Reading the Dictionary

As of a few days ago, I am beginning my year long task to read the entirety of Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. I calculate that should I read five pages a day, I will be finished within a year. Wish me luck! Today, I shall begin on page 11 and end on page 15.

Review: The Joker Blogs: Further Evidence

The Joker Blogs: Further Evidence is the interquel series, set in between Series 1 and Series 2 of The Joker Blogs. In the six four to ten minute long episodes, various characters who will play a role in Series 2 are examined. These character include Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Alberto Falcone, Dr. Harleen Quinzel Kopski, Detective Harvey Bullock, Lock-Up, and, of course, the Joker. These stories are partly found footage and partly cinematic, as the creators have said Series 2 will be.

First off, I just want to say that everything that was good about Series 1 of The Joker Blogs is good here. The acting is great all around, and the production values are really sweet. Even though I think that the creators changed some of the actors, why they did so is explained in their Top Ten Questions video. At any rate, all of the new additions are altogether excellent.

Now, onto the individual episodes, which range from clever to creepy to funny. The first episode, "He Can't Because He's Dead", is enthralling in it's simplicity as it explains how the Joker came up with his plan for Series 1. The shout outs to Lex Luthor and other aspects of the bigger DC Universe (Joker name drops Clock King) are some of my favorite things about this series as a whole. The second episode, "Pull the Plug", has Dr. Jeremiah Arkham giving is some chilling backstory about his dark and troubled past, and was my least favorite episode. My feelings about the aforementioned chilling backstory aside, this episode was mainly just Arkham talking, with all of the sparse action saved for the end. It wasn't strictly speaking bad, but the rest of the series was better in comparison.

Episode #3, "Phantom Pains", gives us a look at Alberto Falcone on his birthday. The preview for this episode also introduced the Penguin, who some have said sounds suspiciously like Philip Seymour Hoffman. Anyhow, this episode was a short character study of Alberto, drug and alcohol content plus some gore notwithstanding. It was my second favorite episode of Further Evidence, garnering awesomeness points for a very awesome guest star. The fourth episode, "Under Lock-Up and Key", features an uncharacteristically goofy look at Detective Harvey Bullock and Cindy Reynolds of all people as his Skype date, which soon goes awry when Lock-Up arrives. I laughed at this episode, but it felt a bit out of place among the seriousness of the preceding episode and the mellow following episode.

This fifth episode, "The Doctor Is In," featuring show creator Scott McClure, who also plays the Joker, as Dr. Tommy Elliot, provides a window into the life of the good doctor, who is subtly implied to be psychopath, going for the Dr. Jerk angle. The reason I liked this episode so much was because of all the references to the greater DC Universe, not as many as Episode 18 of Series 1, but a lot nonetheless. A woman implied to be Selina Kyle shows up, as does our old friend Alberto Falcone and newcomer Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who I hear is actually mentioned in the novelization of Batman Begins, with Bruce Wayne just barely staying outside of the shot. The Frank Sinatra song "The Good Life" was also a nice touch. Downsides include the highlights of Elliot's sexual exploits, which are mostly played for laughs with nothing terribly graphic shown. I will say that McClure is as good in his role of the subtle psychopathology of Tommy Elliot as he is with the overt psychopathology of the Joker, and I think I like him better in the role of the former.

The sixths and final episode, "Therapy Ends", finally brings us back to Dr. Harleen Quinzel, who had changed her name to Harleen Kopski. Here, it is suggested that she is slowly losing her mind following everything the Joker has done to her, as she begins to cut herself off from all of her friends and family, seeking out the Joker to vent her anger and sadness. It seems to me that Harleen, being a therapist, would understand that she needs  to talk about her pain, not bottle it up, but oh well. One thing I didn't like about this series is the insistence on referring to Arkham as an "Asylum." I know that this comes from the comics, but "asylum" is such an outdated term that only serves to further illustrate the fault of many writers in portraying the mentally ill. At any rate, this episode had some good drama, nicely providing a set up for Series 2, which is set to finally come out in April.

In conclusion, The Joker Blogs: Further Evidence is a good prelude to what is to come, nicely studying each individual character after spending all that time with the Joker. Based on this, I eagerly look forward to the coming release of Series 2, subtitled One Bad Day, an obvious shout out to Allan Moor's The Killing Joke. Thusly, I highly recommend this series to persons 15 or older.

RATING: 9.5/10

Bible Verse Sunday #14

Today's verse is Proverbs 10:3:

"The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked."

The ESV Study Bible has this to say on the verse:

"Prov. 10:1–5 The purpose of these proverbs is to encourage the pursuit of one’s labors in righteousness, which excludes acquiring gain by unjust means (v. 2a) or squandering it by sloth (vv. 4–5). At the center of these verses is the reason: The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry. It is the Lord who provides (v. 3), and through righteousness he delivers not only from hunger but also from death (v. 2b). The encouragement of the whole section to walk in righteousness is framed by the appeal to be a son who is wise (v. 1a) or prudent (v. 5a) rather than foolish (v. 1b) or shameful (v. 5b). To see vv. 1–5 as a paragraph should prevent taking any of its verses out of context (see note on v. 4)."

In church today, the pastor talked about how being a Christian is a matter of sacrifice, and how the disciples were asked by Jesus "Who do you say that I am?" In the High School service, the youth pastor spoke about underdogs, and how God loves humanity and wants them to be with him.

I went do lunch with my Dad and my sisters today, and helped with a job at my Dad's shop. I'm sure I earned some serious coin, so to speak. Then we went home. My mom also did the Chilly Hilly, a thirty mile bike ride. In celebration, my sister made a cake. This week was quite busy, and I believe I'll be having a reviews for The Joker Blogs: Further Evidence, Batman: Arkham City (graphic novel), and Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders up soon.

Fourth Bible Quiz Team Invitational (2012-2013)

At Highlands Community Church, there was held yesterday evening and today an invitational competition. The churches of Highlands Community Church, Alderwood Community Church, Snohomish Community Church, Lone Rock Church, and Faith Baptist Community Church, the one in Seattle, came together over the weekend to compete in a series of quiz matches. However, Only the first three participated in the Senior division, though all were in the novice, HCC in that division with a one girl team. I've written about Bible Quizzing before, and I will so again. My team actually did much better than usual, even though I myself did not achieve that All Star status as I did before, I quizzed well. My team won about 9 out of some 15 quizzes. I would like to congratulate Kelly Post and her team for winning the Senior tournament, and I would also like to congratulate her for making the top Senior All Star with an average of over 100 points per quiz. Others I would like to congratulate are Lizzie Johnson and Lizzie Joss. I also salute the quizzers from the other churches who made All Stars, and all the others besides. And of course, where would we be without our fine coaches and quiz masters, including Coach Michael "General" Wendt, Coach Wendy Grinols-Sweeney (known to me as "mom"), Coach Betsy Purcell, and Coach Keisha Wendt. Furthermore, I also thank Chuck Collins, John Overs

For the invitational, we hosted a few quizzers at our house overnight. This is usually good because we get a nice breakfast made for us in the morning, courtesy mom and dad. We drove back to the church at 9:00, where we missed the pre-quiz briefing, but were able to get to the other events on time. We paused the quizzing to have a devotional and lunch, after which was the tournament. Then we announced All Stars, packed up, and went home. Other than the brief trip to the library I took, I believe I shall remain home for the rest of the day.

Tim Hawkins

Tim Hawkins is quite possibly one of the greatest Christian comedians currently active. His wry humor and use of parody are brilliantly hilarious, as illustrated by the below video. He draws not only on pop culture for humorous purposes, but also on the church itself. He truly is a comic genius. This video had me rolling on the floor laughing.

Granted, I'm not an expert on comedians, but I assert that you can show Tim Hawkins to your kids without being worried about profanities and innuendo. He's one of the best, Tim Hawkins is.

Review: Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre is a 2006 comedy sports film, loosely based on the story of Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a monk who fought as a luchador to support his orphanage. Starring Jack Black as the titular character, this film tells the tale of Ignacio "Nacho", a cook at a Mexican Catholic orphanage who teams up with a thief named Steven to fight in the arena as a masked luchador, in order to secure funds to buy food for his orphanage.

Alright, I'll be honest. This movie is... lowbrow, to say the least. But was really kills it is that it had a lot of potential to be great. This movie is from the director of Napoleon Dynamite, and stars comedic mainstay Jack Black. It even copies the food dish opening credits from that film. What could have been a cleverly made, laugh out loud comedy devolves into an aimless, run-of-the-mill underdog sports movie. And really, it barely is a sports movie, spending only a minimal amount of time in the luchador setting, focusing more on bizarre, unrelated incidents than on any central plot. A lot of the jokes involve crude humor or soulless slapstick, begging for laughs. Another annoying thing about this film is that some of the dialogue is in Spanish, which might throw some viewers off.

However, I'll give the film credit for giving good chemistry between Nacho and the leading lady, Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera). Their romance is chaste and clean, but also rather sweet. I also praise the film for offering a view of Christianity that isn't extremely warped and unflattering. Nacho, in that regard, is a credit to his order.

But in the end, Nacho Libre is still a lowbrow comedy film gone horribly wrong. It might be entertaining to younger audiences, but it is by no means even a fairly good film.

RATING: 6.5/10

Image courtesy of doblaje.wikia.com

Presidents' Day

Today is Presidents' Day. I'd like to take some time to salute our current president, Barack Obama, and to respectfully make mention of some of my favorite past presidents. My favorite five presidents are George Washington, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge, and Ronald Reagan. I mostly like John Adams because of the HBO miniseries on him, which was very well made. Calvin Coolidge is by far my favorite president. He is the one who made the roaring twenties roar. A close second is George Washington, who set the bar for all future presidents.

Today for Presidents' Day, I got a cold. As consolation, my mom is making Tom kha gai, a hot spicy soup which should be good for my cold. As a matter of responsibility, I elected not to go to taekwondo tonight, so as not to spread my disease. I started chapter twelve of my book today, in what I hope to be a humorous chapter.

Also, reviews for Nacho Libre, The Joker Blogs: Further Evidence, and Batman: Arkham City (the graphic novel) are coming soon.

Bible Verse Sunday #13

Today's verse is Deuteronomy 31:6:

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

The ESV Study Bible has this to say on the verse:

"Deut. 31:6 Be strong and courageous. This command to all Israel is also made directly to Joshua (vv. 7, 23; Josh. 1:6, 7, 9). Do not fear. See Deut. 1:28. He will not leave you or forsake you. In 1 Chron. 28:20, David applies this to Solomon; cf. Heb. 13:5."

Pretty sparse commentary today. Anyhow, at church today the pastor spoke about Jesus' various deeds, such as feeding the five thousand. From what I understood, he said that this story illustrates how Christians are to feed the world with the message of the gospel. In the High School service, the guest speaker spoke more about Paul's exploits in the book of Acts. Specifically, he talked about Paul in Athens, and how Paul shared the gospel with the Athenians.

St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine's Day is celebrated annually on February 14th. On this day, people celebrate romantic love. There are several legends about the historical events surrounding the establishment of Valentine's Day, but the most pervasive one is about Valentine of Rome. Valentine was put in prison by the Roman Empire for performing clandestine Christian marriage ceremonies for soldiers, who had been forbidden to marry by the Emperor. He was eventually executed, but not before allegedly healing the sight of his jailer's daughter. He also apparently left a note for the jailer's daughter, which ended with "from your Valentine." The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates two different St. Valentines in July.

Today on St. Valentine's Day, I wore a tie for spirit day at my co-op, where we had to wear a tie today. I wore my favorite tie, a nice skinny black one. After getting home, I was persuaded by my family not to go to taekwondo tonight, but to stay home for the holiday. As much as I would have liked to go, I elected to stay home and do some exercises. My dad got me a big chocolate bar for Valentine's Day, which I thought was nice, and we cleaned the kitchen for my mom. We had a nice dinner.

Belt Test, Bunnies, and Bionicle

Last Saturday I had a belt test at my taekwondo school. I believe I did quite well. My dad took this sweet pictures of me breaking my board. He printed it out and I stuck it on my wall. I broke my board with a turn back kick.

Over this weekend, we've adopted a big white rabbit that was hopping around our neighborhood. It's perfectly tame, and until we can find the owner, it looks like we have a new pet. Everyone likes it, even our dog. Names for it range from "Monty" to "Cotton" to "Albus." I haven't touched the thing myself, but I think I'll eventually go pet it. Like I said, it's quite tame.

Now, onto more serious stuff. Bionicle is a merchandise driven storyline franchise under the banner of the Lego Group. Until 2011, it was a very in-depth story with books, movies, comics, and web serials. With loads and loads of characters and an intricate mythology, it started off in 2001 as a mystical story about robots on an island to a full fledged science fiction epic in 2011. It's a story of heroes, courage, and brotherhood. The mastermind behind the Bionicle sags is writer Greg Farshtey, who, through Bionicle websites such as BZPower.com, maintains a strong relationship with the fandom. He's been inactive for a while now due to the downgrading of Bionicle and his personal life, the fans of Bionicle remain a steadfast bastion. Of course, a lot of them have gone on to Hero Factory... At any rate, the two best Bionicle books out there are probably Tales of the Masks and Time Trap, the latter of which I own and have read repeatedly. My favorite of the movies was Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, though the other three have their merits. Granted, there's a lot of backstory that might put new readers off, but I have to say, it's a great saga. I'd even list it as one of the inspirations for my own writing. Websites you might want to frequent to get acquainted with Bionicle are BZPower.com, BioSector01.com, bioniclestory.com, and, of course, bionicle.com. Find the power. Live the legend!

Image courtesy of logos.wikia.com

Bible Verse Sunday #12

Today's verse is Jeremiah 29:11, courtesy of biblegateway.com:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

The ESV Study Bible has this to say on the subject:

"Jer. 29:11 God’s plans for the exiles is welfare (Hb. shalom; see note on v. 7), not evil, or “calamity.” Having sought Babylon’s shalom, the exiles will receive God’s shalom in the form of a future and a hope in their homeland."

At church today, the pastor spoke about how Jesus sent out the disciples to preach and heal, giving them instructions about what not to take with them. The pastor said that we are sent out in power, with a plan, to permeate thew world. In the High School service, the youth pastor talked more about Paul and Barnabas' ministry in Asia Minor, about how they went to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. 

I cleaned up dog poop in our yard today, depositing it in a bag and then putting the bag in the garage can outside. It was quite disgusting, but I got a dollar out of the arrangement.

Review: The Vadelah Chronicles - Book 5 - The Defender

Science fiction is not a realm of literature that is often seen as being open to Christian interpretation. What with the debates on the origin of life, abortion, and space exploration being what they are, it would seem that Christian authors would stick to the fantasy genre. But C.S. Lewis used science fiction in his Space Trilogy, and now a Washington lady by the name of Julie Rollins is doing the same thing.

Julie Rollins is a homeschooling mom who is also a personal acquaintance of mine, going to my co-op where she sells her books, most of which she has self published. These books, The Vadelah Chronicles, record the exploits of David Decker, who, after encountering a marooned space alien named Gyra, shares the gospel with the avian creature. Learning that Gyra's people have an Old Testament understanding of God, David winds up as a missionary to alien races, backed by the phantera, Gyra's species.

The Defender is the fifth book in this series. It tells of David's adventures, the missionary now being married and living on Arana, Gyra's home world, with his friend Todd and his family. David soars across the galaxy, taking on savage aliens and fierce beasts, and trying to sort out what the various phantera prophecies mean.

This book, in light of the previous four, was quite honestly disappointing. Most of what was good about the previous four books is here, but one key element is colored differently; the plot. The first four books had straightforward plots, coupled with excellent prose and interesting characters. This book has the latter two, but plot wise, it just feels off. It's like three or four different stories were jammed together into a cannon and then shot out all at once. There's the Heltor story, the mel-hanor invasion story, the wild beast story, the Space Lice story, and the Phantera prophecy story, only the last of which has much of a connection to the title at all. Granted, David is probably going to be all over the place when he starts doing things, but two or three of these plot lines put together could easily have been their own individual books. I will give the book credit for espousing an uplifting, Christian worldview, but it honestly wasn't as good as the previous four.

Of the previous books, my favorite is the second, Vashua's Messenger, and my second favorite is the fourth, When Dreams Die. I mainly liked the second because it shows how David goes forth to interact with the various alien species, sharing the gospel with them, and I liked the fourth because it further develops the character of Shektul, reintroducing him in a satisfying fashion.

All in all, this book had potential, but the concept was poorly executed, resulting in a resoundingly average book. It pretty much negated the whole phantera feather shield thing via deus ex machina, and introduced a new set of plot devices to take its place. Here's hoping that the next book, Echoes of Darkness, does a better job. I just hope that I can get it, because it's only available online.

RATING: 7/10

Image courtesy of julierollins.com

The Contact - Extended

The Contact is a short film originally made for the Renton Film Frenzy by amateur filmmaker, and my very good friend, Caleb Holmes. Caleb made this movie as a parody of Get Smart, which in itself was a parody of James Bond. A parody of a parody, I guess. Starring Ben Piehler, another friend of mine, this movie won honorable mention when it was entered, and shows some lovely scenes of downtown Renton.

Review: X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the X-Men movie series. Considering that the third X-Men film was reported as a disaster, and the Wolverine origin movie was less than impressive, it's understandable that the executives at Fox would want to start the X-Men franchise on a clean slate, hence First Class' status as a reboot/prequel. Indeed, it is probably the only prequel I have seen to date which was actually successful both critically and commercially.

This movie, the majority of which is set in the 1960's, stars James McAvoy as a younger, hipper Charles Xavier, a.k.a. Professor X, and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr, later to be known as Magneto. In this film, Charles teams up with Erik to find various mutants from around America to help the CIA take down the Hellfire Club, led by Erik's old enemy Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who brutally murdered his parents in a concentration camp.

First of all, I want to congratulate this movie for absolutely nailing the dynamic not only between Eric and Charles, but also between every other character. You can actually feel the tension and the fellowship between them. Granted, the large casts makes it difficult to sufficiently develop all of the characters, but the development they do get is nothing short of splendid. This is bolstered by the terrific acting by every actor and actress in the movie. I give special credence to Fassbender as Erik and to Bacon as Shaw. I absolutely loved how Erik was portrayed as totally formidable, Fassbender portraying his character artfully, with emotion. Shaw is at heart a Bond villain, playing his role with a smoothness that is both zany and cool at the same time. I also liked how they explained the origins of various element of the X-Men franchise, such as Magneto's helmet, Cerebro, and the X-Mansion. Heck, they even covered Professor X's teaching degree! There were also some genuinely good action sequences, which were wonderfully shot.

However, this film is not without its downsides. There are some continuity issues with the previous films, such as Emma Frost's age. Also, the climax was a bit frenetic as it struggled to juggle all of the various characters who all split off to do their own thing. I would have preferred it to be a bit more focused. I also found it laughable that this superhero movie didn't have the characters show up in superhero regalia until about two thirds of the way through the movie. Also, I've said this before, but not all of the characters are incredibly well developed. Hard, deep character development is reserved for Charles, Erik, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne). A majority of the villainous mutants are relegated to the periphery in terms of character development.

All in all, however, X-Men: First Class is a marvelous (no pun intended) origin story, a good superhero film, and the greatest prequel I've ever seen. I would recommend it to all X-Men fans and to all general Marvel and superhero fans. There are some brief scenes of scantily clad ladies that make this movie not exactly family friendly, but the action scenes are entirely bloodless. Thus, be forewarned.

RATING: 8.5/10

Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

Bible Verse Sunday #11 & Superbowl Sunday

Today's Bible verse is John 14:6, courtesy of bible.cc:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The ESV Study Bible has this to say on the verse:

"John 14:6 Jesus as the one way to the Father fulfills the OT symbols and teachings that show the exclusiveness of God’s claim (see note on 3:18), such as the curtain (Ex. 26:33) barring access to God’s presence from all except the Levitical high priest (Leviticus 16), the rejection of human inventions as means to approach God (Lev. 10:2), and the choice of Aaron alone to represent Israel before God in his sanctuary (Num. 17:5). Jesus is the only “way” to God (Acts 4:12), and he alone can provide access to God. Jesus as the truth fulfills the teaching of the OT (John 1:17) and reveals the true God (cf. 1:14, 17; 5:33; 18:37; also 8:40, 45–46; 14:9). Jesus alone is the life who fulfills the OT promises of “life” given by God (11:25–26), having life in himself (1:4; 5:26), and he is thus able to confer eternal life to all those who believe in him (e.g., 3:16). This is another “I am” saying that makes a claim to deity (see note on 6:35)."

In church today, the pastor talked about how Jesus calmed the storm, and how he can calm the storms of life. Even if he doesn't calm every one of your storms, rest assured, as he is always in control. In the High School service, the youth pastor spoke mostly about the Life Book, and how we could hand it out. I guess the theme of today's High School sermon was evangelism. I've handed out a few of them in my day.

After church, after a brief stop home, we went down to my Grandma and Grandpa's apartment to watch the Superbowl. The game was great, and the team I was rooting for won (go Ravens!). But I was disappointed with the half time show. It was even worse then last year's. At least last year had a weirdness level to it that made it half interesting (I mean, come on, it was Greek revival mixed with a pilgrim gospel choir), but this show had no class at all. Seriously, these shows get trashier every year. I wish whoever organizes these events could make them decent to watch with your kids next to you. That would force them to come up with something unique.

Groundhog Day

I would like to wish everyone a happy Groundhog Day. On this day, all over the nation, people will gather to observe the activity of a humble groundhog. The way it works is that if the groundhog exits his hole, sees his shadow, and then goes back into his hole, there will be six more weeks of winter. On the other hand, if he doesn't see his shadow, then we get an early spring. Personally, I think it's all a load of hogwash (no pun intended).

Anyhow, what I'd like for Groundhog Day is some groundhog sandwich. I'm not sure if they sell groundhog meat at the supermarket, but I wouldn't mind tasting some. Also, my dog's birthday was yesterday, so happy belated birthday, Java.

Review: Iron Man

After discussing the subject with several readers of my blog, I've decided to start writing consecutive review posts, starting with my review of Iron Man.

Originally released in 2008, Iron Man is the movie that started the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the movie that promised us The Avengers, and is one of the best superhero movies in the genre. Chronicling the origin story of Iron Man, this film shows how billionaire genius Tony Stark goes from narcissistic playboy arms dealer to empathetic playboy superhero.

Really, the best thing about this movie is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. He absolutely sells the rock star Steve Jobs image of Tony Stark, but he wouldn't be anywhere without the excellent supporting cast. Every single actor from Downey to Shaun Taub as Yinsen does wonderful in their parts, but I would like to give special mention to Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. He absolutely kills it as Stane, playing the nice old guy for the first half, and eventually taking a sinister turn. The first time I watched this, though I also didn't know anything about the Iron Man mythos, Stane's turn from supportive friend/mentor of Tony to full on villain was something I did not see coming. The only actor I really have an issue with is Terrence Howard as Rhodey, but that's not to say he wasn't good. I just thought that Don Cheadle, who took his place in Iron Man 2 and will take his place again in Iron Man 3, was better. Not that I'm a halfway decent judge of acting, but I'm just saying.

Iron Man per se doesn't actually show up until about an hour into the film, but that's okay, because the build up to that point is totally worth it. Indeed, the best part of this film is Tony in the cave with Yinsen building his armor. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the film is great too, but the cave scene was like the centerpiece of a beautiful painting. The action scenes are straightforward, beauteous in their simplicity. There are also really good character arcs for the three central characters- Tony Stark, Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Obadiah Stane. We actually get to see them develop from one thing to another. In Pepper's case, it's a transformation from skeptic bystander to courageous heroine.

The only real complaint about this film is that there wasn't enough of the main villain. I know that we have the Ten Rings terrorist group led by Raza, but the main villain, and I can't say this without invoking spoilers, Iron Monger, was great - for all ten minutes of him. I just wish that we could have seen more of Stane as as Iron Monger. He doesn't even get called "Iron Monger," except for a passing reference Stane makes to him and Tony being "Ironmongers." Yeah, that's one word.

But even so, this film is a fantastic piece of cinema, and I can not recommend it more wholeheartedly or enthusiastically that I do now. If you're just getting started on the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe thing, watch the movies, starting with this one. I only caution families in that there's a racy scene with Tony and a woman in bed, and, as par for the course, big action violence, which, though largely bloodless, does see a couple of veins pulsating inside of people's heads in a mildly disgusting fashion. So families, beware.

RATING: 9/10

Image courtesy of wikipedia.org