Iron Man
I loved Robert Downey Jr.'s supporting performance in Wonder Boys, a film that had Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes all creating believable, well-rounded characters.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I would agree with you about Downey were his past four outings ('Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', 'A Scanner Darkly', 'Zodiac', and 'Iron Man') not so ridiculously entertaining. I'd posit that he's allowed to coast in such a fashion if, like the recovering substance-abuser, he realizes the error of his ways and considering that he's as facetious on-screen as off- when discussing his hallucinogenic time during the 90's I think it's all right for him to get his career back on track to bankability.
"How's the despair?"
-
Mister Tee
- Tenured Laureate
- Posts: 8648
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
I crawled out of my cave to finally catch this before it left theatres.
It's a perfectly zippy two hours. I don't think it has the resonance of the two Spider Man movies I saw (those risked sentimentality and achieved emotional heft as a result); it's content to be facetious throughout, which pleases critics and audiences well enough, but makes the enterprise forgettable after a short while. It also makes the less-inspired final act a bit dull -- a variation on Transformers from people to whom taste and wit aren't alien concepts. But, as William Goldman put it, the trouble with washing garbage is, when you're done, it's still garbage.
It's hard not to enjoy Downey's work -- especially his screwball-worthy exchanges with a pleasingly good Paltrow -- but I find myself disappointed by the trajectory his career has taken. He seems to have adopted facetious as his nearly sole mode. No one does that mode better, but once upon a time I had higher hopes for him as an actor (and still occasionally glimpse the possibilities, as in Zodiac). It's disheartening to see him settle -- a la James O'Neill in Long Day's Journey -- for what seems to come so easily to him.
Anyway, a moderately enthusiastic three stars -- well above summer crud standards, but nothing so special I'd have been crushed to miss it.
It's a perfectly zippy two hours. I don't think it has the resonance of the two Spider Man movies I saw (those risked sentimentality and achieved emotional heft as a result); it's content to be facetious throughout, which pleases critics and audiences well enough, but makes the enterprise forgettable after a short while. It also makes the less-inspired final act a bit dull -- a variation on Transformers from people to whom taste and wit aren't alien concepts. But, as William Goldman put it, the trouble with washing garbage is, when you're done, it's still garbage.
It's hard not to enjoy Downey's work -- especially his screwball-worthy exchanges with a pleasingly good Paltrow -- but I find myself disappointed by the trajectory his career has taken. He seems to have adopted facetious as his nearly sole mode. No one does that mode better, but once upon a time I had higher hopes for him as an actor (and still occasionally glimpse the possibilities, as in Zodiac). It's disheartening to see him settle -- a la James O'Neill in Long Day's Journey -- for what seems to come so easily to him.
Anyway, a moderately enthusiastic three stars -- well above summer crud standards, but nothing so special I'd have been crushed to miss it.
Almost totally entertaining and surprisingly un-dangerously irresponsible. A little short on entertaining smack-downs (the Godzilla-style robot brawl is nonsensical but still leagues above 'Transformers') but 'Iron Man' succeeds as the rare film that prizes intensely likable characterizations at the heart of its escapism. To say I didn't have high hopes for this film was an understatement. Politically simplistic? Sure, and some imagery of Iron Man taking down insurgents is problematic, but a superhero who is plagued by a life of weapon's manufacturing gone to obliterate his mistakes? That acknowledges the root of all evil stems from U.S. double-dealings and a short attention span? 'Transformers' wants to get down on its hands and knees and suck the dick of the U.S. Army but 'Iron Man' nonchalantly says "Cool, but we can do better."
Robert Downey Jr. is great. It's not an utterly wackjob transformation like Depp in 'Pirates' but a note-perfect distillation of everything one enjoys about this motormouth performer. The other performers are archetypal but superlative. The narrative is a little flawed by never dull for a moment. Beyond anything else, it eschews MTV-editing for (GASP!) sequences you can actually watch without lapsing into seizure. I knew exactly what I was watching during 'Iron Man' and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Robert Downey Jr. is great. It's not an utterly wackjob transformation like Depp in 'Pirates' but a note-perfect distillation of everything one enjoys about this motormouth performer. The other performers are archetypal but superlative. The narrative is a little flawed by never dull for a moment. Beyond anything else, it eschews MTV-editing for (GASP!) sequences you can actually watch without lapsing into seizure. I knew exactly what I was watching during 'Iron Man' and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
"How's the despair?"
-
rolotomasi99
- Professor
- Posts: 2108
- Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 4:13 pm
- Location: n/a
- Contact:
did you say something bad about sanjaya or something?flipp525 wrote:Sonic left the board a month or so ago in what was, essentially, one of the most childish huff-and-puffs I've ever seen, supposedly because of a comment I made in the American Idol thread. I'm sure he's still checking things out though.
"When it comes to the subject of torture, I trust a woman who was married to James Cameron for three years."
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
Sonic left the board a month or so ago in what was, essentially, one of the most childish huff-and-puffs I've ever seen, supposedly because of a comment I made in the American Idol thread. I'm sure he's still checking things out though.
Edited By flipp525 on 1209393535
Edited By flipp525 on 1209393535
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-
Mister Tee
- Tenured Laureate
- Posts: 8648
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
ScreenDaily makes it 3-for-3.
Iron Man
Brent Simon in Los Angeles
25 Apr 2008 20:16
Dir: Jon Favreau. US. 2008. 126 mins.
A slickly-attractive, well-cast and solidly-constructed piece of mainstream action-adventure entertainment, Iron Man is the latest Marvel comic property to go legit, and would seem, based on its top-shelf execution, to have all the ingredients of another successful franchise-in-waiting. Anchored by an enjoyably-charismatic performance from Robert Downey Jr, this should be a positive kick-off to the American summer box office season for distributor Paramount.
Occupying the same early-May slot that has typically been reserved for sequels like Spider-Man 3 and Mission: Impossible III over the last few years, Iron Man should have no problem turning out Marvel's devoted fan base. With its forward-leaning protagonist who looks for a more moral interaction with the world, the film also seems to have the potential to expand on its core audience. While it's not an ensemble piece like the X-Men franchise, the rest of the cast are involved enough in the story to give it a solid anchor, and one can easily imagine a grander series blooming from this.
The absence of a hugely marketable action star, and the relatively small stature of the comic book title itself may possibly suppress international turnout in comparison with other superhero adaptations, but positive word-of-mouth and critical reaction should push it close to an even split with domestic returns. Ancillary marketplace value will be additionally robust, with extensive excised scenes, presumably re-included, driving DVD sales.
Downey Jr stars as billionaire industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark, CEO of the government's top weapons contractor. A rascally charmer derided as being constitutionally irresponsible, Stark has achieved political celebrity status by protecting American interests around the globe for decades, and has enjoyed himself while doing it. This embrace of the limelight costs him, though; following an overseas weapons test, Stark's convoy is attacked. Injured by a piece of shrapnel embedded close to his heart, Stark is told by his captors to build a weapon, but instead builds a suit of armour to escape.
Upon his return to America, this former lord of war is transformed, and vows to take his company in a new direction. Despite resistance from long-time aide Obadiah Stane (Bridges), Stark secretly sets about personally developing a cybernetically-controlled suit of armor that gives him superhuman strength and the ability to fly. Distraught by his company's complicity in a tangled case of arms double-dealing with global implications, Stark sets out, with the help of his devoted assistant Pepper Potts (Paltrow) and trusted friend and military liaison Jim Rhodes (Howard), to right past wrongs.
Some of the seams in Iron Man's screenplay - the first draft of which was penned by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, then punched up by Children Of Men co-writers Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby - show, especially the lengths to which it goes to establish the multi-ethnicity of its terrorist bad guys. This, along with swathes of its all-action finale, sometimes feel like an exercise in obligation, albeit a technically-dazzling one.
Still, there's a playfulness to many scenes (especially early on) that benefits Iron Man, and informs the crusading yet wryly self-effacing spirit of its protagonist. The true test of a superhero movie, especially a series debut, is whether it could survive without any of the action sequences, and Iron Man definitely could. Favreau invested great care in establishing the relationships of all the characters, and his gift with actors is evident in carefully attuned supporting performances from Bridges, Paltrow and Howard.
Also, while he previously proved his talent at juggling fantasy action elements - albeit on a much different scale, in the under-regarded kids' flick Zathura - Favreau here shows himself skilled as a cinematic constructor, a master of attention to the component parts of filmmaking. He's abetted by fantastic, sleek work from Industrial Light & Magic.
Stark possesses intellect, ingenuity, rakishness and more than a little self-destructive single-mindedness, and Downey wonderfully captures all of those aspects of his personality. Owing to Downey's dramatic chops, there's also a glimpse of Stark's deep reservoir of pain, effectively shading the material without explicitly dwelling on many of the darker elements present in the comics, namely Stark's alcoholism.
Iron Man
Brent Simon in Los Angeles
25 Apr 2008 20:16
Dir: Jon Favreau. US. 2008. 126 mins.
A slickly-attractive, well-cast and solidly-constructed piece of mainstream action-adventure entertainment, Iron Man is the latest Marvel comic property to go legit, and would seem, based on its top-shelf execution, to have all the ingredients of another successful franchise-in-waiting. Anchored by an enjoyably-charismatic performance from Robert Downey Jr, this should be a positive kick-off to the American summer box office season for distributor Paramount.
Occupying the same early-May slot that has typically been reserved for sequels like Spider-Man 3 and Mission: Impossible III over the last few years, Iron Man should have no problem turning out Marvel's devoted fan base. With its forward-leaning protagonist who looks for a more moral interaction with the world, the film also seems to have the potential to expand on its core audience. While it's not an ensemble piece like the X-Men franchise, the rest of the cast are involved enough in the story to give it a solid anchor, and one can easily imagine a grander series blooming from this.
The absence of a hugely marketable action star, and the relatively small stature of the comic book title itself may possibly suppress international turnout in comparison with other superhero adaptations, but positive word-of-mouth and critical reaction should push it close to an even split with domestic returns. Ancillary marketplace value will be additionally robust, with extensive excised scenes, presumably re-included, driving DVD sales.
Downey Jr stars as billionaire industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark, CEO of the government's top weapons contractor. A rascally charmer derided as being constitutionally irresponsible, Stark has achieved political celebrity status by protecting American interests around the globe for decades, and has enjoyed himself while doing it. This embrace of the limelight costs him, though; following an overseas weapons test, Stark's convoy is attacked. Injured by a piece of shrapnel embedded close to his heart, Stark is told by his captors to build a weapon, but instead builds a suit of armour to escape.
Upon his return to America, this former lord of war is transformed, and vows to take his company in a new direction. Despite resistance from long-time aide Obadiah Stane (Bridges), Stark secretly sets about personally developing a cybernetically-controlled suit of armor that gives him superhuman strength and the ability to fly. Distraught by his company's complicity in a tangled case of arms double-dealing with global implications, Stark sets out, with the help of his devoted assistant Pepper Potts (Paltrow) and trusted friend and military liaison Jim Rhodes (Howard), to right past wrongs.
Some of the seams in Iron Man's screenplay - the first draft of which was penned by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, then punched up by Children Of Men co-writers Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby - show, especially the lengths to which it goes to establish the multi-ethnicity of its terrorist bad guys. This, along with swathes of its all-action finale, sometimes feel like an exercise in obligation, albeit a technically-dazzling one.
Still, there's a playfulness to many scenes (especially early on) that benefits Iron Man, and informs the crusading yet wryly self-effacing spirit of its protagonist. The true test of a superhero movie, especially a series debut, is whether it could survive without any of the action sequences, and Iron Man definitely could. Favreau invested great care in establishing the relationships of all the characters, and his gift with actors is evident in carefully attuned supporting performances from Bridges, Paltrow and Howard.
Also, while he previously proved his talent at juggling fantasy action elements - albeit on a much different scale, in the under-regarded kids' flick Zathura - Favreau here shows himself skilled as a cinematic constructor, a master of attention to the component parts of filmmaking. He's abetted by fantastic, sleek work from Industrial Light & Magic.
Stark possesses intellect, ingenuity, rakishness and more than a little self-destructive single-mindedness, and Downey wonderfully captures all of those aspects of his personality. Owing to Downey's dramatic chops, there's also a glimpse of Stark's deep reservoir of pain, effectively shading the material without explicitly dwelling on many of the darker elements present in the comics, namely Stark's alcoholism.
-
Mister Tee
- Tenured Laureate
- Posts: 8648
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Does no one else around here check Variety? (By which I partly mean, is Sonic really gone for good?) This review's been available all weekend, but I can't access the Variety from my crappy home computer (don't ask).
Anyway, sounds like a safe-to-see summer movie.
(EDIT: Added Hollywood Reporter, in the same vein)
Iron Man
By TODD MCCARTHY
Finally, someone's found a sure-fire way to make money with a modern Middle East war movie: Just send a Marvel superhero into the fray to kick some insurgent butt. The powerhouse comicbook-inspired actioner "Iron Man" isn't principally about this fantasy, but it won't hurt at least American audiences' enjoyment of this expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza. Having an actor as supercharged as Robert Downey Jr. at the center of such a tech-oriented enterprise reps a huge plus, and Paramount should reap big B.O. rewards by getting out ahead of the summer tentpole pack with such a classy refitting of an overworked format.
It's refreshing, for a start, that the character suddenly endowed with superpowers isn't a dweeby teen, but rather a pushing-middle-age genius who is himself entirely responsible for the advanced means he acquires to combat his adversaries; even more than the latest incarnation of Batman, he's a self-made superman. And while we've seen plenty of masks and gravity-resistant heroes before, the outfit sported by the main man here, which looks as though it was made by a top ski boot manufacturer, is striking and capable of great things.
Half-hour setup neatly dovetails essential character background with the flawed hero's extreme imperilment. Imperious, sarcastic and arrogant, Tony Stark (Downey) creates the world's most sophisticated weapons for the U.S. Army. A boozer and brash ladies' man, the gazillionaire (originally based to a great extent on Howard Hughes) inherited Stark Industries from his late father and runs the company with his dad's partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Praised as a technological Da Vinci and reviled as "the merchant of death," this is a man who always gets what he wants.
On a demonstration trip to Afghanistan, however, Tony is ambushed and kidnapped by swarthy insurgent types who take him to a cave, connect him to a bomb and command him to make them his latest and greatest weapon. Despite being closely watched, the devious dude surreptitiously creates a sort of high-tech armor suit that turns him into "a destructive Robbie the Robot" and enables him to thwart his captors and fly off into the desert, where he promptly crashes before being rescued by Yanks.
Tony arrives back home a changed man. Revealing that during captivity he "realized I have more to offer the world than making things that blow up," Tony announces his exit from the arms business, which sends his huge firm's stock plummeting and pits the ruthless Obadiah against him.
Trying to settle on what to do with his life, Tony begins fashioning a more sophisticated version of his jerry-rigged suit, and one of the film's most delightful scenes has him making a trial run in his warehouse; seamless visual effects allow an encased Tony to hover and rocket around via boot and glove jets. In a memorable maiden voyage, he zooms out of his Malibu h.q. and shoots above Santa Monica on his way to testing the outer atmospheric limits of his marvelous invention.
At the same time, the bad boys back in Afghanistan are patching together the broken remains of Tony's original improvised suit and wreaking havoc on the local populace with a cache of stolen Stark weapons. It's easy to see where this is headed, and it isn't long before Tony is high-flying it back for a little precision target practice at the expense of the nasties. (Only the snide will wonder why he doesn't stop off in Iraq on the way home to put things in order there.)
Foreign kidnap-and-revenge format actually recycles the initial "Iron Man" storyline from the April 1963 Marvel comic, in which the heavies were Vietcong. Current villains do not espouse any particular religion or ideology, although their leader, the bald-headed Raza (Faran Tahir), professes a desire to become the new Genghis Khan.
Tony's self-appointed role as international enforcer doesn't go down well with U.S. officials, including his Pentagon pal Rhodey (Terrence Howard), and another action highlight has supersonic Iron Man in a wild dogfight with a couple of American fighter jets.
With foreign devils out of the way, at least for the moment, the final act's dynamic pits Tony against turncoat Obadiah. Although kids will probably like it, the climactic giant suit vs. giant suit battle, which, with its machines' multitude of moving parts and resultant clanging metal smacks all too much of "Transformers," is the pic's only disappointment.
Talent lineup on both sides of the camera injects familiar conceits with fresh energy and stylistic polish. The work of two screenwriting teams -- Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby ("Children of Men") and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway -- have been blended effectively to keep the plot moving and provide motor-mouthed Downey with plenty of snappy dialogue. Ever-eclectic director Jon Favreau, who briefly pops up onscreen as a Stark minion, maintains a brisk but not frantic pace, and, in concert with lenser Matthew Libatique, production designer J. Michael Riva and the first-rate visual effects team, has made an unusually elegant looking film for the genre.
Snapping off lines as crisply as Bugs Bunny might bite into a carrot, the sculpture-bearded Downey invigorates the entire proceedings in a way no other actor ever has in this field. Initially conveying Tony's Matt Helm lifestyle as if it's second nature, Downey possesses a one-of-a-kind intensity that perfectly serves the character's second-act drive and obstinacy. His Achilles' heel is his heart, at first threatened by shrapnel and later central to his superpower and his submerged romantic relationship with ever-loyal assistant Pepper Potts, who Gwyneth Paltrow, in an unexpected casting move, endows with smarts and appeal.
Shaven-headed and sporting a bushy beard in a way that makes him rather resemble Bruce Willis, Bridges is an imposing antagonist. Other roles, including Howard's second-billed Air Force officer, are one-dimensional.
All tech credits are tops.
Iron Man
Bottom Line: Marvel-ous.
By Kirk Honeycutt
Apr 28, 2008
Iron Man may not make the A-list of Marvel Comics' stable, but he may be the cinema superhero for the rest of us.
You gotta love a middle-aged wreck as a superhero. Iron Man may not make the A-list of Marvel Comics' stable -- home to Spider-Man, X-Men and the Hulk -- but he may be the cinema superhero for the rest of us. No spider bite or genetic mutation produces him. Rather he springs from good old American ingenuity, the brainchild of his creator and impersonator, Tony Stark, a character modeled in part on genius-playboy Howard Hughes. Tony wears his character flaws like badges of honor yet Iron Man represents a midlife correction.
"Iron Man," the first self-financed production from Marvel Studios, should catch boxoffice lightning in a bottle, thanks to hiring longtime Marvel Comics reader Jon Favreau as director and the supersmart casting of Robert Downey Jr. as the conflicted protagonist. The betting line about opening weekend grosses really pales in significance to the real question: Will the film imitate its hero's ability to blast into the stratosphere for many weeks? The guess here is a big yes.
The entire film, written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, is devoted to how Tony Stark, the top U.S. weapons manufacturer and all-around playboy, becomes Iron Man. A kidnapping by insurgents in Afghanistan forces Tony to invent a crude prototype to escape captivity. (His captors are a little too dumb for belief to think he is actually assembling a weapon for them.)
Back in his Malibu home, having witnessed U.S. soldiers slaughtered with his weaponry, he declares himself out of that business for good. While his partner Obadiah Stane (a marvelously malevolent Jeff Bridges) seizes control of the company, Tony perfects his red-and-gold weapons suit with a somewhat ill-defined plan to use it for good.
The film neatly borrows from a raft of both real and science-fiction technologies as well as previous sci-fi movies to propel the fast-paced two-hour film. In his home basement (think Bat Cave), Tony can talk to his computers and robotics (think R2-D2) while his suit starts to resemble RoboCop on human growth hormones. The space flights and acrobatics over Los Angeles evoke Spider-Man. Yet the whole package is distinctly its own, a tale originated in the '60s cleverly and logically transposed into today's world.
Downey plays off his own bad-boy image wonderfully. The writers give him great lines to work with and ditto that for his Girl Friday, Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, whose own svelte lines cannot be improved on.
Key disappointment is a climatic battle between different Iron Man prototypes, which is both illogical -- how did Tony's nemesis learn how to use the suit? -- and derivative of many other superhero climaxes. Never mind. Marvel has several more sequels to upgrade "Iron Man."
Edited By Mister Tee on 1209392892
Anyway, sounds like a safe-to-see summer movie.
(EDIT: Added Hollywood Reporter, in the same vein)
Iron Man
By TODD MCCARTHY
Finally, someone's found a sure-fire way to make money with a modern Middle East war movie: Just send a Marvel superhero into the fray to kick some insurgent butt. The powerhouse comicbook-inspired actioner "Iron Man" isn't principally about this fantasy, but it won't hurt at least American audiences' enjoyment of this expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza. Having an actor as supercharged as Robert Downey Jr. at the center of such a tech-oriented enterprise reps a huge plus, and Paramount should reap big B.O. rewards by getting out ahead of the summer tentpole pack with such a classy refitting of an overworked format.
It's refreshing, for a start, that the character suddenly endowed with superpowers isn't a dweeby teen, but rather a pushing-middle-age genius who is himself entirely responsible for the advanced means he acquires to combat his adversaries; even more than the latest incarnation of Batman, he's a self-made superman. And while we've seen plenty of masks and gravity-resistant heroes before, the outfit sported by the main man here, which looks as though it was made by a top ski boot manufacturer, is striking and capable of great things.
Half-hour setup neatly dovetails essential character background with the flawed hero's extreme imperilment. Imperious, sarcastic and arrogant, Tony Stark (Downey) creates the world's most sophisticated weapons for the U.S. Army. A boozer and brash ladies' man, the gazillionaire (originally based to a great extent on Howard Hughes) inherited Stark Industries from his late father and runs the company with his dad's partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Praised as a technological Da Vinci and reviled as "the merchant of death," this is a man who always gets what he wants.
On a demonstration trip to Afghanistan, however, Tony is ambushed and kidnapped by swarthy insurgent types who take him to a cave, connect him to a bomb and command him to make them his latest and greatest weapon. Despite being closely watched, the devious dude surreptitiously creates a sort of high-tech armor suit that turns him into "a destructive Robbie the Robot" and enables him to thwart his captors and fly off into the desert, where he promptly crashes before being rescued by Yanks.
Tony arrives back home a changed man. Revealing that during captivity he "realized I have more to offer the world than making things that blow up," Tony announces his exit from the arms business, which sends his huge firm's stock plummeting and pits the ruthless Obadiah against him.
Trying to settle on what to do with his life, Tony begins fashioning a more sophisticated version of his jerry-rigged suit, and one of the film's most delightful scenes has him making a trial run in his warehouse; seamless visual effects allow an encased Tony to hover and rocket around via boot and glove jets. In a memorable maiden voyage, he zooms out of his Malibu h.q. and shoots above Santa Monica on his way to testing the outer atmospheric limits of his marvelous invention.
At the same time, the bad boys back in Afghanistan are patching together the broken remains of Tony's original improvised suit and wreaking havoc on the local populace with a cache of stolen Stark weapons. It's easy to see where this is headed, and it isn't long before Tony is high-flying it back for a little precision target practice at the expense of the nasties. (Only the snide will wonder why he doesn't stop off in Iraq on the way home to put things in order there.)
Foreign kidnap-and-revenge format actually recycles the initial "Iron Man" storyline from the April 1963 Marvel comic, in which the heavies were Vietcong. Current villains do not espouse any particular religion or ideology, although their leader, the bald-headed Raza (Faran Tahir), professes a desire to become the new Genghis Khan.
Tony's self-appointed role as international enforcer doesn't go down well with U.S. officials, including his Pentagon pal Rhodey (Terrence Howard), and another action highlight has supersonic Iron Man in a wild dogfight with a couple of American fighter jets.
With foreign devils out of the way, at least for the moment, the final act's dynamic pits Tony against turncoat Obadiah. Although kids will probably like it, the climactic giant suit vs. giant suit battle, which, with its machines' multitude of moving parts and resultant clanging metal smacks all too much of "Transformers," is the pic's only disappointment.
Talent lineup on both sides of the camera injects familiar conceits with fresh energy and stylistic polish. The work of two screenwriting teams -- Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby ("Children of Men") and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway -- have been blended effectively to keep the plot moving and provide motor-mouthed Downey with plenty of snappy dialogue. Ever-eclectic director Jon Favreau, who briefly pops up onscreen as a Stark minion, maintains a brisk but not frantic pace, and, in concert with lenser Matthew Libatique, production designer J. Michael Riva and the first-rate visual effects team, has made an unusually elegant looking film for the genre.
Snapping off lines as crisply as Bugs Bunny might bite into a carrot, the sculpture-bearded Downey invigorates the entire proceedings in a way no other actor ever has in this field. Initially conveying Tony's Matt Helm lifestyle as if it's second nature, Downey possesses a one-of-a-kind intensity that perfectly serves the character's second-act drive and obstinacy. His Achilles' heel is his heart, at first threatened by shrapnel and later central to his superpower and his submerged romantic relationship with ever-loyal assistant Pepper Potts, who Gwyneth Paltrow, in an unexpected casting move, endows with smarts and appeal.
Shaven-headed and sporting a bushy beard in a way that makes him rather resemble Bruce Willis, Bridges is an imposing antagonist. Other roles, including Howard's second-billed Air Force officer, are one-dimensional.
All tech credits are tops.
Iron Man
Bottom Line: Marvel-ous.
By Kirk Honeycutt
Apr 28, 2008
Iron Man may not make the A-list of Marvel Comics' stable, but he may be the cinema superhero for the rest of us.
You gotta love a middle-aged wreck as a superhero. Iron Man may not make the A-list of Marvel Comics' stable -- home to Spider-Man, X-Men and the Hulk -- but he may be the cinema superhero for the rest of us. No spider bite or genetic mutation produces him. Rather he springs from good old American ingenuity, the brainchild of his creator and impersonator, Tony Stark, a character modeled in part on genius-playboy Howard Hughes. Tony wears his character flaws like badges of honor yet Iron Man represents a midlife correction.
"Iron Man," the first self-financed production from Marvel Studios, should catch boxoffice lightning in a bottle, thanks to hiring longtime Marvel Comics reader Jon Favreau as director and the supersmart casting of Robert Downey Jr. as the conflicted protagonist. The betting line about opening weekend grosses really pales in significance to the real question: Will the film imitate its hero's ability to blast into the stratosphere for many weeks? The guess here is a big yes.
The entire film, written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, is devoted to how Tony Stark, the top U.S. weapons manufacturer and all-around playboy, becomes Iron Man. A kidnapping by insurgents in Afghanistan forces Tony to invent a crude prototype to escape captivity. (His captors are a little too dumb for belief to think he is actually assembling a weapon for them.)
Back in his Malibu home, having witnessed U.S. soldiers slaughtered with his weaponry, he declares himself out of that business for good. While his partner Obadiah Stane (a marvelously malevolent Jeff Bridges) seizes control of the company, Tony perfects his red-and-gold weapons suit with a somewhat ill-defined plan to use it for good.
The film neatly borrows from a raft of both real and science-fiction technologies as well as previous sci-fi movies to propel the fast-paced two-hour film. In his home basement (think Bat Cave), Tony can talk to his computers and robotics (think R2-D2) while his suit starts to resemble RoboCop on human growth hormones. The space flights and acrobatics over Los Angeles evoke Spider-Man. Yet the whole package is distinctly its own, a tale originated in the '60s cleverly and logically transposed into today's world.
Downey plays off his own bad-boy image wonderfully. The writers give him great lines to work with and ditto that for his Girl Friday, Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, whose own svelte lines cannot be improved on.
Key disappointment is a climatic battle between different Iron Man prototypes, which is both illogical -- how did Tony's nemesis learn how to use the suit? -- and derivative of many other superhero climaxes. Never mind. Marvel has several more sequels to upgrade "Iron Man."
Edited By Mister Tee on 1209392892