Iron Man

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I knew almost nothing about the character of Iron Man before seeing the film. All I knew is that he had a kick-ass suit. That’s about it. Didn’t know he was a billionaire. Didn’t know he had some alternate power source keeping him alive. Didn’t know who the villains were. Didn’t know any catchphrases. Still don’t know about the catchphrase. Does he have one? The great thing is that I still thoroughly enjoyed Iron Man without any of this previous knowledge. That’s definitely a credit to the writing.

Robert Downey Jr. probably deserves the lion-share of the credit for Iron Man’s success. Downey has a natural charisma. His slick, quick-talking persona grabs you right from the opening minutes of the movie. What a wonderful way to start the show! Downey is fun to watch with his wry sense of humour but he is just as easily able to switch on the charm or portray an emotional moment or two. Not since Batman Begins, have I been this impressed with the acting performances in a superhero movie. I guess the drinking playboy persona of Tony Stark isn’t too much of a stretch for Robert Downey Jr., but he makes the character nicely approachable and someone to root for.

A pleasant surprise for me was the acting of Gwyneth Paltrow. For some reason, she usually doesn’t grab me. It always seems like she’s either whiny or too damsel in distresss-ish. In Iron Man, she plays Stark’s assistant Pepper Potts (not my favourite name) but while the role calls for her to be subservient, she is easily able to dish out the quick remarks. Paltrow and Downey play very well off each other. There is a nice sexual tension played underneath their light-hearted jabs. One of my favourite scenes in the movie has Pepper helping Stark replace his power source thingy in his chest. It has equal parts humour, grossness, sexiness and tension; and it’s beautifully done by Paltrow and Downey.

While most of the acting in this film was top notch, some of the characters were unfortunately dull. Jeff Bridges is fun to look at with his bald scalp and gray beard as Obadiah, but his character is so predictable it’s hard to take him seriously. I don’t know how Stark’s army friend, Jim Rhodes, fits into the Iron Man mythology, but the character seems tacked on. Terrence Howard is not all that compelling in this role, which is a real shame. Some of the even smaller characters are pretty one dimensional and dull but I guess the focus is supposed to be on Robert Downey, Jr.

Some credit should be given to Jon Favreau, who up until this time has directed mostly family pictures like Zathura and Elf. Sure, he wrote Swingers and wrote and directed it’s follow-up Made but those are more independent features. Favreau does a pretty good job directing this action flick. It helps that he is passionate about comic books and he shows it on the screen. My only complaint is that he spends a little too much time in the Afghanistan desert and not enough time battling evil at home. I’m glad Favreau takes his time with the building of the suit. That is definitely a fun section to watch. Downey’s interactions with his helping robots are a scream.

Iron Man is a good movie with some great sequences and some fine acting by Robert Downey Jr. who basically steals the show. However, I do think some people are hyping it up a little too much. To be safe, I would go in with a slight lowering of expectations so you can simply enjoy the ride. For it’s fun action scenes, this is one you may want to shell out the money for at your local theatre. Iron Man will definitely tide my superhero needs until The Dark Knight appears this July.