You Can Totally See SAMURAI JACK Creator Genndy Tartakovsky's Influence on Marvel's IRON MAN 2
I don’t know about you, but I completely forgot that director Jon Favreau hired Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky to do some storyboard work on the action sequences for Iron Man 2. This fact was brought to my attention again thanks to CinemaBlend and after watching Iron Man 2 again, I can totally see Tartakovsky's influence on the film!
I never really thought about it before, but when you watch the film with Tartakovsky's style on your mind, it sticks out like a sore thumb! The way some of the action sequences play out and the choreography are just classic Tartakovsky.
The animation director was trying to get into Marvel Animation back in 2008, but was ultimately told to get a hold of Favreau, who happened to be a big fan of his work. After they met, Favreau brought him on board! In an old interview with AICN, Favreau said:
“I really dig his sense of humor and his sense of rhythm, and the way that he acknowledges the same cinematic masters that I really love the work of, like (Akira) Kurosawa and (Sergio) Leone. And he finds a way to pastiche it without ever undermining the stakes or the reality of the tension that’s created in his action sequences. Now clearly his stuff is a bit broad for a live action film but I love his rhythm and his attention to detail. It has a real comic booky feel but yet it feels cinematic and not gimmicky and even his cartoons feel… there’s an elegance to them.”
Together, they ended up crafting some pretty radical action sequences for the film. They wanted to try and take the action to the next level and I think they did a great job accomplishing that.
One of the action sequences from the film where you can really see Tartakovsky's style is the scene where Iron Man and War Machine are battling an army of Justin Hammer’s robot drones. Watch it below and you’ll see what I mean.
You see what I mean!? The scene is something right out of Samurai Jack, but with Iron Man and War Machine fighting alongside each other against an army of drones who surround them. The slow build up to the action, the dramatic use of sound, and the way the action plays out is pure Tartakovsky.
It’s kinda crazy that I never really noticed this before, but I’ve never watch the film thinking about Tartakovsky's influence until it was pointed out to me again. Watching Iron Man 2 again with this in mind gave me a new experience and appreciation for the film.
So, next time you watch Iron Man 2, keep in mind that Tartakovsky crafted many of the action sequences.