Iron Man: A Review by Logan Doe
**** / *****
Plot Synopsis
Tony Stark, a brilliant scientist, is the billionaire CEO of Stark Industries, a corporation he inherited from his father that produces advanced weaponry for theUnited States military. After a presentation to the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan, Stark is injured by his company’s own missile when his convoy is attacked by terrorists who hold him hostage and force he and a doctor to build the missile for them that he had demonstrated. Instead, Stark utilizes limited resources and constructs an iron suit that enables him to escape from the terrorists. Back in the States, he rethinks the intention of his company and designs an improved version of the suit, giving him superhuman strength and the ability to fly, setting out to destroy the weapons he and his company created.
Iron Man: A Review by Logan Doe
Heavy boots of lead (they’re actually titanium), fills his victims full of dread, running as fast as they can, Iron Man lives again!
As the 2008 summer blockbuster season falls upon us, bound to deliver ambitious highs and dirt-eating disappointments, Iron Man blows into theatersthrough spring’s usual choices of mediocrity to plant a substantial ass-kicking upon what came before and very likely what will come after.
As Marvel Studios’ first solo venture, Iron Man sets the bar high for future releases. Most of Iron Man’s assured success can be attributed directly to Jon Favreau, the unlikely but evidently capable choice for director of this atomic fireball, known for mostly sidekick, comic-relief roles, he’s been building up his résumé behind the scenes as well in recent years (Zathura, Elf, Made). But if Favreau is the heart of Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. is indeed the soul. The casting of Tony Stark, the inventor of the titular suit, was critical, and they could not have made a better choice than Downey. Infusing his own particular brand of wiseassness into a potentially self-serious superhero, he creates breathing room for the audience to revel in the necessary chemistry between techhead, fanboy special (ooh, they are) effects and the human aspect that skillfully connects the dots between the action and the characters.
As far as superheroes go, Iron Man’s never been big on my list. I pretty much skipped the comics altogether when I was younger in favor of X-Men, The Incredible Hulk (being reenergized for cinemas next month), and other more genetically enhanced heroes. The origins of these heroes are varied, I mostly favor the characters that are born with their gifts or at least have the roots of their powers in something internal. Inside themselves. Tony Stark is highly intelligent, he’s insanely wealthy, very successful, and like Batman, he culminates all of that to produce his…power. It’d be hard to relate to, and root for, this character who seemingly has everything going for him, but Downey infuses him with vigor and brio. We care so much for the man in the iron mask because we care for the man himself. He earns your interest by sheer commitment to the role, not hamming it up the same way so many do in comic-book films. In a similar fashion, Stark earns believability as the hero he is by being taken from cloud nine to rock bottom, only to break out and rise back up, a changed man, both emotionally and physically, by will of capable intelligence and resourcefulness. An ultra MacGyver, if you will.
There are treats for everyone, mostly for comic-book fans: there are numerous set-ups for a sequel (stay after the credits), Terrence Howard plays Jim Rhodes who is bound to figure more significantly into the inevitable franchise as a certain second Iron Man, and Stan Lee himself makes his usual cameo appearance.
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts (did this become a Bond picture when I wasn’t looking?), Stark’s own Miss Moneypenny. Sadly, however capable Paltrow is as an actress, she feels miscast here, but it’s admirable that she eased up to do this long enough to get away from her usual depressed/beautiful/searching role. Jeff “The Dude” Bridges balds it up as former partner of Stark’s father, who seeks to control the newfound hardware that Stark’s created for capital gain and sadly continued tradition.
Iron Man is effective on many levels. Like Downey, the visual effects, are treated with heart and in a timely fashion so when Iron Man (a name given to him by a newspaper headline, a la Spider-Man and so many other superheroes) finally blows across the sky, a glistening comet with a Hulkamania-like red-and-yellow sheen, the impressiveness of this mechanized Mega Man feels just and true because of all the obvious effort put on display, both by Stark and by everyone behind the camera.
Though the final fourth of the film is more robotic interplay, comparable to Transformers, lots of metal mashing, we never lose sight of Downey being in that suit, defending a post-Batman Begins comic-book film’s right to be entertaining by being clever, staying one step ahead of people’s expectations and claiming its spot on the mantle of respectable comic-book films.
-- Logan Doe