Totally defies expectations: Great Characterization, bad action

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2008)

You'd assume in a movie of this sort that it would be the action or the spectacle that makes the film and the characterization that feels tacked on. But oddly enough, it is quite the reverse. Robert Downey Jr.'s Stark explodes off the screen as a likable, well-rounded scoundrel who isn't merely a slime ball with an eventual (quite literal)change of heart: he is a sympathetic idealist throughout, even when he's at his hard-drinking, womanizing worst. Downey is extremely comfortable both with the drama and the comedy and I found myself believing in his character more than I've believed in any comic hero outside of Christian Bale's more stoic Bruce Wayne. Surprisingly good work comes out of Gwyneth Paltrow, who's Pepper Potts is the perfect combination of empowered and vulnerable. Terrence Howard is likable as the straight and narrow boy scout best friend and Jeff Bridges is fantastic as the sleaziest character in recent film history. Some say he's less believable as Tony's friend, but I found him just as enjoyable as a good guy as he ultimately became as an out and out villain. Outside of these performances, there is an effort to make a fully realized comic book world around Tony which succeeds quite admirably. The many references to Iron Man lore never feel tacked on or excessive. Now for the main gripe: the action sequences. Not only are they too few and far between, but those that we get seem extremely forced. They are all over before they can truly get the pulse pounding and there's a sense that what little appears is merely to keep the kids from stampeding out. Action scenes are in fact an art form and a necessary part of a film like this, so the lack of satisfying escapism can simply not be overlooked. Here's hoping Favreau develops a Spielbergian or Jacksonian action acumen by the time he brings out the big guns with the Mandarin and War Machine in the second film.