Adrenaline-fuelled fun and a pleasant surprise

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2012)

Typically Iron Man is not the type of superhero movie I would enjoy, the only 'light' superhero movies I have genuinely enjoyed in the past being the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies. With Christopher Nolan's dark realistic Batman movies paving the way of example to other films in the superhero genre, director Jon Favreau embraces a realistic tone whilst keeping the movie far lighter and more humorous in tone than Batman. And like most, I was pleasantly surprised with Iron Man, and despite its notable flaws, the film has made its way to being one of my favourite superhero films of all time.
The film is, first and foremost, a long title sequence telling the origin story of Iron Man, the film's key fundamental theme being about realisation and – for past sins. In this case, the sins of billionaire playboy Tony Stark, played by the perfectly-cast Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark is an arrogant, but made very likable due to Robert Downey Jr.'s fine performance, who is kidnapped by terrorists using the weapons he created, and imprisoned in a cave where he is forced to build a deadly weapon- The Jericho Missile- to help the terrorists in their plot. During this time, Stark is given a wake-up call in which he realises he must take responsibility for the power these terrorists hold, having previously been blindingly ignorant to what is being sold on the black market. There is a bittersweet irony in, not only the realisation that the terrorists gained power through his creations, but the fact that Tony's heart was injured by one of his own weapons- an injury which requires him to wear a power cell-like 'arc reactor' to keep him alive for the rest of his life. This makes not only for an interesting story, but a great motivation for Tony Stark to fight this evil, and a motivation the audience can feel equally enthusiastic about.
As the films progresses and Tony returns to his home in America, the story continues the same concept by revealing more about how Stark's company has supplied these terrorists with weapons, but refuses to go in any other direction. For a summer blockbuster the storyline is lacking in fuel to keep itself going, the current story- that feels more like a concept, designed as an excuse to put Tony in the Iron Man suit and place a few action scenes in the film- wears down quickly, leading to a messy Transformers-like climax which feels out of tone with the rest of the film. The action scenes themselves were impressive, with incredibly realistic CGI on the Iron Man suit, beautiful cinematography and were genuinely adrenaline-fuelled fun, with exception to the clunky finale. However, the scenes were rationed throughout the films, appearing as a quick 'rush' in the film's pacing, before reverting back to a regular movie. Appreciating Jon Favreau's comfort zone and experience lies in the field of comedy, it was a good safe decision to ration the action scenes like he did, but the fact that they were so fun to watch and well-shot left me wanting more.
The strength of the film really lies in Tony's physical and metaphorical transformation into Iron Man and the chemistry between the three central characters- Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges villainous Obadiah Stane. All three give top-class performances, and prevent the movie's pacing from falling flat. Composer Ramin Djawadi's score for the film is also highly commended, giving a suitable mixture of modern and orchestral, reflecting the film's swapping between Tony Stark and Iron Man/ smaller scenes and action scenes. Ultimately it feels very special, adds a good dose of humour and enjoys itself whist taking the core themes seriously, features great acting, but really could have done with a better ending than two people in suits engaging in a fist-fight.