Iron Man 2008
Iron Man is different from most superhero movies. First, they hired a cast of top shelf actors: Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Terrence Howard as an all-business Air Force liaison, Jeff Bridges playing a Steve Ballmer to Stark’s Bill Gates , and Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark’s loyal assistant. Jeff Bridges has four Oscar nomination while Downey, Howard, and Paltrow have one each (Paltrow the only winner). Tony Stark, as played by Downey, is the playboy head of a weapons manufacturing corporation inherited from his father. But Stark has real ability, kind of like Bruce Wayne but without all of the vengeance and psychological issues. He sleeps well at night knowing that his weapons are protecting the lives of American soldiers. But when one of his own weapons in the hands of Afghan insurgents nearly kills him, Stark has a change of heart (literally). This makes for a movie that delivers action, but also has a payload of intelligent writing and very good acting.
Most of what appeals in this movie is how Tony Stark develops Iron Man, from being held by the insurgents to finding out his weapons are ending up in the wrong hands to experiments with different prototypes of the Iron Man suit. Since those can’t be present in the future episodes (inevitable given the box office of this movie and the post-credits scene at the very end), Iron Man may not be able to avoid superhero cliches for long. But if the writing can keep up and the emphasis is placed more on the story than mindless action, this series could go a while before getting rusty. A-. 2023 Update: I watched this movie on the last night of 2023 after buying the UHD disc, having seen over 20 more Marvel movies. This one definitely stands out. Robert Downey, Jr. is really amazing in this role. He has some sharply written dialogue and just knocks it out of the park. He is arrogant, funny, and brilliant. His supporting cast is also very good. One thing easy to like about the movie is how grounded it is. There are no space aliens or space magic at work. The future of the planet isn’t really hanging in the balance and collateral damage to cities is minimal. This is more of a personal story of Tony Stark. The big conflict with Jeff Bridges is actually kind of a letdown and not as interesting (or that realistic). I probably should have given this one an A.
Written: 29 Jun 2008
Owned on: UHD, Blu-ray, Digital