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Movies Forum Index » Current Movies Forum » And, In Conclusion -- Iron Man
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| Author |
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| Pete Holland Jr. |
 Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 9:53 pm |
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Guest
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The key thing to writing reviews of anything, movies, whatever, is to give
plenty of background that forms your opinion so people can decide whether
your recommendations hold water. So the first consideration is this: if
you are looking for a comparison to the source material comic book, you'll
have to talk to someone else. I haven't read an Iron Man comic in almost
two decades. My only knowledge of the character comes from those long ago
three issues that I read (it was never my favorite series) and depictions
in Twisted Toyfair Theater and Liberty Meadows that Tony Stark had fallen
off the wagon again. On the bright side, this will probably be my most
objective review of a comic book movie ever.
So, we open with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., who, I have to admit,
creeped me out to see him swilling scotch. I know it's not real, but given
his history....) touring with some military troops and getting caught in an
ambush. A temporarily unexploded rocket bears the name of his company,
Stark Enterprises. What at first seems like a throwaway ironic joke is
actually much more -- rebels have a huge amount of Stark Enterprises
weaponry, and they want him to build the newest repulsor rockets for them.
Instead, he creates a suit of armor (which looks nicely like the original
Iron Man armor from the first appearance) and tries to destroy the rebels
and the weapons. He escapes and is motivated to improve the armor, unaware
that the parts of the prototype he left behind have been found and are
being experimented with.
This is a weird movie, because it actually functions on two levels. First,
there's the general crowd-pleasing superhero stuff. But if you look
closely, you'll see a very interesting examination of the world going on.
People love peace, but violence is foisted on them, either by people who
just want power or people who want to benefit from that power. Much like
the first Robocop, the violence also spins audience expectations around.
At times, Iron Man is just as brutal as those he fights, like when he's
flinging rebels around like dolls. The violence on the part of the bad
guys is terrible and angering, while Iron Man's violence is cathartic and
you root for him to drop the hammer. If you like a little intellectual
stimulation with your popcorn, you'll find yourself occassionally thinking
about how easy it is to decry violence and celebrate it, depending strictly
on the target of the abuse.
This isn't to say the movie is a dry, artsy flick. Jon Favreau really knows
how to work a camera, and his use of transitional light really underscores
the characters' reactions to their surroundings. His "Wedding Crashers"
touch also makes Tony Stark extremely human, but that's not just Favreau.
Downey also gives the character a solid foundation. Coming off as a cross
between Bruce Wayne and Eugene Levy (his voice and delivery, at times, are
almost dead ringers for it), he depicts Stark as a slave to his talents.
People who paint are compelled to paint. People who can play guitar are
compelled to make music. A man like Stark can unlock the mysteries of
technology, and so he creates such things where advancement is dramatic,
only to see he needs to adapt when his eyes are opened to the problems of
the world around him. Although goofy and grandstanding at times, he seems
more like a fun guy than an egotist who deems himself superior to those he
is helping. A real tribute to Downey is when Stark is working on
something. You can almost see the gears turning in his head. It's not
often in movies where a character's intelligence is something you actually
believe instead of it just being an Informed Attribute, but it's here.
Downey's acting is fantastic. There's a scene about halfway through where
he has to replace his artificial heart, and Pepper Potts, his assistant,
has to help. She tugs the wrong wire, and induces cardiac arrest. Stark
is continuing to talk and seem casual so as not to panic her while panic is
clearly evident in his eyes, like he's is trying with everything in him not
to freak out and send her around the bend, the only one that can save him.
It's a nice subtlety that reveals Downey was an excellent choice for the
role.
The movie does a lot right. A test run mistake is used in the climax, but
isn't a magic bullet that ultimately destroys the bad guy. The character
interactions are believable, even when you can tell where they are going.
The characters seem like real people instead of just characters moving the
plot along. Iron Man and his final nemesis also let you get a good look at
them. One of the things I didn't like about the Transformers movie was
that the characters didn't move, they posed, even when they were just
talking to each other. None of that here. Favreau has enough confidence
in his work and what is going on the screen that he doesn't overdo the
blocking.
The result is a movie that is actually really, really good. I don't mean to
sound like I'm softpedaling the praise, but the end result is so radically
different from what I was expecting, it'll take a while to fully process
everything, but there's no doubt I really enjoyed the movie and would love
to see it again.
And by the way, the rumors are true: Sam Jackson DOES appear as Nick Fury,
but only during the stinger after the end credits. After all the jokes I
have heard and made about a Sam Jackson Nick Fury (representative sample
overheard from someone else: "Hand me the LAWS rocket. It's the one
labeled, 'Bad m*****f*****.'"), it's nice to see they got the casting
perfect. It sure beats seeing "the Hoff" in the role. |
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