Conflict within and an anti-climax, yet a good movie?

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2008)

The movie "Iron Man" certainly got the audience laughing, but not just at the funny bits.
Anyone who goes to see a Marvel movie and wants to enjoy it has to make the switch to non-intelligent. "Ignorance is bliss" could have been Marvel's catchphrase; when somebody seriously tries to dismiss a Marvel movie because it was "cliché", that somebody is an idiot.
What caught my eye when compared to other Marvel movies, was that the acting of Robert Downey Jr. was outstanding. I don't want to imply that other Marvel movies had bad acting, but nothing topped this performance.
However, this leads me to the conflict I mention in the title. We're facing a cliché storyline, as we all know it of Marvel, and try to blend this with natural and solid acting.
This works in most aspects. The comedy for example is plain brilliant, because it feels like a natural product of Tony Stark's personality, which is perfectly portrayed.
But when we look at the romantic scenes (mainly referring to, mind spoilers, the "battery replacement"-scene), this instantly leads to a conflict. Tony's personality and realism just didn't seem to fit the cliché background music and the sudden, passionate silence.
The other point questionable about the ending, was the ending. Now to be sure, I'll give you the *spoiler alert*, but I'll try to talk around it.
We don't and shouldn't expect an extremely original climax from a Marvel. This one wasn't, but it was so cliché it kinda hurt my head.
The romantic plot line was such a detail in the movie, that the references at the end didn't do me anything. Too my taste, there were too many, some of which left some in the audience unable to repress a chuckle.
Viewing back the movie was a great watch, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if Marvel had gone bold and had scraped the whole romance from the movie. It was an unnecessary detail which only led to an amplification of the cliché image.
Still, Marvel did a good job and it was a good watch. If there's a sequel, I'll be there.
I give the movie a 7. Would have been a 6, but in its genre it deserves a 7. (No, the Marvel stamp isn't always +1, because for movies as the 2002 "Incredible Hulk", a Marvel stamp would give the movie a -1. It does not meet Marvel expectations).
Thanks for the (lengthy) read, and I hope I was of use.
Peter Saarloos