Iron Man 2 Review

So for Mother's Day, my wife wanted to see Iron Man 2, so since it's her day, I said, heck yeah! I wanted to see it too.

So for those of you that didn't know, and if you are watching these movies, you probably did, but they are making an Avengers movie in 2012 which is tying Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America movies together. This is important because of the links with the characters that carry over, and a few small fan service moments in the movie.

So the first thing that I'll mention of this movie was the visuals were spot on, they were great in the first one, and this one just built upon that.

I really like Robert Downey Jr in this role as he is perfect and comes across so arrogant that it is hard to see if he's acting or just being himself. The role that Mickey Rouke as the main antagonist was well done, and he just melds with each of his roles that it works perfectly. He can portray a psycho so well because he has that sinister half smile that can send chills down your spine.

The supporting actors Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and the others all did very well in their parts. I never really fell out of the moment of the story, which is crucial for a action story, because if they slip up, then you're out of the world which drags the movie down.

Since I don't like to ruin plots, I'm not going to say anything about it, except that it helps drive the character of Tony Stark to new levels, while slowly building toward the collaborative Avengers in a couple years.

One thing that sort of bugged me, but not as much as I expected, was the replacement of the actor who was Tony's friend, James Rhodes. I don't recall why they did the change, but honestly think that it wasn't needed. Don Cheadle did well in the role, but Terrance Howard did a great job as well.

Oh yeah, if you see it, wait until the end of the credits for a little bit of final fan service.

The Tale of Percy Jackson

So I've done it! I finished the entire 5 book series, however it could possibly be continued. I'll get to that later.

I really liked the series as you might have been able to tell over the course of the two previous reviews. The final book was I think the best. The pacing was spot on, I felt that Rick Riodan had gotten better at writing action by this point and this book contained a ton of action. I also enjoyed the way that he brought back previous characters to have small, but important parts of the final chapters.

Since, I'm not one to spoil things, I'll just say that the book didn't quite end the way I expected.

However, despite the good action and the development of the characters, which tied a lot of the lingering loose ends together, I felt that he did a cheap trick. He left the ending open again. Without ruining, I have to say you will know what I mean if you read it. But these sort of endings, just like the rest of the books aggravates me. I like a closed ending. Doesn't have to be happy or sad or any emotion in particular, just some semblance that the characters will go on with their life, but if I'm not going to read it, I don't want to know that there is a new thing awaiting them.

So in summary, these books were very well done, they are better as a whole, than the individual pieces, which is a glaring weak point in what I think keeps it from being a great series. Look at the Harry Potter books for reference. Those books each stand alone with their own plot that ties together at the ending, even with Voldemort still running around, the stories satisfactorily end at the end of the book. Anyways, that's really my only complaint of the entire series.

Do you guys have any things you would like me to review, or comment on. Any questions?