Movie Review: Iron Man
Movie Review: Iron Man
I’ll admit that my expectations were set very low when I finally went to see Iron Man this past weekend. And perhaps this was the reason why the film was able to exceed all of my expectations. It certainly can be added to the list of very enjoyable comic book adaptations, and most of that credit goes to the wonderful acting by Robert Downey, Jr.
I’ll openly admit that my knowledge of Iron Man canon is minimal at best (I’m more of a Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman and Hellboy fan), but I know enough that the film did a more than passable job of condensing over 40 years of Iron Man lore in a way that is pleasing to both comic book and non-comic book fans.
Now back to Mr. Jr’s acting. Robert Downey’s portrayal of playboy/inventor Tony Stark was, aside from the lovely effects by ILM, the high point of the film. This role could have very easily been turned into another brooding Bruce Wayne/Batman- like character—both have similar traits: orphaned, very intelligent, non-super powered, inventor billionaires turned crime fighters– but Robert Downey made this character his own, and I’m very thankful for it.
The scenes I enjoyed the most were those in which Tony is fine tuning his suit and figuring everything out through trial and error (usually with comedic results). This adds a great human element to the story, even a super genius like Tony Stark makes mistakes—but he learns from them and keeps going. When he finally finishes his Iron Man suit, the audience shares Tony’s feeling of accomplishment and is excited to see what the suit can do.
The first act of the film drags a bit, especially while Tony is held captive in Afghanistan, but after that things kick into high gear. The special effects are great and look very believable, I found myself forgetting at times that the Iron Man on screen was just computer generated. I love the shots where we see what Tony is ‘seeing’ through his suit’s heads up display, those were very detailed and great eye candy.
I really enjoyed that they didn’t turn this into some kind of love story and just focused on building the romantic tension between Tony and his assistant (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) Pepper Potts.
Iron Man was an enjoyable kick off to what will surely be a fun summer movie season and hopefully things just keep getting better.
Oh and make sure to stick around after the credits for an extra scene. It is worth the wait.
I’ll admit that my expectations were set very low when I finally went to see Iron Man this past weekend. And perhaps this was the reason why the film was able to exceed all of my expectations. It certainly can be added to the list of very enjoyable comic book adaptations, and most of that credit goes to the wonderful acting by Robert Downey, Jr.
I’ll openly admit that my knowledge of Iron Man canon is minimal at best (I’m more of a Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman and Hellboy fan), but I know enough that the film did a more than passable job of condensing over 40 years of Iron Man lore in a way that is pleasing to both comic book and non-comic book fans.
Now back to Mr. Jr’s acting. Robert Downey’s portrayal of playboy/inventor Tony Stark was, aside from the lovely effects by ILM, the high point of the film. This role could have very easily been turned into another brooding Bruce Wayne/Batman- like character—both have similar traits: orphaned, very intelligent, non-super powered, inventor billionaires turned crime fighters– but Robert Downey made this character his own, and I’m very thankful for it.
The scenes I enjoyed the most were those in which Tony is fine tuning his suit and figuring everything out through trial and error (usually with comedic results). This adds a great human element to the story, even a super genius like Tony Stark makes mistakes—but he learns from them and keeps going. When he finally finishes his Iron Man suit, the audience shares Tony’s feeling of accomplishment and is excited to see what the suit can do.
The first act of the film drags a bit, especially while Tony is held captive in Afghanistan, but after that things kick into high gear. The special effects are great and look very believable, I found myself forgetting at times that the Iron Man on screen was just computer generated. I love the shots where we see what Tony is ‘seeing’ through his suit’s heads up display, those were very detailed and great eye candy.
I really enjoyed that they didn’t turn this into some kind of love story and just focused on building the romantic tension between Tony and his assistant (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) Pepper Potts.
Iron Man was an enjoyable kick off to what will surely be a fun summer movie season and hopefully things just keep getting better.
Oh and make sure to stick around after the credits for an extra scene. It is worth the wait.
