As with all my reviews, I would like to say that it is my own personal viewpoint I am expressing and no one else's. Feel free to share your thoughts but please be courteous to others' opinions (and my own). Do not deliberately call others lesser intelligent beings or lesser beings overall for sharing a different opinion. Now, with that out of the way, this is my review for...
Iron Man was released in 2008, almost exactly a year after the first disappointing
Spider-Man film, and reinstilled hope for the
Marvel brand following a series of other less than stellar property destroying films. It also served as the first film developed by
Marvel Studios and served as the launchpad to the fan favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many people praise it as one of the best superhero films of all time. Well, are they right?
Characters
Tony Stark / Iron Man
This is probably one of the best established and respectable characters to ever to be introduced in his own origin flick. Tony Stark is different than the other protagnists that we had seen in CBMs before. He isn't a tormented man from his parents' deaths nor is he grounded or shy. The guy is actually a narcissitic asshole that believes he is doing the best thing for the whole world. The best thing about the film is that the tragedy that causes him to become Iron Man doesn't really change who he is; it just changes his world view and what he believes is right. He is so convinced that he is always doing the right thing and that everything revolves around him that it makes him slightly endearing in a way that no other character has ever truly been able to be. Of course, this character couldn't be pulled off as well if it wasn't so expertly played by Robert Downey Jr. Downey is certainly making the best of this comeback and, now, he is the highest paid actor in Hollywood for it. It is very well deserved. Rivaled by very few in completely owning the superhero role (Christian Bale and, most recently, Chris Pratt), Downey finds solace in really playing himself. This isn't to say that there aren't moments that don't get to the true heart that Tony has: the moment when he is trying to grab the old arc reactor, the moment that he shares with Pepper who argues with him over destroying his weapons and the moment when Yensin tragically passes away. Downey is able to play this part with the full range of a much more experienced actor. However, there are some problems with the character. Not so much with the character himself but with the relationship that he has with Pepper. Many people don't have a problem with this relationship but I find it awkward and forced. Gwyneth Paltrow and Downey don't seem to have any on-screen chemistry. If they have any at all it is certainly on the lower end of the spectrum near Bale and Gyllenhaal as opposed to Garfield and Stone. However, Downey has real chemistry with every other cast member, most notably with Howard's Rhodey. Iron Man, unlike Batman or Spider-Man, is really just Tony Stark in a suit rather than an entirely different personality taking life so it really makes it easy for Downey to make that transition. The character is definitely the strongest part of the film.
This character is definitely the weakest link in the entire film. The film has to resort to telling the audience that she really cares about Tony instead of actually showing it in her actions. We don't really know much about her other than she works for Tony, she's cute (I guess) and she's snarky. That is pretty much her entire personality. She is Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy without the chemistry with the lead to save her character. We don't see what her ambitions are and, even worse than Stone's Stacy, she is the usual damsel in distress, taking all the worst stereotypes of women in superhero films. She is constantly led around the film by the hand by the male characters because, apparently, she is completely incompetent. The only scene she has where she does something by herself, she is evidently at the mercy of the stronger, male character. The film would benefit if it had an actual chemistry between the two leads but all it manages to pull off is a pretty well-written love story without the actors that can pull it off. She is by far the most disappointing aspect of the characters in the film.
Rhodes is a truly great character. As with most of the characters in the film, his personality is mostly defined by the interactions that he has with Tony and it is the most true to life chemistry that any two characters have in the film and, I would argue, the whole franchise (just in
Iron Man films). The banter between the two characters is funny, with Rhodes pulling off the by-the-book friend that provides a great contrast to the carefree Tony. Rhodes is the one that most questions Tony's decisions to his face and it makes for a great contrast to the other characters and demonstrates the relationship the characters have without having to spell it out to you like the audience is stupid. I'd go so far as these two characters have the best on-screen friendship aside from Banner and Stark in
The Avengers. The biggest thing that really works as that his character is so different from Stark that it really highlights the range of characters and character reactions to situations that we have which makes for a brilliant character study that rarely happens.
Obadiah Stane
Rounding out the four biggest characters is none other than the villain himself: Obadiah Stane. Obadiah is, perhaps, the best villain to be shown in an origin story (aside from my own personal preference of Zod in
Man of Steel but I digress). Stane is directly tied to Stark's rise from the ashes to be Iron Man and, with a character so connected with his life, proves to have an interesting betrayal to it. It also makes for a story that really makes sense on its own, without any outside help or build-up to anything greater. Perhaps the best thing about this film is it is the only one of two
Marvel Studios films that truly acts on its own and that is mostly thanks to the personal relationships of the characters that set up for a story that can stand on its own two feet. Obadiah truly does come off as a menacing character, even without the giant iron suit, expertly played by Bridges. Stane comes off as the kind of corporate a-hole that you wouldn't want as your boss if you ever got a job at Stark Industries. He never dirties his own hands (until the end). The thing that makes him so dangerous is that he is smart; he knows he has money that can distance himself from those he hires to do that dirty work for him. He got away with almost killing Tony Stark for more than three months. This guy doesn't leave a trail (except on his own computer, way to go Nixon). His design of a massive Iron Monger makes for a great final face-off between Stark that isn't CGI driven as much as action-oriented and tense. It makes for a great and different action sequence than those that preceded it and those that followed. Bridges deserves most of the credit for what he managed to pull off with this character to make him a real threat. He is definitely among the stronger villains in any superhero film.
FINAL SCORE (CHARACTERS)
Plot
The film is so intelligently put together that everything fits into a singular plotline. Everything revolves around Tony and the mistake he made to build super weapons that terrorists managed to get his hands on. With Tony having developed the best super weapons in the world, Stane could seize control of the company and take the seat he was always envious of. In order to do that, he keeps doing the underhanded deals with the company in order to get the one thing that he is most envious of: money. Stane works out a reluctant deal with many of these terrorist organizations to kill Tony. However, these terrorist organizations decide to use Tony's intelligence and technical know-how to help them. The strength of Tony Stark's character, and the story, is that Tony actually uses his technical know-how to develop the suit when his back is against the wall and he has nowhere else to go. The man who helped Tony build it dies and, instead of it being someone who was related to him, it was someone that he had grown incredibly close with in a life-or-death situation. Watching so many people die changes Tony which puts him even more at odds with Stane but Stane sees the potential of the iron suit as a weapon and steals the prototype, in which Stark left it in the possession of those who captured him. Now, Stane really doesn't need Stark anymore and the whole thing comes to a head that leads to people dying...a lot. It is brilliantly set-up and the biggest thing is that it has such an intricate story that has so many plot points yet still manages to connect them and yield a fantastic result is truly astounding. There are honestly no problems with the overall story structure of the film other than it might be a little too formulaic. But, honestly, which origin story doesn't appear formulaic and at least it deviated enough to keep it feeling completely fresh.
FINAL SCORE (PLOT)
FINAL SCORE (OVERALL)
Iron Man is as close to perfect as any
Marvel origin story has gotten. It has many solid characters, with only one misstep that only grows bigger throughout the franchise. It has great performances from Downey and Bridges that really make the conflict believeable. Grounding the Iron Man character in the real world helps the connection that we have with him. However, Tony's unrelateable personality is also part of the reason he is such a great character. He provides a good contrast that, despite the fact that we can empathize with him, we still don't like him as a person very much, other than the fact that he is determined to do the right thing. The plot is one of the best together plots in the entire genre, being beat by only that of
The Dark Knight and
Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This movie is certainly one to watch. However, enjoy it as much as you can as this franchise does feel like a roller coaster, with the biggest highpoint coming first.
FINAL SCORE (OVERALL)
Well, there is my review for 2008's
Iron Man. I hope you guys enjoyed the review and, as always, feel free to leave your own comments below but, as I said above, please keep it courteous. Thanks guys and I'll see you guys Friday!