Thanks for reading.

Ah……here goes.

Iron Man, IMO, was better for the following reasons:

1) MINIMAL LOVE INTEREST STORY LINE
If you inquired all Batman Begins fans around the world about what one thing they DIDN’T like about the movie, almost universally (with exceptions) the answer coming back with be “The damn love story with the wooden walking Tom Cruise baby incubator”. It felt like every time Rachel Dawes was on screen the pace and motion of the movie ground to a complete halt… and the love interest was never sold. It felt forced and unnatural. Iron Man on the other hand had a very minimalist approach to the love interest story line… the two never even kiss. Not to mention, Gwyneth Paltrow fit in with the movie much better and never got in the way. She, and her relationship with Tony Stark actually HELPED the story as opposed to hinder it.

2) YOU CAN SEE THE DAMN ACTION
My one critique of Christopher Nolan’s direction when it came to Batman Begins was how he choose to shoot the action sequences. Whenever Batman was going to do something really cool (like beat the hell out of the henchmen at the docks), Nolan either choose to have the camera cut away to something else so you only HEAR Batman doing his thing, or committed the heinous sin of shaking the bloody camera around like an German midget having an epileptic seizure to create a fake and artificial sense of “action” or “intensity”. This drove me nuts. Iron Man on the other had generally always had him in frame, in the shot allowing us to see what he was doing. Thank you Mr. Favreau!

3) IRON MAN HAPPENS IN THE REAL WORLD
There’s something about brining the fantastic into the mundane that makes the fantastic all the more awe inspiring. Prior to Jurassic Park, I had seen lots of movies with Dinosaurs, but they were usually back in time (where you would expect to see Dinosaurs). But when Jurassic Park brought those creatures into the the world and time we live in, there was something far more magical and awe inspiring about it. Batman Begins doesn’t really exist in our world totally. The styles, technology (better and worse) and atmosphere of “Gotham City” (which is also fictional) are all slightly off from the real world. And so, when the environment is a fictional world, the fictional characters dwelling in it seem a TOUCH less fantastic because they’re not in the world we inhabit. Iron Man on the other hand takes place in the context of our world… which for me personally, made it engage my imagination all the more. Some people won’t agree with this point, and that’s fair since it is subjective.

4) ROBERT DOWNEY JR.’S TONY STARK IS A MORE ENTERTAINING CHARACTER THAN CHRISTIAN BALE’S BRUCE WAYNE
Please note I’m not saying Tony Stark is a BETTER character than Bruce Wayne. I don’t think he is… but there’s no denying that when sitting in a movie theater, the moments that Tony Stark is on screen are more entertaining to watch than Bruce Wayne. In Iron Man, Stark is a funny, quick tonged character who almost always said or did something on screen that made you laugh or love him even more. His quick one liners and general disposition made watching him on screen almost as fun as watching Iron Man on screen. Same can’t really be said for Bruce.

5) IRON MAN HAD BETTER DIALOG
Say what you will, but man… that little speech Rachel Dawes gives Bruce as they’re driving in the car in front of Falcone’s was nauseating. “Who will stand for justice… yadda yadda yadda”. There were actually several monologues in the film that had a high cheese factor to them… some awesome ones too. Iron Man just seemed to have tighter dialog. Sillier sometimes for certain… but rarely diving into the deep blue cheese. It was usually witty and with the wink of an Iron eye at times… but for what it was it was pretty tight.

6) IRON MAN ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE IRON MAN
Sorry, but Marvel translated the look of Iron Man PERFECTLY onto film (just like they did with Spider-Man), you look at him and he looks like the best of Iron Man in the comics; the believability of the Extremis suit yet with the charm and a tip of the hat to the Classic armor (thank God they didn’t use that Superman style triangular chest logo the current suit has and instead used the circular one). Meanwhile, Batman still hasn’t escaped from the Burton tradition; all black rubber/plastic suit w/ yellow belt that looks nothing like the comics suit (what Burton movie DOESN’T have black rubber?). Not only is it impractical and impossible for Batman to move in, it also looks really, really fake, especially when you get an actor who has ACTUALLY WORKED OUT for the part and has REAL MUSCLES and could wear the comics style bat suit and make it believable. The batsuit in The Dark Knight looks even worse, not only is it still plastic/rubbery looking it is now too busy/detailed and makes Batman look mechanic, Batman is NOT Iron Man, stop with the armor horsecrap (look at TDK suit’s friggin’ shoulders! gah!). DC/WB, please, Burton’s Batman was 20 years ago, OK? Burton’s all about being “chic” and “stylish” and in his own world and doesn’t respect the comic books, he even said he never has and never will read a comic! (It’s amazing that his first Batman film turned out the way it did!) So don’t you think it’s time to put Batman in his black and gray comics style gear? It doesn’t have to be a halloween costume, it can be cool looking and made out of special materials (like the Daredevil, Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, and even Harry Osborn suits’ MATERIAL), but for godsakes get rid of the damn Burton suit variations already! The black, gray, and flexible comics style batsuit WILL work, even soldiers wear those colors/shade, it would work great on film if you’d let it.

7) IRON MAN WAS CLOSER TO THE COMICS
Q: Were Bruce Wayne’s parents murdered after watching a crappy opera that had the one thing in it (bats) that scares the bejezus out of their kid (yet they took him to it anyway)? A: No, they were murdered on their way home from seeing a film (that their son actually liked!). Q: Was the BATMOBILE ever a piece of crap humvee tank that Bruce Wayne just found in some garage at his company? A: No, he built it, and it was very sleek/streamlined. Q: Did Bruce Wayne make his costume or did he also find that in a garage at his company? A: He got what he needed (with some occasional help) for it and made it mostly himself. Q: Was Bruce Wayne trained by Ra’s Al Ghul? A: No. Q: Does Rachel Dawes exist in the comics? A: Hell no! Q: Does Batman sound like a hissing cat when he talks? A: No, he makes his voice deeper than it is when he is Bruce Wayne and is sometimes whispery, like Kevin Conroy’s voice as Batman on Batman: the animated series and the Justice league/Justice League Unlimited cartoons. BB, while still the best Batman film so far (TDK will be better, IMO) really dropped the ball in some areas (for me). Iron Man got waaaaay more right than Batman Begins did.

So there ya have it. That is why I think Iron Man is now possibly the best superhero film of all time.

I realize that some of this may or may not be me nitpicking, but nevertheless, I think Iron Man is the superior film. Batman is my favorite superhero (Iron Man is my third fave), by the way, so please don’t think that I’m hatin’ on him, I just thought Iron Man was better.

Not to mention people have seen Batman plenty of times before, I don’t think it will bring in the “curious” crowd that Iron Man brought.

I don’t think TDK will out perform Iron Man tho.
….and I’m betting that Iron Man is also the better film, personaly. It exceeded my (and about everyone else’s) expectations.

We’ll see.

And based on that glimpse of Harvey Dent… yikes! This one isn’t for the kiddies.

Vic

It certainly deserves to be….

Wow, what a thread. Vic, I think this thread is almost as conversational as the thread about the documentary. You sure know how to stir the pot. )

Worldwide: $505,036,529

Not sure what your problem is or what difference that number is suppose to make it had absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about.

I predict Iron Man beating TDK by a few thousand dollars.

790!