Downey Jr. to the Rescue

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2008)

From the minute I saw the trailer back the summer for Iron Man, I was one of the few people that said that it was not going to be a good movie. People kept saying that I was crazy and that Iron Man was going to be the best movie of the summer blah blah blah. Well, I have just got back from seeing Iron Man and I can honestly say that it was better than I expected, but not by much.
I believe that mostly everybody knows the story so I will save myself the trouble of giving a plot synopsis. But, in short, Tony Stark (played greatly by Robert Downey Jr.) is captured after being attacked by a group of violent Middle Eastern fighters. When he comes to the realization that the weapons used to capture him and kill the other American soldiers were weapons from his cooperation, he realizes that he has had his eyes closed the entire time and has finally opened them to see the evils behind his family business.
Now this is probably the first comic book adaptation to have a very credible cast, and that goes to show that big names don't always make the best movies. The only rightfully cast actor in this entire film is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. He plays it as if he is playing himself and fits perfectly into the character of Stark. Terrence Howard is second billed but his character is thrown around and pops up pretty randomly throughout the film. Gwyenth Paltrow is in probably a good 3/4 of the film and is annoying every time she appears on screen. Plus, her name is Pepper Potts. If that were my name, I would probably kill myself. Finally, the worst casting possible, Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane, the villain. Not only is his name a killer, but Bridges' acting is some of the worst I have seen in years. He does not fit into the roll at all and the bald cap that is used to try and replicate his character from the comics just makes Bridges look like a fool and he eventually becomes the laughing stock of the entire film. Also, whenever he was on screen about to give a speech I was just waiting for him to say, "I'm the Dude." I went to see this film with a group of 15 friends and I can bet you that every single one of those friends came to see Iron Man because they expected an action movie. Well, I can say that about 3 of those 15 said that they enjoyed the film and the remaining 12 complained that there wasn't enough action. Now I am not saying that I am disappointed with the amount of action that is in the film, I am saying that the action that was included in the film was not only dull, but terribly boring. In truth, the best scenes in the film were the cheesy comedic scenes, or the scenes where Stark is testing the parts of his suits. It just goes to show that director Jon Favreau is much better with comedies (Elf, Swingers) since the action in an action-superhero movie was worse than the comedic parts.
All in all, Iron Man is not a bad movie but nor is it a good movie. It is just another film; another hugely anticipated popcorn movie that will go on to earn hundreds of millions of dollars. Just like the last Spiderman, 90% of the people that view Iron Man may come out hating it, but this will definitely be one of the highest grossing movies of the year just because of all the publicity and the audience appeal. The film is not nearly as good as Spiderman or Spiderman 2, X-2, or Batman Begins but is definitely better than Hulk and Daredevil. Therefore, that throws Iron Man right into the middle of the Marvel film package, and due to the cliffhanger ending (stay till the end of the credits) there will definitely be an Iron Man 2 on the way. And whether that one proves to be better than this one, that won't truly be saying much.