Debuting in 1963 alongside other Marvel staples like the X-Men, Iron Man has been one of Marvel's staple heroes, even if for long periods of time he bordered on the B-List when pared against types like Spider-Man and the X-Men, with his solo title struggling in sales in recent years. CIVIL WAR rejuvenated him and Avi Arad, ever the TOY BIZ man, has always had a special place in his heart for the armored avenger. With Marvel finally managing to gain complete productive control over their movie universe (or at least the universe that is left after pawning Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Blade, and Ghost Rider to other movie studios), it made sense to use that as the perfect chance to bring Iron Man to the big screen. On the surface he has many similarities to Batman; a billionare playboy by day who fights crime with a genius IQ and an armada of gadgets at night.
But there is a lot more to Tony Stark and after a cartoon in the 90's that had one miss (and one hit) season, and an utterly underwhelming animated DTV last year, IRON MAN blazes onto the big screen in a burst of glory. Jon Favreau directs a comic book film masterpiece that managed to breath life into a genre that was almost becoming overstuffed and riddled with mockable cliches (see SUPERHERO MOVIE). Marvel has complete control over the product and it showed, with 80% of the story being faithful to the comics with only minor details being updated. And in Robert Downy Jr., Marvel found the perfect actor to play the flawed and eccentric Tony Stark, who is probably the coolest big screen superhero right now.
Really, the entire cast does a terrific job. Jeff Bridges was great as Obidiah Stane, shaving his head for the part and being able to flex between stern businessman and sterner megalomaniac, but in a more subtle way; he wasn't Norman Osborn (or the movie Dr. Doom), cackling away. And Gweneth Paltrow has one of her best roles in years as Pepper Potts, part Gal Friday, part love interest, whose character manages to ignore becoming a hysterical, crying damsel hanging from a rafter somewhere like Lois Lane or Mary Jane. Hell, you could even argue she saved the day at the end. Terrance Howard's Rhodey manages to strike the right chord, although he was a bit underdeveloped and seemed more like a routine than a character. But he served the right moments, the right balance to Stark.
The plot mirrors the comics, although it thankfully updates the adversaries for modern times; Vietnam works fine for the 60's, but Afghanistan is appropriate for 2008. While promoting his newest weapons technology, Stark is injured in an explosive attack and shrapnel is lodged near his heart. Kept alive by Prof. Yinsen (a good Shaun Toub) via an ad-hoc "iron lung" device, his captor Raza (Faran Tahir) and his "Ten Rings" terrorist organization wants Stark to build his missles for them. The Ten Rings are obviously an allusion to the Mandarin, and Raza himself gave off that appearance with the large ring and waxing philosophical about Genghis Khan. But he worked a lot better than the over-the-top Emperor Ming cliche that the 616 Mandarin often became. It was an update for the times but it works. It isn't like the comics that still in many ways fight the wars of yesteryear, with heroes still battling Nazi's or Asian Threats. Heck, I could argue this was the least-Liberal film to touch on the current war in ages. Most Hollywood movies after 2003 or so depict Middle Eastern terrorists as innocent Teddy Bears who'd become angels if only us rotten Americans would just say "please" and "thank you". Not IRON MAN. He gets hooded and water-boarded by his captors, who while not the most efficient lot (they're shocked when a weapons designer actually builds weapons to try to FREE HIMSELF), they are deadly and dangerous as they are, sadly, in real life.
Scrambling to keep his heart ticking and realizing the error of his ways, Stark creates his first suit of armor and frees himself, but at the cost of Yinsen's life. He makes it back to the states and starts to perfect his armor, taking responsibility for the horrors that his weapons have created upon the world. All the while, Stane is trying to steal his company from under him and employs underhanded and downright illegal means to do so. It all comes down with a showdown between Iron Man and Stane's own bulky armor, Iron Monger. While Monger is never named, he is homaged and mentioned.
The movie presents us with a flawed hero who manages to hit all the right angles. He is an uber genius but also someone who needs an assistant to recall his Social Security number. He can bed dozens of floozies in a week yet still genuinely care for those around him, even if he simply uses them for a while. And Stark had no end of notable one-liners.
IRON MAN was a movie that was the total package. It had drama, and a lot of intense action and suspense, but it also knew when to kick back and provide a comedic laugh, sometimes even better laughs than outright comedies provide. We all have our favorite moments that will be on YOUTUBE within the hour. From test flights gone wrong to quirky robot assistants, to the highs of seeing Iron Man take flight or rescue innocent civilians from the Ten Rings terrorists. One minute Iron Man is grappling for his life against Iron Monger, the next he is imperiled by a soccer mom hitting the gas. Some may say the last leg of the movie is predictable, and it is, but that doesn't make it bad.
Got to love the inclusion of SHIELD and the cameo at the end, finally starting to create a movie version of the Marvel universe. DC may want to do things first, but Marvel wants to do them RIGHT.
Iron Man himself was an incredible spectacle in three armors. They all looked great, all had the audience at the edge of their seats and all were great to watch. I caught a slight reference to ROBOCOP, in a scene where Iron Man plunges his hand through a wall to grab a bad guy.
Finally, the film turns some routine bits about superhero movies on their ear. Stark is no angst teenager given powers, nor is he someone who despite turning himself into an ultimate weapon, forgets how to have fun. And he doesn't even try to maintain a secret identity long.
I've made longer reviews, but I am preaching to the choir here. IRON MAN hit all of the right buttons and ranges of emotion. It respected the comic material enough to do it faithfully and well, but not in an overly gloomy, overly realistic way. It wasn't afraid to give you a chuckle before it made you gasp in awe. That is a rare feat. The only quibble I have, and it isn't a quibble really, but more like an observation, is merging Jarvis the butler with one of Stark's infamour AI programs, like HOMER from the comics and cartoons. JARVIS was basically his AI program. It isn't the choice I expected but it didn't really hurt things. Potts was more interesting than Jarvis anyway. The producers probably did not want anyone confusing him for Alfred.
This is a four star effort, and a 9 out of 10. There wasn't a lot of action, but when it did happen it was appropriate. Stark's character evolved over the film and despite being well over 2 hours long, the time doesn't drag at all because there is so much good stuff happening.
As for War Machine? "Maybe next time." Now that's how to do it.
A DARK KNIGHT trailer played before this film in my theater, but the Caped Crusader is in for a rough summer to try to match the well rounded chills and spills of this newcomer to the big screen's pantheon of superheroes.
If you like superheroes in any way, shape, or form, see and love IRON MAN. It is a summer blockbuster that doesn't insult your intelligence or is too ashamed of it's roots to revel in them. Despite being a Spidey-fan, it is good that the pinnacle for superhero filmdom no longer may be a web-slinger or a man from Krypton. It may be too soon for anyone to put IRON MAN at #1 (I wouldn't), but it is a easy Top 5. A movie that actually lived up to the hype on every level.
Bring on that Avengers Initiative!
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