Iron Man marks two successful movie comebacks. Obviously, Robert Downey, Jr. is back where he belongs, and it’s great to see his name up in lights again. For all his past troubles, this man is an astounding talent, and his acting smarts, sense of humor and charisma give this film a truly solid grounding. But the other significant comeback here is that of Marvel’s comic-to-movie adaptations, which seemed to be on the wane in recent years.
The most recent comic book movie explosion began strongly with the likes of the first X-Men and Spider-Man films in 2000 and 2002 respectively. However, things started to wobble when lesser entries such as Daredevil and the misfire that was Ang Lee’s Hulk saw the genre’s impact become diluted. Then in 2005, it was Batman Begins that came and conquered all before it, but this belonged to DC Comics. Iron Man is easily the best Marvel effort since the Caped Crusader crashed and ruined their party.
I Am Iron Man
When billionaire weapons inventor Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.) finds himself kidnapped at the hands of a terrorist group in Afghanistan and forced to build for them his latest and greatest missile, he instead builds himself a metal suit designed for his escape. Upon escaping Stark returns to his US home a changed man, and he decides to use his gifts for the better of humankind. However, it isn’t too long before Stark smells a rat within his own empire, and learns of a deadly threat emerging against him. That’s when Stark perfects his metal suit of amour and weaponry, and the titular character is born.
What makes Iron Man work is the individual efforts from key cast and crew. Robert Downey, Jr. is simply wonderful as Tony Stark, imbuing the character with humor, charisma, sensitivity and moral strength. Gwyneth Paltrow surprises with a nicely underplayed turn as Stark’s loyal secretary-turned-love-interest Pepper Pots, while an unrecognizable Jeff Bridges gives his fairly stock villain an extra level of zeal with his colorful performance.
John Favreau Gets It Right
Also worthy of praise is director John Favreau, who prior to this had films such as Elf and Zathura to his name. He manages to maintain a strong balance between crowd-pleasing thrills, credibility of characters, lightheartedness as well as darker and more serious elements (such as the criticism of America’s weapons industry). That the director is able to traverse all these areas and come out at the end with a solid and consistently entertaining film deserves to be commended.
As good a job as the creative team has done with Iron Man however, it isn’t perfect. The film suffers from the same fate as most comic ‘origin’ films do in that it spends so much time developing its central story (i.e. the beginnings of the character), that the action at times feels like an afterthought. This is best exemplified by the film’s third act, that while satisfying, does lack excitement at times and veers into slightly silly territory. This is a minor problem however and one that seems to plague even the best films of this type.
A Return to Form for Marvel’s Comic Book Films
Apart from a few minor niggles with the script (and fully remembering this is a popcorn film and little more), Iron Man is a triumph of blockbuster entertainment. It successfully combines excellent performances, well-written main characters, flawless special effects and genuine heart to equal a highly entertaining and fun ride. Most pleasingly, it puts the Marvel franchise back on track after a few lean years and confirms Robert Downey, Jr.’s screen comeback loud and clear.
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