The thing about “Iron Man” is… Hell, I’ll just go right out and say it:
“Iron Man” is superflously, super-duperly super-awesome!
And I don’t mean that old clichéd brand of “awesome” that pop culture has rendered mundane; the nerd’s equivalent of a normal person’s ‘”wow, that’s cool”. Not that “Iron Man” isn’t cool or wow-worthy - it most definitely is - but when I say it’s awesome, I mean it in the sense that a geek in a Storm Trooper suit would pull off his helmet and wipe away a tear as he watches Iron Man fly ferociously through the sky. In his heart, this Storm Trooper knows that this is far from High Art… It’s more a popcorn-flick in the same vein as “Transformers” than anything else… But unlike that travesty of a movie, “Iron Man” is suave, well made and realistic-looking.
I half-way expect that I’ll someday see Tony Stark come flying across the sky.
“Iron Man” is the first film in an soon-to-be major film franchise about a forty-something billionaire called Tony Stark. He has two nicknames: “The Modern Da Vinci”, because of his marvelous inventions, and “The Merchant of Death”, because his ‘marvelous inventions’ are weapons. This first film tells the tale of how Tony Stark takes on the persona of Iron Man, and much, much more…
I didn’t know a single thing about “Iron Man” before I watched this movie. Well, okay, I knew he was pretty famous superhero-character, though not on the level of Batty or Spidey, and that he had a knack for dressing up in a robot suit/exo-skeleton. That being said though, I have to admit having great expectations for it. The trailer looked incredibly good, Jon Favreau was directing and I’ve always loved Robert Downey Jr. whenever I’ve seen him in something.
When I walked out of the cinema, I just couldn’t stop smiling, because “Iron Man” had lived up to everything I could’ve wished for. It begins with a grin-giving bang, follows up with several body punches of funny one-liners and from there on out all you have to do is to lean back and enjoy getting the crap beat out of you by the power of sheer entertainment.
Probably the best thing about “Iron Man” is the casting, which was genius. The crown jewel is of course Robert Downey Jr, who probably made Tony Stark into my favourite on-screen superhero (Christian Bale is a great actor, and definitley my Nr. 2, but you just know that Downey could take him easily in a match of wits). However, the supporting cast is also of a mind-blowing quality and the chemistry on stage was like magic. Terence Howard (”Hustle&Flow”) as the “sidekick” was good, though he could’ve done with more screen-time. Gwyneth Paltrow as “Pepper Potts”, the assistent/love-interest was also good, which surprised me somewhat because I don’t usually like Paltrow. Jeff Bridges (”The Big Lebowski”) as “Obadiah Stane” did of course work perfectly (though I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he’d at some point refer to himself as ‘the Dude’). I read somewhere that Jon Favreau wouldn’t have cast the parts differently if he was doing “Iron Man” as an independent movie. I’m inclined to agree.
Now, “Iron Man” is far from original in anything it does, it’s just that everything it does, it does with sufficient flair and style to make it cool in stead of boring. The storyline is easy to predict, though I didn’t think that ruined any of the film for me. It was actually quite pleasing to have a superhero film that operates on a tinier scale than the apocalyptic scenarios they so often deal with.
The Big Fight felt a bit off to me, though. It was the only time that the cheese became too cheesy, if you catch my drift…
All in all, I have to say that I LOVED “Iron Man”. It’s consistently funny and entertaining, the acting is superb and the plot actually feels somewhat relevant. And the Iron Man suits look so cool that you could squee with glee. It isn’t a masterpiece and it is all too shallow and could’ve used a little more grit at times, but these are small nitpicks on my part. “Iron Man” rocks harder than its Black Sabbath theme, and you should watch it. It’s one of the biggest films of the year.
When’s number 2 coming out?
8,5/10 (weak)
Posts
Huh, after all that praise I was expecting a 9. Oh, well.
Seems like it’s met most of the expectations I have had through your eyes. Obviously with the one big difference that I’m relatively familiar with the character (and _love_ him, I have a thing for Zorro-ripoffs in case you didn’t realize, he’s my favourite Marvel-hero, my second-favourite Marvel character (right behind Magneto and right ahead of Dr. Doom and Spidey) and probably my fifth favourite superhero-comic-character ever (Batman and Joker joining Magneto on the top three-podium, with Luthor on a grudging fourth)) so I have some extra expectations and requirements based on that that you’re probably spared off. I kind of suspect, from all the good I’m hearing, though, that this pre-excisting familiarity might actually mean I’l enjoy it MORE than you did, as they’re supposed to have been really true to the source material.
I’m actually looking almost as much forward to this as to Dark Knight now, with all this hype. And that should just not be possible.
1. May 2008 @ 16:21 ( Permalink )
Yes, well, it IS a 9 compared to comic book movies in general (if not higher), but in a wider sense it lacks too many things to earn the grade.
Regarding the source material; I have no idea, of course. All I’ve heard is that the original origin of Iron Man was set in Vietnam and not Afghanistan.
2. May 2008 @ 09:23 ( Permalink )
“but in a wider sense it lacks too many things to earn the grade.”
Such as?
2. May 2008 @ 09:30 ( Permalink )
I’ll tip my husband about your review, and maybe he’ll discuss..
2. May 2008 @ 13:55 ( Permalink )
Cons:
- Lacks depth
- Unoriginal
- Predictable.
- The climax was a bit off
- Could’ve used a grittier and more adult tone at times.
Pros:
- ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IS A GOD!
- Superb supporting cast
- Incredibly entertaining
- Looks awesome
- ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IS A GOD!
- Takes on relevant themes such as terrorism, gun control et cetera
- Has an origin story that’s actually believable to a certain point in scientific terms. Sure, the Ark Reactor or whatitsname was stupid because something that powerful would have to produce massive amounts of radiation, but aside from that the film didn’t have much trouble in suspending my belief. And I greatly prefer superheroes without “powers” over those who do.
- ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IS A GOD!
Now, I don’t actually care much for my cons, but they ARE there and I can’t totally disregard ‘em either. Could I have given it a higher grade? Sure. But I felt I hit the mark with this one, and now I have some room to in my scale to show how much better IRON MAN 2 is going to be.
Because it is.
I know it.
2. May 2008 @ 14:16 ( Permalink )
Hm, might have to see if any of my old Iron Man comics are anywhere to be found. I haven’t been to the cinema since Revenge of the Sith, but this review of yours might lure me back.
One of the major factors that hinders me is of course my prejudice against films based on comics. And especially superhero films, as I have tired of the of the genre almost completely.
I don’t think I have actively read any Iron Man comics since back when Spider-Man was called “Edderkoppen” in Norway. But I might dig ‘em up one of these days and see if it’s as good as I remember. I might even drag my arse over to the cinema to catch this flick you’re praising.
Hardly surprising that they shifted the setting from Vietnam to Afghanistan (They did this in another film as well, I think, but I can’t for the life of me remember which one.), as they usually move the time line to be up to date with present day.
Anyway, I’m looking forward with both dread and excitement to watching this movie, whether it’s on the big screen, or on DVD.
2. May 2008 @ 15:03 ( Permalink )
Comments like that always make both proud and a little nervous that someone will be very disappointed because they didn’t know enough about how their tastes relate to mine.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy “Iron Man”, Shirgaal. Why didn’t you watch “Batman Begins” in the cinema?
2. May 2008 @ 15:57 ( Permalink )
“Batman Begins” has just one big flaw - and, ironically, it’s also just about the biggest one any serious Batman-movie could make, if you ask me - they totally and utterly ignore the deductive reasoning and detective-skillset of the character, which is probably his greatest asset aside from his incredibly strong willpower. Doubly ironical as they used the one Batman-villain to unfailingly highlight that particular aspect of his persona when talking about him as the main villain, too - Ra’s Al Ghul always dub Batman The Great Detective”, rarely or never naming him Bruce, Wayne or Batman when talking to or even about him.
But let’s face it, the rest of the stuff is done so splendidly that even that huge flaw is forgiveable. Let’s just hope they rectify it in Dark Knight. Though I have my doubts as to that.
And Amras, be wary of having too high hopes for a sequel - as I gather, it’s likely to have the Mandarin as the main villain, and that’d put the movie a little more heavily in the “superhero”-realm, I think, as his claim to power is holding some incredibly powerful (almost magical) alien rings. Might make the sequel feel less grounded.
2. May 2008 @ 16:26 ( Permalink )
(I’ve read very few stories about the Mandarin, but as far as I’ve seen, I think he’s basically a Marvel take on Ra’s Al Ghul. So there character in and of itself should be fun enough, though)
2. May 2008 @ 16:27 ( Permalink )
“Hopefully you’ll enjoy “Iron Man”, Shirgaal. Why didn’t you watch “Batman Begins” in the cinema?”
Lack of motivation I suppose, cinemas don’t have the same effect on me as it used to. Thus my inability to wait for films to hit the DVD shelves has become my primary motivator for going. And there are only a select few films that has brought on that effect. I was supposed to see the Hitman movie at the cinema, but seeing as they decided to launch it direct-DVD here, I watched it at home in stead.
It’s shameful, I know. You would think that the smashing ensemble of cast on Batman Begins would be able to wake me up, but no. I have regretted it ever since, because it was simply fabulous.
4. May 2008 @ 15:18 ( Permalink )
Batman Begins - simply fabulous.
Probably not at all the tagline they were aiming for, but pretty descriptive and flattering nonetheless. ^^
4. May 2008 @ 15:31 ( Permalink )
It sounds as if Batman is going to appear on an episode of “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy”
5. May 2008 @ 09:22 ( Permalink )
I’m not sure when I’ll get around to writing my own review, but in response to yours I’ll post a sentence here that I’m likely to repeat in it:
In an astonishing feat of improbability worthy of Zaphod Beeblebrox, “Iron Man” lived up to the insane expectations and was all kinds of awesome.
5. May 2008 @ 11:52 ( Permalink )
Apparently, I got around to it tonight. Enjoy ^^
5. May 2008 @ 14:18 ( Permalink )
Iron Man 2 comes out in April 2010 btw, followed by a Thor movie later that year and an Avengers movie in 2011.
9. May 2008 @ 23:29 ( Permalink )