Wow. Iron Man is good. Very good. It reminds you why this whole Superhero movie craze got started in the first place.
It hearkens back to the good ol’ days of Superhero movies, when seeing Wolverine on the screen for the first time made you want to wet your pants. It captures what this genre is all about; making you quickly forget what has soured with all of the threequels.
Iron Man is really one of the unsung heroes of the Marvel Universe. I’ve often called him the Batman of Marvel, but he’s really more than that.
All of Marvel’s characters are pretty complex, but Iron Man is even more so. He has everything any forward-looking American could want, yet he’s missing something.
Years of manufacturing and selling weapons has taken its toll on the millionaire playboy and after some particularly trying ordeals, he decides it’s time to put his money where his mouth is and show that he can be a true defender instead of just an enabler.
The movie’s special effects are really seamless. It’s much easier to do CG metal than it is human flesh, so they admittedly started from a better place than movies like Spider-man, but it was still a sight to behold.
As good as the Transformers CG was last summer, Iron Man is better. It looks real. It sounds real. It ‘feels’ real. You can see all of the moving parts; you can hear all of the metal and electronics.
And it’s funny. Iron Man has some great laughs. Through the course of the movie, Tony Stark develops three Iron Man suits, but his testing of the Mark II is hilarious.
It is the Mark III that he finally dons as Iron Man, but by that point he’s a pro in the suit and it’s just all awesomeness.
Iron Man is a very solid movie (pardon the pun). It doesn’t feel hollow or like it’s a put-on. Most of this can be credited to a remarkably solid cast.
Gwyneth Paltrow comes across better than she has in years as Tony Stark’s assistant, Pepper Potts. Jeff Bridges is appropriately menacing as Obadiah Stane.
But Robert Downey Jr. really steals the show. He completely owns Tony Stark in the way that Christopher Reeve owns Superman and Hugh Jackman owns Wolverine. There can be no other — Downey is the ultimate incarnation of Tony Stark.
A small shout-out is also deserved for Paul Bettany who voices Stark’s computer system known as Jarvis. The interactions between Jarvis and Stark are as entertaining as the live actor scenes.
It’s the perfect length, the perfect tone, and the perfect story. It is the epitome of why we watch superhero movies. Sure there are the occasional techno-babble rants, and a few predictable plot points, but they are all small potatoes for a film this good.
Also — stay after the credits for one of the coolest post-movie teasers I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t come until the end of the very long credits, but it’s totally worth it.
Verdict:A Tilt: A+++
Lykaon failed to mention all the awesome awesome trailers before the movie. The Indiana Jones trailer is especially awesome, but it’s because of the well-known theme song – as soon as you hear it fill the theater, you can’t help but remember all the adventure and fun, and look forward to a new chapter.
Iron Man was totally the shiznit. The teaser at the end actually had us talking about it almost as long as we did the movie itslef. Hulk looked alright, but I love that the posters they had up were total homages to the classic TV show. I heard the “walking away” theme in my head as I passed them.