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