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[the-dubstep-strawberry]

Dear AI Scrapers and other fic-stealing assholes...

That is all.

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Iron Man

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where Today We Are Starting A New Franchise After Finishing The Fast And Furious Films In September And Doing Duke's Monsterween And Duke's Yultide Reviews In October, November And December. But Wait, Did I Say Franchise? I Meant, Cinematic Universe, Welcome My Friends, To The Marvel Cinematic Universe....

And What Better Way To Start Our Look At The MCU, By Looking At The Film That Started It All, Iron Man!

But Before We Begin, I Have A Slight Confession To Make, Until This Movie Came Out I Knew Absolutely Nothing About Iron Man, I Mean I Saw A Few Episodes Of The 1994 Iron Man Animated Series When I Was A Kid And I Knew A Few Names Like Tony And Rhodey But It Didn't Really Stick With Me Unlike The Fantastic Four Who's 94 Series I Also Watched And I Collected Few Of The Action Figures (Namely The 4 Themselves) But We're Not Talking About The Fantastic Four Who Don't Have A Movie In The MCU Yet (But I Hope It's Soon) We're Talking About Iron Man...

Directed By Jon Favreau, This Film Follows Billionaire Industrialist..,

(Start At 1:45, End At 1:51)

Who Gets Captured By A Terrorist Group Only To Escape With The Help Of A Mechanized Suit That He Created And Upon Returning Home, Tony Devotes All His Time To Perfecting The Suit So He Can Fight Crime...

So, What Are We Waiting For? Let's Watch Iron Man...

The Film Starts In Afghanistan As Tony Stark (Played By Robert Downey Jr.) Is Being Driven In A Convoy By Military Soliders Who Turn Guarding Mr. Stark Into A Q&A Session At Comic-Con...

But When They're Attacked By Terrorists Who End Up Killing Them, Tony Leaves The Safety Of The Convoy To Hide Behind A Rock To Call For Help On His Phone, Only To Be Damaged By One Of His Companies Missiles That Causes Tony To Bleed Out...

A Few Hours Later We See That Tony Has Been Kidnapped By The Terrorists As We Get A Title Card!

Rewinding To 36 Hours In Las Vegas, We Watch A Video On Stark Himself As He's About To Recieve The Apogee Award....

(Start At 0:08, End At 1:02)

Being Given The Award By His Best Friend, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Played In This By Empire's Terrence Howard) He Discovers That Tony Is Not There So, Instead He Gives The Award To Tony's Partner In Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, (Played By Tron's Jeff Bridges) Who Simply Says That He's Always Working When Really He's Enjoying Vegas Like Any Other Guy!

Finding Tony At A Crap Table, Rhodey Gives Tony His Award And Tells Him To Not Be Late For Their Flight Tomorrow As Tony Walks Out Of Ceaser's But As His Bodyguard, Happy Hogan (Played By Director Jon Favreau) They're Confronted By A Reporter For Vanity Fair Named Christine Everhart (Played By Talladega Nights Leslie Bibb) Who Tony Talks With For A Moment Before Ending Up With Her

Waking Up The Next Morning In Tony's Bed, Christine Ends Up Being Scooted Out Faster Than One Of Charlie Sheen's Women On 2 And A Half Men As Tony Gets Ready To Fly To Afghanistan With The Help Of His Assistant, Pepper Potts (Played By Gwyneth Paltrow)

Racing Happy To The Airport, Tony Boards A Plane With Rhodey To Afghanistan Where He Will Do A Weapons Demonstration In Front Of The Military...

(End At 1:19)

Getting Inside Of The Convoy To Get Away From Lame Old No Fun Rhodey Tony Ends Up Right Back Where The Film Started With Him In The Hands Of A Group Of Terrorists...

Once Conscious, Tony Discovers That He Has A Metal Device In His Heart That Was Placed There By A Fellow Captive Named Yinsen Who Says That In The Blast Tony's Heart Took On A Lot Of Shrapnel, Removing What He Could, That Device Is What Is Keeping The Rest From Hitting Tony's Heart...

With Their Captors Coming In, Yinsen Translates For Them As He Says That They Want Him To Build A Jericho Missile Like The One He Demonstrated For The Military, Refusing, They Torture Tony For A Few Minutes Before Taking Him And Yinsen Outside Where He Continues Translating For Them, Saying That Once He Makes The Jericho For Them, They'll Set Him Free But Tony Knows Different...

Working On The Jericho With Yinsen, Tony Learns More About His Captors Discovering That They Are Called The Ten Rings And They Aparently Speak In A Lot Of Languages But None Of Them Know English, Breaking Down The Missiles, Tony And Yinsen Start Taking Palladium Out Of Them So Tony Can Build Himself A Small Arc Reactor Which Will Keep His Heart Running For 3 Lifetimes...

(Tony) I Wonder If It Could Stand Radiation From A Life Killing Glove?....

This Leads Stark To Show Yinsen What He's Actually Building Which Turns Out To Be The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit...

Placing The Arc Reactor In Tony's Chest, They Get A Little Down Time Where Tony Learns A Little About Yinsen Discovering That He's From A Town Named Gulmira Once They Escape He's Going To See His Family...

Continuing Work On The Mark 1, The Man In Charge Of This Group Of The Ten Rings, Raza Is Getting Tired Of Waiting For The Jericho Missile And Tells Yinsen And Tony That He Has Until Tomorrow To Get Them The Missile, Forcing Tony And Yinsen To Up Their Timetable On The Mark 1...

With Tony Suiting Up In The Mark 1, They Start To Power It Up While A Trap They Both Placed On The Door, Blows Up, Killing 2 Guards As They Try To Open It...

With Raza Telling His Men To Deal With It, The Mark 1 Program Needs More Time To Load, So, Yinsen Runs Out To Deal With Raza And His Guards...

(Yinsen) I Regret Nothing!!!!!

(Yinsen) Oh, Shit!

With The Suit At 100%, Tony's Ready To Take On Some Terrorists...

(End At 2:09)

Trying To Get Yinsen Up So He Can See His Family Again He Tells Tony The Truth That His Family Is Dead And He's Going To See Them Now, Dying In Tony's Arms...

Going Out To Face The Terrorists, Tony Basically Barbeques Them And The Weapons They Have...

Being Damaged By Bullets, Tony Decides The Only Way Out Is Up...And Down...

More Like A Propelled Leap Instead Of A Flight, But It's A Work In Progress...

Waking Through The Desert Like Lawrence Of Arabia...

Tony Is Eventually Found By Rupert And The Military Who Bring Him Back To The States So Once Back He Can Put On A Press Conference To Make An Announcement. But Before The Press Conference Begins, Pepper Is Confronted By Agent Phil Coulson (Played By Clark Gregg) Who Asks For Her To Set Up A Meeting Between Him And Stark To Ask Him About His Escape From The Ten Rings...

When The Meeting Starts, Tony Tells The Press That When He Was There In Afghanistan, He Had His Eyes Opened As He Came To Realize That He Can Do More For This World Than Just Make Things That Kill People So, With That Said Tony Decides To Shut Down The Weapons Division Of Stark Industries Until Further Notice...

And I Thought Seeing Jeff Bridges Country Accent In R.I.P.D. Was Bad But Jeff Bridges On A Segeway? Now That's Scary...

Talking With Tony After The Meeting, Obadiah Asks Tony If They Aren't Going To Make Weapons, What Are They Going To Make? Which Leads Tony To Suggest That Maybe They Should Look Into Arc Reactor Tech Which Makes Obadiah Scoff Until He Sees Tony's Arc Reactor In His Chest...

Returning Home, Tony Asks For Pepper's Help In Removing The Arc Reactor In His Chest So That He Can Place In A New Upgraded Version Of The Arc Reactor Instead, Asking What To Do With The Old One? Tony Tells Pepper To Destroy It Because If There's One Thing He Isn't, It's Nostalgic..

Meeting Rhodey At The Military Base, Tony Tells Him That He's Working On A New Project And He Wants Him To Be Involved In It But Discovering That It's Not For The Military, Rhodey Passes As Tony Returns To His House In Malibu, He Talks With His AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. About Placing A File On His Private Server Dubbed, Mark 2...

But As Tony Begins Work On The Mark 2 Iron Man Suit, Raza And The Ten Rings Find The Remains Of The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit In The Afganian Dessert...

After A Disastrous (Yet Funny) First Flight Test, Tony Decides To Create A Handheld Flight Stabilizer That'll Both Control The Rockets And Work As A Possible Weapon...

A Few Minutes Later, Tony Goes Upstairs To Have (Imatating Tim Curry In Home Alone 2) Pit-Za...With Pepper And Obadiah Who Tells Tony That He Just Came From A Board Of Directors Meeting Where They Decided That They're Filing An Injunction Against Him Because They Feel That Tony's New Direction Isn't What's Best For The Company...

Well, At Least They Didn't Kick Him Out Like Others Did With These Guys From Other Marvel Movies...

Wanting Tony To...

To Pitch To The Board, Obadiah Suggests Letting His Engineers Make Specs Of Tony's Arc Reactor But Tony Says No, It Stays With Him...

The Next Day, Tony Does A Second Flight Test Using The New Flight Stabilizers And (Imitating Bill Murray In Ghostbusters) It's A Successful Test...

With The Mark 2 Iron Man Suit Built, Tony Suits Up To Get Everything Online Before Powering The Shut Down But Tony Tells J.A.R.V.I.S. To Run A Weather And ATC Check And Start Listening In On Ground Control So He Can Do A Flight Test...

(Start At 1:10)

On His Way Back To His Work Station, Tony Discovers A Present From Pepper, Which Is The Mark 1 Arc Reactor Inside Of Engraving On The Outside Of It Which Says, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart"

Returning To His Work Station, Tony Fixes All The Problems With The Mark 2 (Including The Icing Problem) And Starts Production On The Mark 3 Which Looks More Like The Iron Man We All Know And Love. But While Doing That Tony Sees On The News That Stark Industries Is Holding A Benefit For The Firefighters Family Fund At The Disney Concert Hall...

Little Hint To Disney Owning Marvel In The Future? (Note: At The Time Iron Man Came Out Disney Did Not Own Marvel)

And Tony Didn't Get An Invite!?! So, What Does He Do? Why Crash It Of Course!...

Stan Lee Cameo!

Running Into Obadiah At The Party, He Tells Tony To Take It Easy Because He Has The Board Right Where They Want Them With Tony Saying Fine, He Just Has Cabin Fever....

Running Into Coulson, He Books Him On The 24th At 7 Pm At Stark Industries Before Going Off To Talk And Dance With Pepper...

Going Out To Talk With Pepper, She Kind Of Regrets Dancing With Tony Because He's Her Boss And Everybody What Kind Of Person He Is But Sending Him Off To Get Drinks, Tony Runs Into Christine Everhart Who Shows Him Pictures Of His Weapons In Gulmira That Were Taken Yesterday...

But Knowing That He Didn't Approve Any Shipment, Tony Confronts Obadiah On It Who Tells Him That He Was The One Who Filed The Injunction Against Him Because It Was The Only Way To Protect Him...

Okay, I Know Obadiah's The Bad Guy, But Looking Back On This Scene It Has Me Wondering Who Was Obadiah Trying To Protect Tony From? H.Y.D.R.A.? The Ten Rings? Who?

Going Back To His Malibu Home, Tony Watches A News Report In Gulmira Before Deciding To Suit Up As Iron Man To Go Stop The Ten Rings...

(End At 3:17)

With Ground Control Spotting Tony, They Get Rhodey In To See What He Makes Of It...

(Watch Full Video)

With Obadiah Watching Rhodey's News Report On Tv, Pepper Discovers That Tony Is Iron Man As He Tried Taking Off The Suit, But Speaking Of Obadiah, He Visits Raza At His Camp For Him To Show Obadiah The Mark 1 Iron Man Suit Which Raza Will Give Him In Return For Suits Like This Which To Say...

And Basically Kill Him And His Men As He Takes The Mark 1 Back To Stark Industries....

Meanwhile At Tony's House, Tony Wants Pepper To Go To His Office To Hack Into The Mainframe To Retrieve All The Recent Shipping Manifests So That He Can Stop Them And Destroy Them, Believing This Is Crazy At First, Pepper Quits But After Hearing Him Talk About How He Shouldn't Be Alive And How He's Not Crazy But He Just Finally Knows What He Has To Do, Pepper Decides To Stand By Him...

(Pepper) But If You Call Me Felicity, Tony, I'm Leaving...

(Tony) Aww, Come On!

So, Going To Stark Industries, Pepper Hacks Tony's Computer, Finding Plans For The Iron Monger Suit And A Video Connecting Obadiah With The Ten Rings As She Copies It To Tony's Ghost Drive But Unfortunately She's Caught By Obadiah Who...Didn't See Her Do Anything Apparently But Talks With Her About Tony Before She Exits...

Running Quickly, Pepper Runs Into Coulson Who She Tells Everything To....

(Coulson) Do You Say That To All The People You Have Appointments With, Miss? Because If You're Coming Onto Me I Have A Girlfriend Who's A Violinist...

Going Down To The Arc Reactor Room, Obadiah Talks With His Lead Scientist, Who Is Having A Hard Time Shrinking Down An Arc Reactor...

But One Thing I Will Say Is That The Actor Who Plays The Lead Scientist Looks Strangely Familiar To Me Like I've Seen Him In One Of My Favorite Christmas Movies...

Yep, I'm Serious, Folks, That Lead Scientist Is Played By None Other Than Peter Billingsley Otherwise Known Around The Holidays As Ralphie Parker From A Christmas Story...

Oh, My God, I Have So Many Questions Now....Wait A Minute I Just Got This From The Duke Newsroom, An Unknown Source For The Marvel Cinematic Universe Has Confirmed To Us That This Character Billingsley Plays William Ginter Riva (Who Not Only Appears In This Movie But Spider-Man: Far From Home) Is Actually A Descendant Of Ralphie Parker Which Means That A Christmas Story Is Now Officially An MCU Film!

Of Course, A Christmas Story Is Not An MCU Film! Bob Clark Would Be Nuts To Say That Was An MCU Film!...

But Mad That Riva Is Unable To Shrink Down The Arc Reactor, He Decides To Take Matters Into His Own Hands By Stealing Tony's...

Using The Same Device He Used On Rasa, He Paralyzes Tony So He Can Get The Arc Reactor From Tony's Chest But While He Does He Admits That He Got The Ten Rings To Kidnap Him...

So, Without An Arc Reactor What Can Tony Do? But Go Downstairs And Get The Mark 1 Arc Reactor That Pepper Saved With The Help Of DUM-E!...

But With The Arc Reactor In Hand, Obadiah Activates The Iron Monger Suit As Rhodey Finds Tony On The Ground Of His Workshop...

With Pepper And Coulson Arriving At Sector 16, Obadiah Suits Up As Pepper, Coulson And The Other Agents Come In To Find The Mark 1 Armor But They Soon Discover More Than That...

Suiting Up, Tony Suits Up, Telling Rhodey To Keep The Skies Clear As He Goes To Save Pepper From Obadiah But Unfortunately The Mark 3 Is At 48% And Dropping Like Sony After They Took Spider-Man Out Of The MCU...

Eventually Arriving At Stark Industries, Tony Fights Obadiah On The Streets Of Miami Before Taking It To The Skies So Tony Can Ice His Suit Like The Mark 2 Did During It's First Flight...

Running Out Of Power, Tony Manages To Get Back To Stark Industries...

(Watch Full Video)

So, With Obadiah Dead, Rhodey Handles A Press Conference That'll Set Everything Straight, Coulson Tells Both Tony And Pepper That He Works For S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony And Pepper Are...A Work In Progress And Tony Takes Over The Press Conference Where He Admits To The World That He Is Iron Man...

In The First Ever MCU End Credits Scene, We See Tony Returning Home Only To Be Confronted By Col. Nick Fury, Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Who Is There To Talk To Him About Something Called The Avenger Initiative...

And That's Iron Man And What Can I Say About It?

For The First Film In The MCU, It Is Fantastic! The Story Is Great, The Characters Are Great, It Is Just A Jewel In The MCU And If You Have Not Seen This Yet Than, What Rock Have You Been Living Under? See It Now!

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...