Awful!

Rating: 1/10 (2 October 2008)

Awful, awful, awful! How many times can we bear to watch essentially the same film over and over again? You've seen Superman, Batman, Batman Begins, Batman Ends, Batman Begins Then Pauses, Spiderman 1, 2, 3.5, 4, 5... It's the same thing - again! Rich, invincible good guy, doting beautiful woman, ally turned enemy. Endless explosions, 'amazing' special effects, story lines that you endure like a ten-ton weight on your heart.
In future years, it will be viewed as one of the great follies of our time that vast armies of people were employed making stuff like this at insane cost. It's so bland, so predictable, so corporate - the shameless product placement - so militaristic - the glorying of the latest US manned and unmanned killing machines. Don't even get me started on the politics - the US saving the 'wretched of the earth' from their own 'bad guys'! You know, I saw Cave Of The Yellow Dog. Nothing happens! A little Mongolian girl loses her dog and goes looking for it. She doesn't fall off a cliff. There are no monster, crazed killers, car crashes or explosions. But it's sweet and beautiful - the moment where she chats to the old woman in the yurt is full of childish wonder and human warmth. I was watching two people who were completely different from, but exactly the same as, me. Amazing! That's when I knew what a burden films like Iron Man are in our lives. Enough!