At the movies, summertime has always been a season for numbered sequels and for films about superheroes. Or both at once, of course, is best. Clearly, in that case, there was no better time for L.A. filmmaker Aaron “VFX Bro” Benitez to do a follow-up to his 2015 short Iron Cat.
In that first film, for the uninitiated, a house cat named Prince Michael is inspired to create his very own Tony Stark-like flying suit after being taunted by some smart-aleck birds in serious need of an attitude adjustment. It’s a classic Marvel-style origin story, only no one is orphaned this time around, and there’s no gamma radiation at all to speak of.
It’s just a cat reading up on flight, and then, after just a bit of experimentation, building an airborne suit of armour (which is made out of cardboard, duct tape, glue, baby shoes, and a couple of steam irons) in a suburban garage. Quite typical. In addition to being a delightful vignette about animals doing people things (or super-people stuff), Iron Cat is a prime demonstration of Benitez’s special effects brilliance!
That was fine for 2015, but now we’re in a new year. It’s now time to give Prince Michael an assignment worthy of his talents. The newly released Iron Cat 2, about a minute long, just like its predecessor, does just that. After getting a distress call on his Apple watch, the title character immediately suits up and flies off to rescue a cat who is stuck in a tree. Again, this calls for some of Benitez’s usual patented visual-effects wizardry.
Once he arrives on the scene of the new crisis, Prince Michael manages to rescue his fellow feline in a manner which is both unexpected and highly effective. From there, it’s just a matter of coolly walking away from a fireball while “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath is roaring in the background. As that Lonely Island song expresses it, “Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions.” Oh, yeah? Well then, cool cats don’t either.
