Iron Man
Better get this one posted quickly, because the entire country will have seen this movie by next weekend. It already did $100-million in its first two days, and guess what: your movie ticket is money well spent.
That's because with only a few missteps, this movie is everything a summer blockbuster should be. It's action-packed, has terrific special effects and most of all it's a ton of fun to watch, thanks to a hip director (John Favreau, of "Swingers" fame) and a top-drawer cast. Heading that A-list is Robert Downey Jr., the coolest cat ever to play a super hero.
Downey has so much fun as playboy arms billionaire Tony Stark that I almost hated to see him become all grim and determined when he donned his Iron Man armor. We first see him, Scotch in hand, riding in a Humvee in Afghanistan, flirting with a woman soldier and joking with other GI's. Then all hell breaks loose, with some very realistic combat scenes.
Stark is captured by a shadowy group of terrorists (although they sure looked like Mujahadeen to me. Mistake number one.). They waterboard him. (I'm not sure why they adopted this all-American form of torture, since their leader comes up with a much nastier idea later in the movie. Mistake number two.) When they force him to replicate his deadliest weaponry, Tony comes up with a plan of his own -- and the movie is off and flying.
Backing up Downey's terrific performance is a strong supporting cast: Jeff Bridges (the Dude!) now sports a shaved head and a full beard, but still shows off a sly acting style. Terrence Howard ("Crash") is Downey's sidekick, apparently on loan from the Pentagon. And Gwyneth Paltrow is a smart, perky office manager back at Stark Enterprises. They all perform their functions admirably, as does a wonderfully sarcastic software program, which seems to do most of Tony Stark's gruntwork, including helping him fly that suit of armor around.
I won't give away too many of the movie's surprises -- you've already seen one of them if you saw the trailer. It's a great scene where Downey tries out some of the powers of his Iron Man armor and does a sudden backspin right into the wall. Throughout scenes like this, Downey keeps the hip patter going, providing his own hilarious narration. You've seen CGI stuff before, but never with the ironic voice of Tony Stark explaining what's going on.
What sets the comic book character of Iron Man apart from so many other superheroes is that there is no element of tragedy in his creation. Superman was sent out from a doomed planet, Spiderman can't catch a break, The Hulk is a scientist trapped in a monstrous body. Iron Man is simply the creation of a gifted tinkerer, who goes from taking apart vintage sports cars to assembling a flying, fireball-shooting suit of armor. That's it: no super powers, no tragic past, just a hep cat who sets out to rectify his ill-gotten gains with a little firepower.
This summer is sure to bring some ham-handed box office bombast in the guise of a comic book movie. Enjoy the first such entry of the season for what it is -- one very cool thrill ride.
This one's rated PG-13 for some comic book violence, and a soupcon of sex.
That's because with only a few missteps, this movie is everything a summer blockbuster should be. It's action-packed, has terrific special effects and most of all it's a ton of fun to watch, thanks to a hip director (John Favreau, of "Swingers" fame) and a top-drawer cast. Heading that A-list is Robert Downey Jr., the coolest cat ever to play a super hero.
Downey has so much fun as playboy arms billionaire Tony Stark that I almost hated to see him become all grim and determined when he donned his Iron Man armor. We first see him, Scotch in hand, riding in a Humvee in Afghanistan, flirting with a woman soldier and joking with other GI's. Then all hell breaks loose, with some very realistic combat scenes.
Stark is captured by a shadowy group of terrorists (although they sure looked like Mujahadeen to me. Mistake number one.). They waterboard him. (I'm not sure why they adopted this all-American form of torture, since their leader comes up with a much nastier idea later in the movie. Mistake number two.) When they force him to replicate his deadliest weaponry, Tony comes up with a plan of his own -- and the movie is off and flying.
Backing up Downey's terrific performance is a strong supporting cast: Jeff Bridges (the Dude!) now sports a shaved head and a full beard, but still shows off a sly acting style. Terrence Howard ("Crash") is Downey's sidekick, apparently on loan from the Pentagon. And Gwyneth Paltrow is a smart, perky office manager back at Stark Enterprises. They all perform their functions admirably, as does a wonderfully sarcastic software program, which seems to do most of Tony Stark's gruntwork, including helping him fly that suit of armor around.
I won't give away too many of the movie's surprises -- you've already seen one of them if you saw the trailer. It's a great scene where Downey tries out some of the powers of his Iron Man armor and does a sudden backspin right into the wall. Throughout scenes like this, Downey keeps the hip patter going, providing his own hilarious narration. You've seen CGI stuff before, but never with the ironic voice of Tony Stark explaining what's going on.
What sets the comic book character of Iron Man apart from so many other superheroes is that there is no element of tragedy in his creation. Superman was sent out from a doomed planet, Spiderman can't catch a break, The Hulk is a scientist trapped in a monstrous body. Iron Man is simply the creation of a gifted tinkerer, who goes from taking apart vintage sports cars to assembling a flying, fireball-shooting suit of armor. That's it: no super powers, no tragic past, just a hep cat who sets out to rectify his ill-gotten gains with a little firepower.
This summer is sure to bring some ham-handed box office bombast in the guise of a comic book movie. Enjoy the first such entry of the season for what it is -- one very cool thrill ride.
This one's rated PG-13 for some comic book violence, and a soupcon of sex.
Labels: comic book movies, Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.
posted by Anonymous at
10:48 AM
4 Comments:
If making me want to see a film I had no interest in seeing in the first place was your goal Mr. Weyl.
Then, mission accomplished. This may be the only review on this movie NOT to reference Black Sabbath . . . so, way to go!
That's a pretty good review. Humorless, though. I long for the days when Christopher Smith was reviewing for this station. I didn't always agree with him, but he was fun as hell.
Iweyl:
This movie was not only super fun, it thrilled my inner nerd. An MIT grad who goes on the own all the best toys and eventually fly, how could that be disappointing?! This goes down along with Sin City and Batman Begins as a solid graphic to screen adaptation. I with you here Big Pete!
I agree that it was a cute little movie that allowed one to laugh at the banter, marvel at the flying scenes and not have a single deep thought about the military industrial complex.
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