I saw Iron Man on opening night. Katie and I went out for dinner with Todd and Marilee and had a great night.
But this wasn't a "sum of the whole evening" I loved the movie, this was a "Sweet merciful crap, this is an amazing experience" movie.
By now, everyone knows the premise of the movie. Billionaire Tony Stark is an industrialist who has made the bulk of his fortune just as dad did, weapons manufacturing for the US Government. After showing off his latest invention, the "Jericho Missle" to an Army R&D battalion in Afghanistan, the convoy gets attacked. It turns out, attacked with Stark Industries weapons.
But Tony is hit hard. Hard with shrapnel in the chest. When he awakens in a mountain cave, he has a car battery hooked up to his chest and a roommate. He explains that the battery is powering an electromagnet that holds the shrapnel in place and prevents it from causing Tony a coronary.
Tony and his new friend, Yinsen, are charged by their captors with building a Jericho missle for them-Yinsen acting as translator and assitant. Tony agrees to save their lives but begins by building himself a miniturized arc reactor to power his heart and hold the shrapnel. He then plans the construction of the Mark I armor. Tony busts out and returns home.
But all this has changed Tony. He has a new perspective on life and decides to take his company in a new direction. No weapons. Of course, this pisses off lots of stockholders and board members, including his right hand man, Obidiah Stane. Shortly, Stark is removed from the board. But all the while he plays in his basement shop building the Mark II and Mark III armor with the hopes of creating something that he can right the wrongs he has done and stop the spread of insurgents, militias and all those that hurt others for their own gain.
This is your typical origin story for modern times. I say that because movies like Batman Begins and Spider-man have really upped the ante on the origin movie. Iron Man holds strong. We are given a man and shown his many flaws. We are given a life altering situation that he triumphs over. We are given a quest to find out who he is now and what it means to him. And in the end we are given a villain that only he is now equipped to deal with. But it all WORKS. And the only reason it works is: Robert Downey, Jr. is one charming guy.
There was talk of hiring an unknown. And there was talk of hiring a younger actor. But Tony Stark is a guy that is well into his career. That's why it works. Yes, he is the teen genius that graduates early form MIT. The story could have picked up there or 10 years from there and we could have had some 20-something playing the role. But Downey works because he has a lot of life under his belt as Stark does.
One of the themes of the original comic series is Stark's alcoholism and how he overcomes it. There is even a point where he stops being Iron Man and Jim Rhodes has to take over. (now do we understand the "Next time, baby!" scene from the movie?) Robert Downey, Jr. has had a well documented fight with drug and alcohol abuse. And has been priviledged his whole life. So has Stark. Downey brings a realism to the character that is a breath of fresh air. When I watched The Punisher, I had to tell myself to suspend my disbelief for the first 10 minutes because I couldn't buy into Thomas Jane right away. When I watched Spider-man for the first time, I saw the Wonder Boys kid on screen at first (that one was easier to fall into). But when I watched Iron Man, Tony Stark came on screen. Downey didn't have to fit into the role, he put it on like a comfortable leather jacket. For all it wear and tear, it fit well and he knew where all the pockets were and witch ones still had a lining. He is tony Stark.
The best thing about this movie is that it isn't an effects movie. My newest hero, Jon Favreau, is a man after my own heart. He likes to shoot practical as often as possible. Now, are there effects, you bet your bippy there are. But they never detract from the scene. They are tools to help the director expand what he visualizes, not the reason the movie was getting made. This isn't the "let's come up with a loose plot to tie these crazy effect scenes together" tentpole that some studios put up.
This is a great movie that handles the origin story superbly and is wrought with wonderful performances. Do yourself a favor and see this in the theatre. 5/5
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