My review on boxwatcher.net
Iron Man is the first release from Marvel Studios. In the past Marvel Comics has outsourced all the film making to other entities, with mixed results. There were success: the Spider-Man and X-Men films, as well as failures: Ghost Rider and The Punisher. But for the first time Marvel has decided to put their film destiny in their own hands and have found a mix that pleases fans and movie goers alike.
When we meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), the owner of weapons manufacturer Stark Industries, he is living the life. Rich industrialist, playboy, and able to have a good time at the drop of a dime. Basically he is the ultimate “Good Time Charlie”. He has traveled to Afghanistan to pitch a new missile system to the U.S. Army. On the way back his convoy is ambushed and he is taken captive. During the fire-fight Stark takes shrapnel to the chest from one of his own weapons, which threatens his life. Yinsen (Shaun Toub) a fellow captive, rigs an electro-magnet into Stark’s chest to keep the metal out of his heart. The attackers, a terrorist group affiliated with “The Ten Rings” want Tony to re-create the missiles for them. Instead he makes a suit of armor used to escape, thus Iron Man is born.
Robert Downey Jr. completely sells this movie. In the scenes where we see Stark guzzling booze we can’t help but to think of Downey’s past. But it is not gimmick casting, Downey and Stark share one common trait that make him the perfect person for the part. These two men have reached points in their lives where they were forced to take stock of their legacy, and neither man liked what they saw. The actor looks in the mirror and sees his addictions destroying his life and wasting his talent. The character sees himself has a profiteer making money on the misery of others, it is destroying his soul. The two become so entwined that Downey is able to convincingly deliver lines like: “I should be dead already… It must be for a reason… I just finally know… what I have to do..”. In an entertaining two hour stretch Downey/Stark catharticly make necessary changes to atone for their pasts.
There other great things about the movie. The tech is maybe highly improbable but it never feels impossible. Seeing Stark create and later upgrade his armor make it feel like something that could actually happen.
Director John Favreau does a great job balancing character/plot/action/humor. The characters are mostly fleshed out very well so you care about them with the exception of Jim Rhodes (Terrance Howard). The character has little to do in this film and is only there to set up for the inevitable sequel. The plot is sparse but we don’t want or expect too much from a summer blockbuster. The action is pretty entertaining with many “Aw Cool” moments. The humor was used masterfully. Mostly quick throwaway one liners (Stark to Pepper Potts Let’s face it, this is not the worst thing you’ve ever caught me doing”), designed to lighten the mood without being a distraction.
There are a few missteps though. The first act is perhaps a bit too long. When stark is creating the armor it seems like it takes a bit too long to see him kick ass. The added time could have been used for maybe one more action sequence. The villain of the movie is Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) and he is slight problem. We accept early on that he will be the “big bad” of the story. Bridges is a fine actor and the character feels menacing, but we never get a feel for why he is doing what he is doing. The result makes the third act a little flat.
On a positive note Marvel is on to something by producing their own films. It allows them to retain enough creative control to give it that Marvel “stamp”. There are many “wink and nod” scenes to fans in the movie that will not take away from the experience if you haven’t read the comic but make fan boys giggle like little girls. Plus there are moments, like the sequence after the credits, that are seemingly designed to tie their other film projects together to do what made Marvel Comics great in the first place: create an accessible shared universe amongst these properties.
Despite all this Iron Man is a fun super-hero movie. It offers everything one would want from a super-hero movie. But, were a film like Spider-man 2 transcends the genre, Iron Man is a great example of what a hero flick can be and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
**** out of *****
If you liked Batman Begins, Spider-man 1 or 2, or Superman: The Movie you should love Iron Man.