Standard-issue superhero film raised slightly by good cast

Rating: 5/10 (15 June 2008)

This film has gotten a lot of praise in comparison to most of the recent superhero films. For me, I thought it was a distracting film but nothing really special other than having an excellent cast. Downey Jr. is an unusual choice for a superhero to say the least. Unfortunately he's very restrained here and the performance itself isn't hugely interesting except compared to other superhero movies. He and Gwyneth Paltrow have a noticeable lack of chemistry, but I suppose that's part of the point? Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors and I loved seeing him take on a real "baddie" role even though his performance was obscured towards the end by the mechanical apparatus he's been surrounded with.
To get into the real mediocrity of this movie, we could look at Terence Howard's character, the sort of friendly co-operative military figure. First of all ignoring the fact that the friendship between Stark and this character, Col. Rhodes, represents an unholy alliance between industry and military.... and the fact that nothing essentially changes in the relationship after Stark's "reformation", I'd have to ask why was the character missing from the entire middle portion of the film? It got so obvious that I said to my brother (I was at the drive-in, so it wasn't too rude to talk) "hey, we haven't seen Terence Howard in a while" and sure enough he showed up in the very next scene. It's paint by the numbers stuff, really, for the most part this film has nothing new to offer. The Middle-Eastern villain is the most hilarious stupidity the film puts forth, a kind of Osama Bin Laden on steroids.
By the end of the movie the explosions and battle have become monotonous. You can only watch so much of this stuff before the drama bleeds away and all you have is empty action. I never felt like there was a moment of unpredictability or surprise in any of the fighting.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't say it was a bad movie, just very average. For people who really enjoy superhero movies I would guess it is actually very good. The sci-fi elements are somewhat more interesting than usual as well. The cast brings a quality to the film that it wouldn't have otherwise, because these are not particularly well-written characters. It's a movie where the two main protagonists enjoy pole dancing on a jetplane, and it's supposed to make us feel more empathetic towards them. There is some fun to be had in the glossy way it presents its action and in the irony with which it drapes superhero conventions.