Features signs of greatness that make X2 and Batman Begins as good as they are

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2008)

Between the winter and summer a little switch goes off in my head, and I move between two schools of film-making and film appreciation. Six months ago, I couldn't be less interested in big-budget glory fests. I judged the movies I saw in theatres  movies like No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, and Atonement  with the sharpest of critical eyes; the slightest detail out of place would have thrown me off completely. But now, in the upcoming summer months and eagerly awaiting releases such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Dark Knight, my eye is different. I see a movie like Iron Man and don't care that it is almost entirely disconnected from anything remotely realistic. I don't care that it portrays Afghani terrorists as caricatures operating in backwater, undeveloped, ridiculously improbable cave networks. I don't care that there is a character named Pepper Potts. In the upcoming months, all I want is to sit back and enjoy the ride. And if these films have a little something more to offer, then all the better.
As I previously mentioned, Iron Man does slightly dab into moments of elated poignancy. Some aspects of it do serve as a very contemporary reminder of the current status of world politics, especially in terms of weapons distribution and military support in foreign countries, coming back at us like a boomerang. In this sense, Iron Man is almost like a comic book version of Charlie Wilson's War. In addition, the filmmakers and the extraordinary Robert Downey, Jr. do a fantastic job in creating an interesting, well-rounded and satisfyingly flawed protagonist. But for the most part, it's just, plain and simple, a really good show. Visual effects are top-notch and seamless; the action scenes are thrilling; the theatre's surround sound system was working overtime, and in all I have to admit that the two-hour runtime felt like a lot less.
Jon Favreau, famed actor, has had slight experience in directing but nothing nearly as large-scale as this so as to indicate that he was even capable of pulling it off. Well, he does indeed manage to pull it off, and quite will at that. The film looks stunning, the scenes are directed and choreographed exquisitely well, and in all Favreau manages to create a very strong balance between big-budget action comic book movie sentiments along with more smaller-scale techniques more in vain with Favreau's breakthrough role in Swingers. And most of this is thanks to the one, the only Robert Downey, Jr.
Downey, Jr. is the kind of actor who can almost sleepwalk through a role. Like the greats such as Daniel Day-Lewis or Al Pacino, acting and charisma seems to be an utterly and totally natural thing for him. With roles as varied as a book editor, a crazed drug addict, Charlie Chaplin and now a multi-billionaire playboy turned super hero, Downey Jr. still manages to apply his unique and personal fast-talking, rapid-fire, neurotic, cynical acting style in everything he does. I guess he's just lucky to always get to work with directors who let him cut loose and do his thing. This film is no exception  many scenes involving Downey, Jr. with rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue seem like straight out of a Robert Altman movie and totally improvised. What is so great about the performance is that Downey, Jr. combines this trademark acting style with a really impressive sensibility and connection to the more comic book action-movie-oriented aspects of the role. Every single frame he is in becomes all the more worthwhile and entertaining; it's just a fun, great, funny, well-rounded performance that proves once and for all  if roles in other smaller recent films such as Good Night and Good Luck, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, A Scanner Darkly and Zodiac didn't quite break it to the mainstream sentiment  that Robert Downey, Jr. is back.
The cream of the crop of super hero movies are the ones not only featuring strong, rounded, interesting characters from the original comics but are also films in which the filmmakers take special care to place action in a familiar, as-realistic-as-possible setting, providing not only interesting characters but also believable settings for us to identify with them in. The single best comic book adaptation movie of all time is for me a three-way tie between Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United and Batman Begins. Other impressive efforts include the first Spider-Man and X-Men films as well as Tim Burton's non-realistic but uniquely stylized versions of Batman, and also Richard Donner's old Superman movie. And the more lousy, effort-less super hero movies come out  such as Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and many others  the more the quality of the good ones is emphasized. Iron Man contains bits and pieces of what makes a movie like Batman Begins so good, but also many bits of guilty pleasure over-the-top fantasy that are entertaining but quite silly and unbelievable. That said, Favreau and crew are definitely on the right track, and while Iron Man was a good introduction, I'm hoping that the sequel will take everything that was good about this first film and amplify and further develop these points. A darker, more flawed exploration of Tony Stark's character is always welcome, and with Robert Downey Jr. on board, it's almost a guarantee to up the ante, similar to the X-Men and Spider-Man sequels. Here's hoping for the best.