*Directed by Jon Favreau
*Starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Clark Gregg
*SPOILER WARNING*
The Plot: When genius, billionaire, playboy Tony Stark is captured by a terrorist group in Afghanistan with his brilliant intellect he manages to make his escape by developing a metal suit in order to defend himself and combat against forces of evil. It's not until his return home that he figures out him in his suit can mean a lot more for himself by protecting the good of all humanity and to end a scheme by a colleague who's conspiring against him.
I remember friends of mine buzzing about this movie during it's release in May of 2008 and considering I wasn't in the superhero craze at the time I didn't really see the big deal. Once I finally saw it months later I enjoyed it at the time, but I really let it sync in and watched it again and again and again. All I can say is, boy, do I understand the hype because Iron Man delivers in every capacity on being a really solid and well rounded comic book superhero origin story.
It is the first film to kick off the Marvel shared universe (aka the Marvel Cinematic Universe), but even watching it on a recent viewing it never really crossed my mind that this was a movie that felt like a set-up for more movies. It's not like watching last year's The Mummy where it just had characters in there for the sake of setting up a franchise, but a film like Iron Man is self-contained even though it's enticing viewers to be more involved in this universe. Save for the Nick Fury post-credits scene, sure, there are hints of there being a little more to the universe with the introduction of Agent Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D, but there was still a deep focus on THE Iron Man, on Tony Stark himself.
Speaking of Tony Stark, it's impossible not to say that Robert Downey Jr. is one of the most perfect and iconic casting choices to portray this character. Getting a feel of his personality in just this movie alone truly gave me the impression that no one else could ever portray that role any better in a live action interpretation. His sense of humor works, the charm, the intellect, and the determination were incredible qualities that made Tony Stark a very compelling protagonist. This movie would not have worked if the character arc for Tony felt uninspired and director Jon Favreau was able to give it his all and it shows because the character had a really believable progression throughout this film.
All the other performances in the movie were also really excellent like Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, Terrence Howard as Rhody, and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. They all played off of Downey's character really well and I especially loved the loyalty factor characters like Pepper and Rhody had with Tony that made them feel so important in the grand scheme of things. They were side characters you could actually care about. I also liked that there was a romance starting to kindle between Pepper and Tony, but it never felt like a clichéd romance in there where out of left field they share a kiss just so the movie could have a romance. The film is very subtle with that and I like that there's build-up to that in future installments instead. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah was able to display great antagonistic qualities to make him a great villain to detest. The character himself was an aspect of the film I didn't love, but I'll get into that a little later.
What I also really appreciated about this movie was that since it felt realistic from the perspective of the characters, the film itself had a nice grounded edge to it. Grounded not in the sense of being like another Dark Knight, Unbreakable, or Logan, because the personality the film had that reflects off of the character of Tony makes it a somewhat more lighthearted film. The previous films I mentioned take more advantage of being darker and more dramatic. However, when this film is violent there is more of that genuine brutality and it does make the suspenseful action scenes have more weight.
The film also has a quite memorable score by Ramin Djawadi and is definitely one of my favorite scores in the entire Marvel franchise. I also noticed how the music is used pretty sparingly and that to really get more of an immersive feel of the action sequences the film takes more advantage with its layered sound design. Really impressive work there and the visual effects were also really well done and I was also happy to notice that they, too, were used sparingly. The film also took advantage of using more practical effects in shots and when the photo-realistic CGI is used it's displayed in the best quality. Maybe there were a couple effects shots that could've looked a touch better with more detail, but, overall, really fantastic work.
So, my only issue with the movie was that I felt the character of Obadiah Stane felt pretty one-note just only wanting power over Tony. I still think he's a good enough villain yet there just needed to be more behind his actions. Maybe something from the past that adds to the tension between Obadiah and Tony. I liked what the film was going for in the context of the story and I thought Jeff Bridges was wonderful in the role, but there needed to be just an extra scene or two to give his character more of an emotional pull.
Also, it was cool to have the twist about Faran Tahir's character, the terrorist leader, not ending up as the film's central villain, but even that character felt kind of flat, just, again, being only a power-hungry character. I guess if he's to divert attention of the true villain in Obadiah, maybe it would make sense to not have him as developed playing more of a side role. Then again, there's not as much tension if the character doesn't have as much depth.
Overall, to kick off the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and introduce the legendary Tony Stark, Iron Man succeeds on telling a very well-handled and well-developed standalone origin story that was suspenseful, witty, and had really amazing heart as well.
Verdict: A-
This is definitely one of my favorite superhero origin stories portrayed on screen and the film really was an excellent way to breathe life into this franchise.
Be sure to tune in next week when I tackle the second MCU film that was, oddly enough, released the same summer as Iron Man and that would be The Incredible Hulk starring Ed Norton. Look forward to that.
I also hope to get reviews out for new releases very soon on top of the Marvel reviews, but don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. So thank you so much as always for reading and be sure to follow me on social media in the links below:
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Hope you have a great week and as always see some great freakin' entertainment.
Take care. :-)
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