"Iron Man" the Stark Superhero of Marvel

Rating: 10/10 (3 May 2008)

JJ Rating: A+
Billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) of Stark Enterprises visits Afghanistan to show off his new weapon. Upon being attacked by rebels he sees his weapons were in their hands. They kidnapped him and wanted him to make them a weapon, but instead he creates a suit that will evolve him into Iron Man.
It's another billionaire hero. In this case one that is more deviant than the Bat and far wittier than the Spider. Iron Man is exactly that: he's a man's man. He sleeps around, he drinks and he is cockier than necessary and he doesn't even get paid millions to play a sport. Well he gets billions to create inventive weaponry for America.
Iron Man was never my cup of tea. But when I heard that Robert Downey Jr. was going to play him I was sure that if there ever was a thing like cinematic perfection, that that was it. From that point on I was excited to see the film.
What would I want more from this film? I can't really think of anything. It's not perfect but what movie is? It's just really good. I wanted to see the Black Widow somehow but that was not going to happen. I'm really pleased with the after credits scene. STAY AFTER THE CREDITS.
What did I love about the film? Iron Man's suit. That suit was so freaking cool. I loved the way it looked, how it was put on, what it looked like in flight, how it sounded when it moved about, how it looked when it was damaged. It was just wow. I liked how Iron Man was just intelligent and figured out to do the practical thing without taking too much time to moralize everything. I like the wit of Tony Stark and how Robert Downey Jr. just perfectly fit the role as if he were born to play it.
Terrence Howard mad a great Rohdey. As-a-matter-of-fact there were several scenes that just make a comic nerd giddy. Count them off, if you can. Jeff Bridges was intimidating and imposing as he needed to be to play Obadiah. Gwyneth Paltrow was Pepper Potts and had the charm and smile to pull it off. I liked the way she walked to. It might have had something to do with her shoes, but still it seemed so intentional for the character and it worked.
The story progressed at an even pace and allowed for the development of the entire story within the allotted time. Jon Favreau (who also played the driver who, in the comics, becomes Pepper's love interest) did an iron clad job of directing. He knew what he wanted and executed it and it came out beautifully.
The C.G.I. work was eye candy for the super soul. That Iron Man get up was just marvelous. The battles between Iron Man and anyone else was done well. There was not too much and there was not too little. Just like baby bear's porridge. The C.G.I. even helped with some humor moments that were littered throughout the film either by visual gags or witty lines; humor was not missing from the banter heighten Stark.
Iron Man, the superhero, is a fine balance of cocky, womanizing, billionaire war mongrel with a touch of heroics all rolled into one likable man. It is simply a work of art. Normally such a person is the villain and not well liked, but not only is he liked in the comic books he's liked in the movie and that is thanks to Robert Downey Jr's portrayal.
I was impressed. This is the first movie that Marvel has financed themselves and let's just sayit works magical wonders for them to have more power.
There is no question that I will get Iron Man when it comes out on DVD. There is also no question that this will be the number one movie of the weekend and I even guessed that it would make a little over the amount of money it cost to make it. So I'm going to guess about $165 million dollars. Though because of Grand Theft Auto 4 it might be lower, a lot lower or so the nay sayers would scream. Iron Man is the nity-gritty hero, the one that is all bare on who he is and what he wants; he is Marvel's Stark Superhero and Iron Man is the start of a beautiful movie franchise.