It's been called one of the most anticipated comic book adaptations in years. For years there were rumors - whispers of the red and gold one being brought to the big screen and when it was finally confirmed, fan boys were chomping at the bit for any piece of information to quell their insatiable metallic lust. They were even willing to overlook the hiring of unimpressive director Jon Favreau as long as Tony Stark was brought to life on the big screen. The time has finally come and Iron Manhas been unleashed. The first question with a movie this big will always be does it live up to the hype? Unlike superhero predecessors X-Menand Batman Beginsbefore it, the answer is a resounding no. Hopefully Favreau was aiming to please the fan boys with this latest effort because those looking for a good film will find themselves greatly disappointed.
Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) is the fast-talking, sharp-tongued, self-loving, womanizing, billionaire prick CEO of Stark Industries. He's also a genius. He's created many of Stark Industries' innovations on his own, including many from their crown jewel, the weapons division. While in Afghanistan demonstrating the power of his latest weapon, the Jericho missile, Stark's convoy is ambushed by insurgents armed with Stark Industries-branded weapons. In captivity, Stark meets another prisoner, Yinsen (Shaun Toub), who, due to shrapnel damage, has implanted a life-saving device in Stark's chest that must be externally powered. The two are required by insurgent leader, Raza (Faran Tahir), to construct for him a Jericho missile but they instead devise a scheme to create a different weapon. Powered by a miniature arc reactor Stark has created to keep himself alive, the Iron Man suit is born. He uses it to secure his escape before it breaks down in the desert.
Upon returning home, Stark, much to the chagrin of Board Member Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), shocks the world by announcing the closing of the weapons division of Stark Industries. Doing so causes the Board of Trustees to lock him out of his own company, prompting him to use his free time to push for the perfection of the promising arc reactor technology. When he sees that someone is selling his weapons to the same insurgents that captured him, he takes it upon himself to perfect his battle armor and clean up the mess he created. Letting only his assistant, Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), and his best friend, James Rhodes (Terrence Howard), in on the secret, Stark's devotion to protecting the world instead of destroying it is soon tested when his prototype suit falls into the wrong hands.
Superheroes exist in a fanciful world. In order for ordinary audience members to be absorbed in an extraordinary world a certain amount of suspension of disbelief must be applied. Iron Man though, gets too wrapped up in the fanciful and relies too often on the audience to disregard those "are you serious?" moments. The special effects, courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic, are gorgeous and the Iron Man suit looks amazing. However, the story is so shoddy it nullifies the film's positives.
The screenwriters (cumbersomely numerous) fool the audience at first by seamlessly updating the story to make it relevant to America's modern war on terror as opposed to the story's original Vietnam era. Liberal anti-militant themes can be easily derived from Stark's captivity and there is a profound Frankensteinesque meditation on destruction via creation. However, explosions and good intentions do not equate to a good movie. Past superhero films like X-Men and Batman Begins succeeded because the characters existed to serve the story. In Iron Man, it seems as though a story was created to serve the character. With the exception of a perfectly cast Robert Downy Jr., the film stretches for over two hours without a single interesting character or worthwhile conflict. The love subplot is fumbled due to underwriting and Paltrow's limp performance while Bridges must suffer a villain only competently menacing at best. With a subpar supporting case, relationships are unrelatable, conflicts lack tension, and the story loses much of its drama. To top it all off, Favreau delivers an anti-climactic final battle with an unforgiveable "are you serious?" moment not seen since the Caped Crusader's laughable tangle with Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin.
It's pretty much picking your poison with Iron Man. Favreau has described it as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman, with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, Robocop and Batman Begins." Without sufficient evidence to back up his claim though, he seems to just be name-dropping instead of giving a works cited.
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-Photos from the Iron Man premiere courtesy of WireImage.com
It would've been better if Vince Vaughn played Tony Stark. Would've been more beautiful babies, Mikey. Look at little Wayne's legs.