Alternate Takes 05.03.08: Iron Man
Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 05.03.2008
With the first big weekend of the Summer Blockbuster Season upon us, what other movies can you watch to get you ready for Iron Man?
Welcome to week two of Alternate Takes. My name is Shawn Lealos and every week I will be your guide as we take a look at new films hitting your local multiplex and let you know what you should expect to see. This week marks the start of the Summer Blockbusters and, for the debut week of that glorious time of the year, we look at one of my most anticipated movies. Sometimes Alternate Takes gives you other options to watch instead of something that seems a bit un-original. This week, I am taking a different approach as I want everyone to go see this week's big release, and will instead be giving you some movies to watch in conjunction with the release of…
Iron Man
Directed by Jon Favreau Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank
Possibly the most important figure in Marvel comics today is Iron Man. While he may not be as popular to the mainstream audiences as Spider Man or The Incredible Hulk, he is more powerful than both. Currently in the Marvel Universe, a Civil War between Super Heroes just ended, and the side led by Iron Man came out victorious over the rebellion led by Captain America. Because Iron Man represented the United States government, the results of that great battle led the more popular mainstream hero Spider Man to become a fugitive from the law and The Hulk would soon be imprisoned thanks to Iron Man's influence.
Iron Man, the film, is an origin story, explaining how multi-millionaire industrialist Tony Stark would go on to become a super hero with the nickname Shell Head. The casting of the fantastic Robert Downey Jr. as Stark was just the start to a number of coups for director Jon Favreau. He followed up with the impressive casting of Terrance Howard and Jeff Bridges, before finally giving fan boys something to talk about by adding Nick Fury, Agent of Shield to the movie in the form of Samuel L. Jackson. For those wondering why they would cast Jackson as Fury, I point you to the Ultimate's Universe, where his casting fits perfectly. Iron Man still faces a much more difficult road to box office gold than Spider Man or The Incredible Hulk due to a lack of knowledge outside the comic book world. I have heard from a fellow journalist who saw an early screening that the movie is "pretty damn good." Here are Five Alternate Takes to help educate you as to what to expect from the first blockbuster of the summer of 2008.
5. THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (2007)
If you want to watch another version of the Iron Man origin story, check out this animated feature from last year. The origin story in this version is not as interesting as the film's version seems to be. To balance it out, the bad guy is Mandarin, one of the best Iron Man villains. Well, the bad guy is sort of The Mandarin. There are a large number of bad guys in the movie, from the horribly generic Elementals (you know, earth, wind and fire) to a group of contras. However, the animation is pretty damn good (except for the final fight with Mandarin, which leaves a bit to be desired) and the story is full of really nice twists and turns. I was disappointed with a few areas of the film, basically the fact that the armor was already built before Tony Stark ever decided to become a superhero. If you want to see a little of the more interesting aspects of the Iron Man character, check out Ultimate Avengers II, where it goes into detail about Stark's battles with alcoholism. I have to believe the theatrical film will blow this animated attempt completely out of the water, but that doesn't mean this isn't worth a look if the character of Iron Man interests you. On a side note, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D look like complete tools in this animated film, and that is a problem.
"Interactive ex-suits. With these things, one person can accomplish what it would take dozens, exploration of any hostile environments, deep sea, volcano, space, anything. These armors will change the world. And since the next place on the map is on the floor of the Atlantic, the aquatic model is going to get me there."
4. SWINGERS (1996)
Director Jon Favreau is a self-professed fan boy and appeared in a small role in Batman Forever, before signing on to be Matt Murdoch's best buddy, Foggy Nelson, in Daredevil. Neither of those comic book movies will make my Top 5, though. Batman Forever was the beginning of the end of the Caped Crusader, as Joel Schumacher took the Dark Knight into a more, should I say, colorful direction. Daredevil has its fair share of haters as well, but I will defend that movie with anyone who wants to argue its merits. Back to topic, the movie I list at number four is the one that made Jon Favreau, in my eyes, "one cool dude." Favreau wrote the script for Swingers, with lead roles for him and his best buddy, Vince Vaughn, in mind. The movie would make both men stars. While Vaughn had all the best lines, Favreau proved to have a great ear for dialogue and would use the momentum from this flick to direct the next Vaughn/Favreau collaboration Made. While it was nowhere near as good as Swingers, it would aid Favreau in getting signed to helm Elf and Zathura, and finally getting the nod to make his first honest-to-God super hero movie, Iron Man. I argue the fact that none of this would be possible without the success of his finest movie to date, Swingers.
"I don't want you to be the guy in the PG-13 movie everyone's *really* hoping makes it happen. I want you to be like the guy in the rated R movie, you know, the guy you're not sure whether or not you like yet. You're not sure where he's coming from. Okay? You're a bad man. You're a bad man, Mikey. You're a bad man, bad man."
3. BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
If you are looking for a super hero most similar to Iron Man, you need look no further than Batman. And if you want to pick out one Batman movie to emphasize what makes the hero great, the 2005 Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins is the way to go. Business Week had a story exploring the smartest super heroes and Batman and Iron Man both ranked in the Top 10. Neither man has any super powers and had to create their armor and weapons to give them an advantage while fighting crime. That can't be cheap, and Forbes.com explained how they were able to accomplish this task. Bruce Wayne ranked eighth on the list of richest comic characters at $7 billion while Tony Stark ranked tenth with $6 billion behind such dignitaries as Scrooge McDuck and Ming the Merciless. Batman Begins tells the origin story of the Caped Crusader and returns him back to the dark nights of Gotham City where he belongs. No offense to Tim Burton, but looking back on those earlier movies, they remain overly comic with Batman Begins remaining the strongest of the originals. Nolan and Christian Bale brought the Dark Knight back with a vengeance and this year's sequel looks to be raising the once solid franchise to new heights.
"They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I've looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge... Me."
2. KISS KISS BANG BANG (2005)
Robert Downey Jr. is one of the best actors working in Hollywood today. I will not ignore the personal demons he had to conquer, but the fact that he has crawled his way out of the hole he dug himself into speaks volumes for the character of this man. He started as a member of the Brat Pack of the 80s in movies such as Weird Science and Johnny Be Good before falling off the map thanks to jail time for his substance abuse problems. He had a minor comeback, including a memorable role in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, but ended up relapsing and spending another year in prison. Since his last stint in jail, Downey Jr. has begun to reestablish himself as a respectable movie star and the movie I would suggest to showcase his awesome talent is the Shane Black directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Black made his name writing the amazing screenplays for Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Anytime word comes that a Shane project is in the pipeline, it is time to get excited. When that project involves Shane directing his own script, the cup runneth over. The film stars Downey Jr. as a criminal on the run mistaken as an actor auditioning for a role in a cop movie. He is introduced to a private investigator named Gay (Val Kilmer), and ends up involved in a murder case that neither man is equipped to deal with. Downey Jr. also appeared in the wonderful David Fincher film Zodiac, but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a lesser known treasure that deserves a larger fan base.
"Thanks for coming, please stay for the end credits, if you're wondering who the best boy is, it's somebody's nephew, um, don't forget to validate your parking, and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much."
1. TRON (1982)
The bad guy in Iron Man is played by Jeff Bridges, who has been in a number of memorable roles, including The Dude in The Big Lebowski. For this movie, I have to choose his role as Kevin Flynn in the video game movie TRON. While you will see the best CGI there is to offer in Iron Man, you can follow it up with the Atari 2600 version. For those kids who have no idea what I'm talking about, think of Pac Man or Donkey Kong, but even simpler. Possibly the first based-on-a-videogame movie, Jeff Bridges plays Flynn, who is transported into a video game where he is forced to play various contests. Meanwhile, he must escape with a security program named Tron, so they can attempt shut down the Master Control Program before it can take over the world's computers. It is ridiculous and the graphics are laughable in today's world of CGI, but it is as fun as you could possibly hope for.
"You've enjoyed all the power you've been given, haven't you? I wonder how you'd take to working in a pocket calculator."
There are plenty of comic book films out there, and some believe they might be over saturating the market. Since 2000, we have had a Spider Man trilogy, an X-Men trilogy, and the rebooting of the Batman, Superman and Hulk franchises. It has gone so far that we have also gotten B-level hero movies such as Daredevil, Electra, Constantine, Hellboy and even a new Punisher movie. This summer we still look forward to the next Batman film, a new Hellboy flick as well as an original comic book story called Hancock. However, if the trailers tell us anything, it is as long as there is a hero with an interesting story, the effects are enough to give us the big blockbuster we look forward to every summer. I hope Iron Man fills that criteria, but if it falls short, I know there are plenty of other movies on my shelves I can turn to for my comic book fix.
Hey kid, this is the city … I don't help anybody but myself.
That's it for this week's Alternate Takes. I am always open to criticisms and compliments from readers, as well as suggestions for what movies I might have missed in my Top 5. As I leave you this week, I think about a quote by Famke Janssen (Jean Grey from the X-Men): "We've always been ready for female superheroes because women want to be them and men want to do them."
