Sunday, March 2, 2014

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Iron Man (2008)"


Iron Man doesn’t seem like that far-fetched of a choice for a review, you know.  I’ve reviewed movie-based video games and superhero games before.  And I’ve been a fan of the likes of Spider-Man and many other others of the Marvel stable of comics ever since I was able to focus my eyes on piece of comic paper or a television screen (I did grow up watching the 90s Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons, after all).  Iron Man, though…well, he guest spotted a few times in the Spider-Man cartoon, which is where I originally got to know him.  And, of course, everyone knows the origin story of Tony Stark from the comics.

Tony Stark - a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist – is accosted by terrorists while on a routine demonstration for the United States military in Vietnam and almost dies and is saved only by the use of transistors!

In the film version, we see some serious updates for the modern era. Vietnam becomes Afghanistan, transistors become the Arc Reactor, and a scene is shot that forces every movie since to have a post-credits scene and make movie ushers sob quietly in the corner.

And y’know what? It was a big hit.  It was the highest grossing film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe pre-Avengers, and it definitely deserves to be.  It’s acted well, written well, produced well and it brings to life a character that nobody expected would be brought to the screen all that well.  Not only did the awesome team behind this do it well, they nailed it, and so I think it’s the best place to take a good, hard look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe…

…yes, I will be covering other films as I see reason to either ignore them or fit them in.

But, to the point, Iron Man.  A film I love about a hero that I’m not particularly fond of.  However, the fact is that Robert Downey, Jr. is absolutely beyond amazing as Tony Stark.  If there has ever been a better example of perfect casting in the history of cinematic adaptations, I don’t know what it is.  He takes the journey from egocentric, hedonistic, and carefree playboy to a responsible, more focused individual who understands the consequences of his actions (or, indeed, his inactions) and the weight behind them in order to become a hero.

…which is why when it gets completely derailed in the first five minutes of Iron Man 2, I get a little peeved, but that’s for next time…

The whole time, Downey’s Stark maintains a level of snark and witty repertoire with literally everyone in the film that rarely stops and he’s really a fundamental part of what made this film an epic summer blockbuster as well as being the excellent film that it is.

The second part of the main trio for this film is the lovely Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Tony’s personal assistant who pretty much has to watch over Tony like the rich, crazed man child that he is (and he is).  Paltrow saw the character as “very smart, levelheaded, and grounded” and that very much shows in her performance at her exasperation over Tony’s more outlandish and wild behaviors, and even after Tony goes full on into heroics.  However, this never belies the undercurrent of care and affection she has for her employer.  Pepper, unlike many a comic book movie love interest, does actually assist Tony quite a bit in his endeavors instead of simply being someone who requires rescuing all the time.

Someone call the Raimi-verse Mary Jane and tell her this is how you do it.

Rounding out the main power trio is James “Rhodey” Rhodes, the United States Air Force’s liaison to Stark Industries and Tony’s best friend.  Like Pepper, Rhodey is very much a straight man to bounce off of Tony’s crazy antics and he does very adequately in that regard without a doubt, having the structured and orderly demeanor of an officer of the United States military in order to counter Tony’s far more chaotic attitude.

And, of course, there is no great hero without a great villain – in this case one Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), old friend of Howard Stark’s and part friend/part father figure to Tony, which makes his betrayal all the more painful to Tony.  And Jeff Bridges plays a great villain here, doing the corrupt businessman type to a tee.  And, of course, he has the probably my favorite line from any of the MCU movies that have come out so far.

And then, the plot itself.  It’s an origin story, where we see Tony Stark transition from carefree playboy to superhero.  It’s believable, awesomely paced and awesomely done.  We see it all in Downey’s performance as he manages to run the gamut without losing sight of the character he’s portraying.  Despite it being an origin story, it doesn’t have the run down feel of Spider-Man or Batman in that we’ve seen it a thousand times.  Like many of Marvel’s mainstays, it’s not like Iron Man’s origin is some archaic secret lost to time, but this is the first time it is brought to the screen and it’s done masterfully well.  If I have only one gripe about this film, literally just one, it’s Iron Monger. 

While Stane is an active presence throughout the film, his turn as Iron Monger is depressingly short and the final battle between the two feels very rushed as we sail through it in the last ten minutes of the film.

Director Jon Favreau wanted to ground the film in realism as much as possible, and it definitely shows with Tony’s experimentation with his first suit upon returning from Afghanistan in order to get it in working order, but this goes even beyond that to the production as well.  Favreau wanted as little CGI as possible, trying to do almost everything with practical effects.  And he very nearly succeeded entirely, but ILM did come in to do a few scenes and Favreau had to agree after seeing their more recent previous work.

Seriously, this movie is good.  If you’re one of the three people on the face of the Earth who hasn’t seen it, go and watch it.

Yes, now.

Right now.

...why are you still reading this? GO!

Iron Man is owned by Marvel, the film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, and is available wherever movies are sold.

For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, follow him on Twitter  @MadCapMunchkin.

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