Certification - August 2008 - (Page 16)

WHAT WE LIKE Spoiler Alert If you had told us at the start of the summer that “Iron Man” was going to be good, we would have cancelled your subscription and banned you from the forums (OK, not really). But one of our editors broke down and saw it at the $3 theater and, believe it or not, it really was good! Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was inspired — the mythology of the original comic book definitely ascribed a dark side to the wealthy industrialist. The movie sports an explosive beginning that immediately rewinds backward 36 hours to give a better sense of what a cad this man is before he’s plunged into Syriana. The depiction of Stark’s playboy lifestyle invites viewers to live vicariously through it rather than feel envious. Meanwhile, the film’s high-tech depiction of Iron Man in action makes the most of a comic book character that has at times been too clunky to do much with. (Notice there hasn’t been an Iron Man movie until now, and the character was created in 1963.) As an added bonus, Stark developing his power suit has Downey Jr. displaying comic interplay with his robotic assistants that gives “Wall-E” a run for its money. The movie was well-cast overall: It was nice to see Gwyneth Paltrow do something cool again after seemingly doing little other than go to Coldplay concerts for the past couple of years, and Jeff Bridges was an awesome choice for the super villain. Particularly fun was seeing Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine pop up briefly as a terrorist guard. If there’s anything about the movie we’d quibble with, it’s this: There’s no way he could have built the first Iron Man suit in a cave, even with all those missile parts to disassemble and use. And Stark having everyone sit down at the first press conference was lame, but when a second press conference was called to explain away all of the carnage of the climax of the film, it provided a satisfying ending: Stark tossed off his officially prepared alibi to announce, “I’m Iron Man,” and then the film jarringly shifted to “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath blaring over the credits. It was refreshing to watch a superhero trash his secret identity. The scene also mirrors the more recent mythology of the “Iron Man” comic itself, wherein Stark publicly revealed his dual identity as Iron Man six years ago. The film’s high-tech depiction of Iron Man in action makes the most of a comic book character that has at times been too clunky to do much with. Uncharted Territories You may be reasonably acquainted with a map of the good, ol’ U.S. of A., and you geography buffs out there may even be able to navigate east of the Atlantic (think back to fifth-grade geography class). But even if you consider yourself internationally savvy, you may not be familiar with this map — a treasure map of online communities, if you will. This fictional continent is where social networking giants such as 16 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE August 2008 http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/ http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000375/ http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000569/ http://www.coldplay.com/index.php http://www.coldplay.com/index.php http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000313/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000313/ http://www.ratm.com/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - August 2008

Certification - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream jVirtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Troubleshooting Academic Connection What We Like Look Ahead The China Boom United in IT: Tech Culture Breaks Down Barriers Abroad Interface Digital Home Technology Integrator: Specialized Skills for the Smart Home Inside Certification Ad Index Endtag

Certification - August 2008

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