Iron Man Review [4]

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 05.05.2008

The Hero's Journey done to perfection

Directed By: Jon Favreau

Starring:
Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark
Terrence Howard - James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Gwyneth Paltrow - Virginia "Pepper" Potts
Jeff Bridges - Obadiah Stane
Shaun Toub - Yinsen
Faran Tahir - Raza
Leslie Bibb - Christine Everhart
Clark Gregg - Agent Phil Coulson
Paul Bettany - JARVIS (Voice)
Bill Smitrovich - Air Force General Gabriel



Running Time: 126 minutes
Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content.

Well, well, folks, it's summer time again. Time for big-budget remakes, special effects extravaganzas, and, of course, comic book movies. The genre, given a new golden era in the late 1990's, has been a staple of summer movie fare ever since X-Men became a blockbuster hit in the summer of 2000. The Spider-Man movies set a box office records, and Hollywood hasn't looked away from mining the medium since. Results have been mixed; sure there was the first two Spider-Mans the first two X-Men, Hellboy, Sin City and Batman Begins, but there's also been the abysmal Fantastic Four movies, the plodding Ang Lee-directed Hulk, Elektra and, well, the third Spider-Man and X-Men films. Hollywood has been very hit-or-miss with adapting the properties Marvel, DC, Image, and other comic book companies to film, and as much as people loved some of them, there hasn't been a truly perfect and accessible comic book movie made to date.

Enter Iron Man.

Now, in the interests of full disclosure here, it should be stated that I'm a huge fan of the man in the metal suit. When I first got into comics books at a young age, the first title I started reading regularly was Iron Man. I followed him on, into the West Coast Avengers, and have just recently started reading comics again for the first time in many years due to my interest in his involvement with Marvel's infamous "Civil War" storyline. I've always been of a strong mind that Iron Man would make a great film property, but at the same time, was very leery of Hollywood's capability to do my favorite superhero justice. So while I was certainly pleased when I found out the film was being made, I was also instantly observing everything with a more critical eye then I otherwise would when I went to see the film.

The movie begins in Afghanistan. Tony Stark (Downey), billionaire weapons industrialist, is there to show off his newest weapon, a mass-missile deployment system called the Jericho. With a glass of scotch in his hand, he hits on the female driver in the Humvee he's in and tries to get them all to loosen up. Just as the soldiers he's riding with are starting to have fun, the convoy is attacked. Start is wounded by one of his own missiles and taken captive by a terrorist group, known as the Ten Rings. We're then shown the thirty-six hours beforehand, where Tony is shown to be a drinking and womanizing, yet charming and brilliant man. He skips awards ceremonies and bails on his friend Rhodey (Howard) and mentor Obidiah Stane (Bridges) in order to play craps with beautiful women and bed a would-be hard-hitting reporter (Bibb). Even his long-time loyal secretary Pepper Potts (Paltrow) is given a brush-off.

After his would-be fatal injury is fixed by a jury-rig from fellow captive Yinsen (Toub), Stark is shown several of his own weapons in the group's hands and ordered to build them a Jericho of their own. Instead, Stark and Yinsen get together to escape, and build a metal suit in order to do so. Tony escapes and comes home. His eyes have been opened, and he now, as he puts it, wants to protect the people he put in harm's way. Now sporting a power core to keep his heart beating, he sets himself in opposition to Stane and sets out to improve upon his suit so he can eliminate the Stark Industries weapons that have fallen into the wrong hands. Along the way, he has several rights to wrong, not only in terms of his weapons, but his relationships to his friends and loved ones, and it’s not as easy as he might hope.

The immediate buzz around this film came when Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark. Many felt that Downey, a great actor who’s had his own share of demons, was beautifully cast in the role of the womanizing, alcoholic Tony. Downey is, quite literally, the greatest comeback story in Hollywood history. The man, who twelve years ago was arrested for driving naked down Sunset Boulevard with heroin, cocaine, and a loaded .357 has rebuilt his reputation with roles in films such as Good Night, and Good Luck; A Scanner Darkly; and Zodiac. His return to success is complete with this movie, in which he is, without a doubt, perfectly cast. Downey makes Tony a man who is an unrepentantly irresponsible, womanizing drunk in the beginning of the film. However, as Tony finds himself facing the need to show responsibility and find redemption for the sins of his past, Downey is able to convey the journey in a way that is both gradual and subtle, without making it “Okay, I’m an asshole…now I’m a good guy!” It’s a seamless transition from a man who’s getting his military friend drunk on a private plane while stewardesses bump and grind into the man who becomes obsessed with doing the right thing, no matter what the cost. This is a role that Downey was born to play, and he gives the part an incredibly charming and intelligent, richly layered performance that is impossible not to like. The film was Downey’s to save or doom, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint. The sense of humor that the film has (mostly brought about by Downey) keeps the film moving through portions that most films of this type drag through, such as the development stage of the armor upgrades, and nothing in the movie ever seems to drag down.

The supporting cast is equally good. Jeff Bridges plays Obidiah Stane as a slimy yet also charming man, who has no qualms about screwing over his long-time friend and protégé for a quick buck. In the days of contractor scandals in Iraq and the oft-reported evils of Halliburton and Blackwater, Stane is an easily-identifiable villain. And yet, with Bridges (a long-time fan of the comic book), Stane is given a depth beyond the mustache-twirling villain. He’s not redeeming, but he’s likable, and you can’t help but enjoy watching him on the screen. Terrance Howard continues his tradition of excellence in acting as Rhodey, Tony’s long-time friend who is disgusted by his lifestyle but sees how great he could be. Howard is poised for big, big things in the movies that are sure to follow, and he instills an absolute confidence that he’ll be up to the task. Gwyneth Paltrow is a joy to watch as Pepper, Stark’s Girl Friday. The 40’s-esque banter-filled and complex relationship between Pepper and Tony fills the quieter moments of the film and allows director Jon Favreau to keep the pace even without settling into more trite conventions. Even minor roles, like Shaun Toub as Stark’s friend-in-captivity Yinsen and Bibb as the story-seeking reporter who Tony charms into bed, are cast and acted to perfection.

The script, as written by two two-man teams of Arthur Marcum/Matt Holloway and Mark Fergus/Hawk Ostby, is beautifully sharp. The acts are evenly spaced, and dialogue never sounds forced or hackneyed. A large portion of the dialogue credit also goes to Favreau and the cast, who Favreau encouraged ad-libbing in. Favreau’s passion for the movie is obvious, and he put a large amount of effort into making sure this was more then just a thrill-ride. The contemporizing of the film is very-well done (the original, comic-book storyline has Stark injured in Vietnam) and allows the film to touch on some weightier issues without preaching. There is perhaps one or two moments of cheese humor; they don’t come off badly and inspire the appropriate laughter.

The armor suits, as designed by Stan Winston and Adi Granov, are entirely believable in a real-world sense (with, of course, enough suspension of disbelief to believe a man in a suit can fly at super-sonic speeds). At every point, the feeling is entirely believable that a genius weapons designer could build such a thing. The visual effects, by Industrial Light and Magic, are nothing short of incredible. The entire film, set to a nice score Ramin Djawadi that was based off Tony’s moods throughout the film, is slick and attractive without sacrificing any sense of real-world.

Favreau has said he’s envisioned this film as a trilogy, and there’s certainly enough of the classic Iron Man story left to tell. Tony Stark’s story in this first chapter is the classic Hero’s Journey; the call to adventure and trials as Stark is captured and has to build his armor, the revelation of who he is and what he can do, the return to the ordinary world and trials that follow of building his armor, and the application of that armor to make the world a better place. What comes next, I won’t spoil—though this is one of those movies where you would be highly-served to stay through the end credits. The pay-off is absolutely incredible.

The 411: The eyes of a lot of comic book fans were on were on Robert Downey Jr. to see how he would carry off a long-beloved character, and in Iron Man, he succeeds. Bouyed by an excellent supporting cast, a great script, great special effects and a director who knows exactly what needed to be done, Downey embodies Tony Stark and Iron Man in a way that only he could. In the end, Iron Man delivers on every noticable level, and blows all other entries away as the best Marvel Comics-based film to date.

Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]