Review: Iron Man (Theatrical Release)
Just got back from seeing Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man (Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger, Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes). It’s based on the Marvel comic. I never really got into Iron Man comics, leaning more to superwomen than supermen, so I didn’t get a lot of the hidden easter eggs in the film. However, the film is action packed with a lot of really cool special effects and even has some hidden depth.
Tony Stark is an engineering/inventing genius and head of Stark Industries along with his father’s partner Obadiah Stane. Stane stepped in when Stark’s parents died. The movie opens with a few scenes to show us Stark as a multi-millionaire playboy who loves his toys and thinks he’s doing his best to protect America by building bigger and badder weapons than the other guy. Until, that is, he’s captured by terrorists who seem to be amply supplied with Stark Industries armaments. His captors want him to make them the newest missile system and get him the parts to do so — otherwise they’ll kill him. His cell is complete with a doctor who hooked him up with a magnet and battery to keep him alive and acts as his translator. As the pressure amps up to build the missile, Stark and his cellmate become friends in a way. This is Starks first taste of what life is like for the people who are on the receiving end of his company’s products. While in the context of the movie it seems to take a little time, the detail of this first bit does make you believe in the transformation of Tony Stark into a person who now questions what he’s been doing with his creations.
Of course, the film goes on with a bad guy who turns out to be only a puppet and some, for me with my unfamiliarity with the comic origin story and Iron Monger story line, to have some interesting (thought partially expected) plot twists. And after a number of really interesting scenes of building machines, equipment, wonderfully realized high tech gadgets and toys, AI assistants, explosions, battles, flights of fancy, witty dialogue, and of course the requisite number of special effect spectaculars, we have a very satisfying ending. However, if you wait until the credits finish rolling, there’s a hint of more to come in a bit of a scene at the end.
So, all in all, lots of fun with a bit serious talk about weapons and their place in war, peace, and power struggles. So, while it’s a lot of what’s expected in a movie based on a comic, it also has that underlying note of seriousness that leaves you with some things to think about when the show is over.