IronMan: Because Heroes aren’t Born, they’re Built
Release Date: May 2nd, 2008
Genre: Action • Scifi
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow
There was quite the excitement brewing in my household on May 3rd, and it wasn’t because we had won lots of money playing Mega Millions and getting to retire early (damnit!)
No, the excitement in my household was due to the nationwide release of Iron Man. And regardless of my broken ankle, we ventured out the day after theatrical release, fighting the insane masses who were as equally exited as us to see the anxiously anticipated movie on the big screen.
Iron Man, based on Stan Lee’s Marvel comic book hero, stars Robert Downey Jr. as the multimillionaire Tony Stark, genius inventor responsible for creating powerful weapons the military utilize to dominate their enemies during wartime.
Cause & Effect
In the Middle East, after introducing his latest invention in weaponry, the Jericho Missile, Tony Stark’s convoy is bombed by terrorists and his unconscious body is taken hostage.
When Stark awakens, he finds himself in a cave with a strange device hooked up to his chest. It is explained to him by another captive, Yinsen (played by Shaun Toub), that the device is essentially a magnet that is keeping him alive by preventing the shrapnel still in his body from the bomb blast from entering Stark’s heart, and that no surgery could safely extract the shrapnel without risking his life.
About the same time this realization sinks in, Stark has a second nightmare to face when his captors announce that in exchange for his life, he must reconstruct the Jericho Missile for their disposal. This simultaneously angers and terrifies Tony so he devises a plan to fool his captors into thinking he is doing their bidding, yet behind closed doors and mistranslated English, he engineers his escape: a weapon “suit” designed to be more lethal than the Jericho Missile ever could.
Result
After a bloody, eye opening escape from his captors, Tony Starks crude weapon suit is destroyed and his blueprints abandoned in his flight from the Middle East (not good things to leave behind when you consider whose hands they are being abandoned to.)
All of these events cause a type of transformation for playboy Stark and he finds himself horrified at the part he has played in warfare by providing these weapons to the military. Ultimately, against the wishes of his right hand man Obadiah Stane (played by Jeff Bridges,) Stark publicly announces his immediate cessation of Stark Industries weapons division.
With the design of his weapon suit embedded in his brain, Stark is determined to create a bigger, stronger, more effective suit. A suit to be used to right the wrongs Stark Industries enacted.
The world needs a hero and who better than Tony Stark? At least thats how he views it, and he wastes no time in trying out his new suit in the Middle East.
All the events from the time of Starks capture to the perfection of his weapon suit, cause a chain reaction of detrimental events. Can Stark right the wrongs? Can he save the day and win the woman (played surprisingly well by Gwyneth Paltrow), and can he do so in a manner that keeps his part in the “Iron Man” publicity hidden from the media?
Perhaps. If only it wasn’t for the blasted ego in each of us to be idolized…….
Conclusion
I had reservations about Robert Downey playing Iron Man. Though I loved him in The Pick Up Artist and Hearts & Souls, his previous displays of public stupidity brought about great doubt as his ability to deliver such a complex role. As well, I have never been a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow so going in I was pretty much setting myself up not to like this movie, despite the promise of insane action.
Boy was I wrong. This movie starts on a high note, and does not let up even when the credits stop rolling. Both Downey and Paltrow deliver believable, likable characters that you find yourself rooting for.
Recommendation
See it. Run to the theater - don’t walk. And be sure to wait til the end of the credits to catch a pre-qual to the sequel due out in 2010.
Oh - and if you are into movie paraphernalia, I found a great site that makes it easy to pick up any “souvenir” you could possibly want, you can even buy full size Iron Man Helmets. I myself have my eye on one. The only problem is that it isn’t wearable for Halloween. Looks like I’ll be a witch yet again……
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Comments (2)
That movie was great. I saw it twice in opening weekend, and I never do that. Great review, I also had some concerns about RDJ and Paltrow too. I thought Jeff Bridges did an awesome job as Obediah Stane.
I agree that Bridges did a great job however its hard for me not to see him as StarMan. It seems all I hear every time he opens his mouth is “Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast.”
I think I have issues.