"Iron Man" Is Great Fun!

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2008)

The new Marvel Comics, science-fiction, super-hero saga "Iron Man" (***1/2 out of ****) qualifies as a lightweight load of larger-than-life nonsense that consistently delivers thrills, chills, and surprises throughout its entertaining two hours and six minutes. Indeed, "Iron Man" rivals "Spider-Man" as one of the best superhero movies. For the record, Marvel Comics honcho Stan Lee and his team conjured up "Iron Man" back in 1963. What differentiates Tony Stark from other superheroes is that he forged his own super powers. Think of Tony as a modern-day equivalent of Vulcan, the mythical blacksmith to the gods, because our hero can wield a forge to fashion weapons.
Basically, "Zathura" director Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" amounts to an origins epic. Like "Blade" (1998), "Spider-Man" (2002), "The Punisher" (2005) and "Fantastic Four" (2005), all modeled on the vintage 1978 super-hero origins opus "Superman: The Movie," "Iron Man" introduces its quirky super-hero character and shows us how he acquired his name and reputation. People that have never read an "Iron Man" comic book need not worry. Favreau and his quartet of clever scribes, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby of "Children of Men," Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway, provide all the essential information that you need to know about our "Iron Man." The most remarkable thing about "Iron Man" is that it is a summer superhero actioneer with a grown-up hero that is significantly older than the typical superhero.
News reporter Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb of "The Skulls") reviles roguish billionaire armaments manufacturer Tony Stark (a charismatic Robert Downy Jr., in a Van Dyke beard) as a merchant of death who shows little remorse about the death and violence that he reaps with his state-of-the-art technology. Instead, Tony wallows in booze and broads. In his corporate jet, for example, his sexy flight attendants double as pole swinging strippers. It seems that, like oil magnate Howard Hughes, Tony inherited his weapons plant from his late father, and he has carried on in the finest family tradition with new and more devastating armaments. Tony qualifies as a naïve patriot. The armaments that he invents are designed in his mind to keep America safe and strong.
Tony flies to battleground Afghanistan to demonstrate his latest top-of-the-line guided missile--the Jerichoto the military. Afterward, swarthy Taliban-like terrorists wipe out the Army convoy with which Tony is riding and nearly kill the arms tycoon with one of his own weapons. When our hero recovers from his close shave with death, he learns that a kindly doctor Yinson (Shaun Toub of "Paradise Now") has inserted a magnetic device in his chest to keep the shrapnel from the missile from killing him. The villainous insurgents hold Tony hostage in a cave, and their leader, the evil Raza (Faran Tahir of "Charlie Wilson's War"), orders our hero to build them Jericho rockets. Of course, Tony refuses to accommodate him. Instead, he shapes a suit of crude armor that enables him to spew napalm from his wrists and fly. Originally, in the 1963 comic book, this "Iron Man" exploit occurred in Vietnam when our chief adversaries were the Commies.
After his miraculous escape, a morally reconstituted Tony announces that Stark Industries will no longer manufacture weapons. Stark's older, wiser business partner Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges of "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot") steps in and tries to downplay Tony's sudden pacifism. Meanwhile, the wicked insurgents dig up the remains of Tony's prototypical suit of armor that he used to escape from them in the desert and try to reassemble it. Similarly, Tony sequesters himself like Dr. Jekyll in his own research laboratory and starts from scratch on the suit. Occasionally, he relies on his loyal girl Friday, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow of "Great Expectations"), to run errands and tie up his loose ends. Tony's closest friend, U.S. A. F. Colonel Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard of "Hustle & Flow"), serves as his liaison with the Pentagon. At one point, Rhodes drums up a cover story to prevent his own bosses from knowing that Tony was responsible for the crash of an F-22 supersonic jet fighter during a mid-air collision between the jet and Tony in his new souped-up Iron Man outfit.
The foursome that wrote "Iron Man" provide our hero with a challenging villain in the person of Jeff Bridges. The laid-back Bridges looks particularly sinister because he wears an Abe Lincoln beard but keeps his noggin freshly shaven. Bridges never tries to appear intimidating and seems all the more intimidating. Favreau and his writers are politically correct to never identify the Afghan antagonists either by religion or ideology.
Oscar nominated leading man Robert Downey Jr of "Chaplin" makes a terrific career comeback with "Iron Man." Downey languished throughout the late 1990s in a number of lackluster roles after his highly-publicized bouts with drug dependency. He brings an energy and sense of humor to his super hero conspicuously absent from his competitors. "Iron Man" has already recouped its $140 million budget and the franchise is off and flying high with a sequel projected for 2009. Moreover, Downey's Tony Stark character is scheduled to appear briefly in the new "Incredible Hulk" movie with Edward Norton later this summer. Altogether, "Iron Man" is a far cry from "RoboCop" meets "The Iron Giant." Despite its outlandish premise and predictable climactic showdown, this smartly-made, super-hero yarn doesn't take itself as seriously as the new "Batman" movies but still delivers the goods in slam-bang fashion.