If you haven’t noticed by now, I take my jolly time getting around to seeing movies. This year I’ve actually visited the movie theater more than once! Imagine that. Anyways, yes, I finally got around to seeing Iron Man and decided I’d share some of my thoughts on the film.
First off, I’ll admit it… I liked it. For someone who’s grown utterly tired of the nonstop comic-book-turned-movie machine that hollywood has become, I had enough people let me know that this might be worth my while. And I’ll admit they were right. Iron Man is a very enjoyable movie. It’s slightly silly in almost every aspect, but nonetheless it delivers where it counts. There’s a giant awesome suit of armor. And the suit of armor kicks ass.
Personally, I think the secret to the movie is actually the casting of Robert Downey Junior. He’s not entirely plausable as super-mechanic and weapons guru extraordinarre, but he does fit the bill of Rolling Stone magazine cover party boy quite well. But more than that, Downey is a capable actor that can actually play the role and look like he’s having fun doing it. The cast of supporting actors and actresses fits the bill well, and there’s another great Stan Lee cameo (”Heya Hef, how’s things?”) that you have to pay attention for to even catch.
So, as the story goes, Tony Stark (Downey) is a weapons expert who’s made protecting America “cool”. Weapons rock - and Stark Industries supplies the US military with the best in the world. You know, to defend freedom and all that. But of course, lo and behold, Tony has a realization when he discovers (while being shot at by his own weapons) that his weapons are falling in to the wrong hands. And after saving himself from the evil terrorists, he returns home to say that his company won’t produce any more weapons and that they’re going to stop them from falling in to enemy hands.
Now, at this point, most rational business people would say, “Okay, let’s do some inventories, let’s figure out how to ensure arms don’t fall in to the wrong hands, yaddi yaddi yada.” But nope, Stark has his heart plugged in to a super compressed battery that’ll run a suit of armor for a little while… So why not build an even better suit of armor? And so he does, hence the title of the movie.
Overall, it’s a fun one. Downey gets several one-liners in throughout the movie, and his robotic assistant becomes one of the best sidekick’s I’ve seen in a superhero movie. It’s absolutely built for a sequel, so I have no doubt that this is just the beginning of yet another Marvel-based franchise.
Scifi-ness: 6 out of 10. There’s a holographic design studio that kinda rocks. Oh yeah, and the giant suit of armor.
Special-effects-rather-than-plot: Again, a 6 out of 10. This is a special effects movie - the action definitely trumps the dialogue, and most of it is CG.
Overall Grade: 7 out of 10. Worth the trouble to see it in theaters just for the fact that it is a big blockbuster type of movie. Oh, and if you like Audi’s, you’ll love the nonstop product placement (yuck - not at the Audi’s but just at the blatant commercial… Sorta like Will Smith’s I, Robot)
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