously, I'm looking forward to this as Downey Jr. is one of the best actors out there.

Waiting to see...