Iron Man (2008)
Super heros and comic books in general are certainly no strangers to film. In a way, the printed action packed exploits should lend themselves well to the big screen, but any fan has seen just how awry things can go when a director knows nothing about the source material and the studio is only interested in capitalizing on a comic persona. In recent memory, only a handful of comic book movies have made a mark: Batman Begins and Spider-man. More often though they just stain the pavement: Spider-man 3, Daredevil, Catwoman, Hulk and countless others. Suffice it to say, you really take a chance at doing anything based on a comic these days.
So why take on a relatively unknown Marvel comic as a pre-summer blockbuster. Well, because it could be great. John Favreau directs a surprisingly well rounded Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man. RDJ is Tony Stark, CEO of weapons developer Stark Industries, borderline alcoholic, womanizer and all around spoiled man-brat. Stark isn’t completely unlikeable, but he is a self centered engineering genius with a penchant for the cliched fast cars and faster women. After a demonstration of his company’s lastest devastating missile system in Afghanistan, his convoy is attacked and Stark is mortally wounded and taken hostage by terrorists who want him to build a missile like the one demonstrated. He is kept alive by quick surgery that uses a crude electromagnet to keep shrapnel from reaching his heart.
Stark uses his supplies to build a suit of armor and weaponry to escape, rather than a missile for the terrorists. After returning to the U.S. he fights a morality battle over what his company creates and who those products have destroyed. He upgrades his makeshift pacemaker and the suit it powers to become Iron Man, taking out the war-mongers of the middle east who have stock piled his weapons and battling his business partner, played by a well make-up’d Jeff Bridges, in the board room.
Flat out, Iron Man is funny, slightly thought provoking (weapons for peace? necessary death?) and has an excellent balance of action and non-action. The funniest scenes come when Stark begins upgrading and testing his suit’s weaponry and flying abilities. I thought the action hit its peak a little too soon when Iron Man takes on the terrorist faction. It had more punch than the inevitable ‘final big-bad fight’ at the end of the movie.
Lightly sprinkled in are more emotional moments, though snarky, exploring the relationship between rich-boy Stark and his long time assistant Pepper Potts, played by a rather stale Gwenyth Paltro. I realize there’s a comic-based chemistry between the two characters, but Starks one nights stands were much more fun to watch.
Really though, Iron Man doesn’t need those elements. It needs about 30% moral questioning and 70% shoot-em-up, blow-em-up hardder action, and Favreau nails it. Like any good roller coaster, it deserves a second ride simply because it’s so much fun. This is what summer blockbusters should be, what comic book movies should be and what super hero movies should be. Oh, and if you haven’t already heard, stay for the final credit, particularly if you’re a Marvel comic fan. You won’t be disappointed.
