Iron man Review

Director: Jon Faverau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges

Original Release Date: May 2nd 2008

Two months from now we’ll all be lining up to see Avengers Age of Ultron, the climax of Phase 02 of the MCU. I am a very particular fellow and whenever a new instalment in a film series comes out I have to watch the previous chapters. It goes without saying that since 2008 the MCU has developed quite the library, with over 10 films, two television series, and 1 new Netflix series on the way in April, there is a lot to digest in Marvels expansive universe.  So before I see Age of Ultron and Ant-man I’ve decided to review the entirety of the MCU so far, from it’s movies to the two seasons of Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter and the soon to be released Daredevil. The first on the list naturally, is 2008’s Iron man.

Before I get onto this review I have to say that there will be spoilers, most of Phase 01 has been out for a while now and is pretty accessible, so if you have yet to watch Iron man (why haven’t you yet?) do so before you read this.

Now I personally don’t like Iron man, he’s never been a character that has resonated with me. When the movie came out I wasn’t all that excited since I find the character to be boring and irritating, but this was back when we got comic book movies once every few years (hard to believe that now) so I had to go see it. I remember not really enjoying the first Iron man movie which might be due to the Dark Knight trailer I saw before the movie. You’re going to find a particular trend when it comes to me and Iron man. They are the only MCU movies I’ve only seen once in theatres and the only ones I’ve ever bought before the next big instalment to the MCU, so in this case I finally got around to buying this when it’s sequel came out, and my opinion on the first  Iron man changed drastically, I started with hating the movie to loving it.

Iron man is an origin story, and it’s certainly one of the best. The film starts out with weapons manufacture Tony Stark getting kidnapped by a terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. During his time in captivity (approximately three months) he has an epiphany, he realizes that the weapons that his company has made to protect the world are now being used by groups that would try to harm it. So when Stark makes a daring escape he decides with his new-found philanthropic ideals to create the Iron man suit and uses it to strike back at those who would use his own technology for their own corrupted deeds.

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If we are talking about Iron man than we have to talk about the character Tony Stark. After seven years everything I'm about to say is going to be just me preaching to the choir, but Robert Downey Jr gives probably one of the best comic book performances, ever!  Rarely can you picture another actor as a character, and just like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine by this point you can’t see anyone else as Tony Stark.  The Iron man movies are really performance driven films, every single Iron man movie is completely devoured by Downey’s performance as Stark, and even though it seems like we won’t be getting any Iron man movies in phase 03 the character will still play a major part in the first film, Civil War. Downey owns this character and is able to bring forth everything that makes the character memorable for comic readers, and Iron man was the career saver for Robert Downey Jr, without this movie people wouldn’t be talking about the actor today.

Now it wouldn’t be fair if I just talked about Robert Downey Jr and not the rest of the cast. Iron man has a pretty marvellous cast, all of the top billed actors are fantastic. Terrance Howard is pretty great as Rhodey but there isn’t much room for the character to grow in this movie. Seeing as how Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle in Iron man 2, there isn’t really much to say here  since most of his arc is fleshed out in Iron man 2. However Terrance does do a good job, and the guy is a great actor in his own right, its just unfortunate that he was replaced due to a wage dispute, but in the end it was for the better since Cheadle has proven to be superior in the role.

Now she isn’t in the top billing but we always have to talk about Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. I’ve always loved this character, I think Paltrow is fantastic in the Iron man movies, she just brings this undeniable wit and sincerity to the movie, and seeing as how most of her scenes are with the film stealing Downey, she holds her own and is able to not be crushed under the weight of Tony Stark’s shadow like everyone else. Both Gwyneth and Robert Downey Jr have great chemistry. The relationship between Tony and Pepper doesn’t seem forced at all and is one of the major plus points in the movie. I rarely ever buy the shoehorned love relationships that are in most superhero movies, but this one feels genuine in it’s development and seeing as how both characters have known each other for years before the events of the film, both actors show in their performances a long history between boss and assistant.

Finally, we have the great Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, think of him as Tony Starks right hand man when it comes to Stark Industries. Jeff Bridges is very good in this movie he quickly flips the personality of Stane very quickly as the film progresses. When the movie starts out he seems like quite the lovable guy, like most of Bridges performances, but once act 3 hits we quickly see Stane bring out his sinister nature as the film’s primary antagonist. I haven’t seen Jeff Bridges as sinister as this since the Vanishing.  I always thought the scene where Pepper looks through Stane’s computer only to be discovered by him to be incredibly tense, and in my opinion Stane has been the best villain out of the Iron man movies, which unfortunately isn’t saying too much.

Sure, Bridges is great in the movie but only a real comic fan would know that he’d be the villain of the piece. For the average movie goer the twist that he in fact was the bad guy all along doesn’t really feel earned, and this leads to a continued trend in the Iron man films. Every film makes you think one character is the villain only to learn that in fact some greedy businessman was behind everything, trust me I’ll touch on that in the other Iron man films. I would have preferred if Raza ( Faran Tahir) was the villain of the movie and just focus on Iron man facing terrorists. Tahir is misused in almost every film I've seen him in and he gives a really menacing performance in the first act. I’ll give it a pass though for this movie since it’s the origin story, we’ve got to learn everything we can about Tony.

Paul Bettany also provides his voice to the movie as the computer program JARVIS, who in the comics is Stark’s butler. I’m only giving Bettany a little mention here because the character of JARVIS will become a major player down the line in Age of Ultron, and if you don’t know much about the plot of the movie than I won’t spoil it here.

One of the things I really love about this movie is that it truly feels like a standalone piece. When this came out we didn’t know about the MCU or the Avengers. The only time anyone got a sniff at what Marvel Studios was planning was during the post credit scene, and this was back when people didn’t know to stay after some movies. So the first two movies in the MCU really feel disconnected thematically, they feel like two different beasts from the rest of phase 01 and the MCU. They take more darker risks and aren’t the fun tongue and cheek humoured filled films that inhabit most of the MCU. Of course I love how the MCU has turned out, we are getting some great films, I just like how this movie doesn’t feel like the other films. For example, during the prologue of the movie we see Tony get hit by the shrapnel and there is this great shot of Tony lying on the ground and blood slowly seeping through his shirt, we wouldn’t get anything like that now in the MCU.

When this movie first came out I wouldn’t even have thought that Jon Faverau could direct a big superhero flick, he proved me wrong. Faverau really has a passion for the character which is something that every superhero movie needs, studios don’t seem to understand how necessary it is to get someone who actually is a fan of the source material to direct the movie, the love for the character and world they inhabit  seeps into the project and makes for a great film, this is why the first two Spider-man movies were so well done.  Scenes where Stark flies in the suit look incredible and the blending between cg and an actual Iron man suit are flawless. Iron man is a really slick looking film that takes itself seriously but doesn’t delve into Dark Knight territory. When I talk about wanting a Marvel movie that has humour but is serious this is what I’m talking about. I personally hate the character of Tony Stark, and I try not to let my distaste for the character get in the way of a good movie experience. In my opinion I can only really stand Tony Stark in this movie. I just can’t connect with his cocky attitude and witty one liners, now they’re in this movie no doubt, but not to the extent of the other films. Faverau knew what he was doing, and he's even inserted himself into the MCU as Happy Hogan, a small cameo role in this film but his interaction in the Iron man films have increased.

The score by Ramai Djawadi is really forgettable, I really hope his work on the Warcraft movie is better than this because he really missed the mark, it’s a shame because I like his work on Game of Thrones.The score tries it’s best to blend orchestral flair with guitar riffs but it really doesn’t work for me, I actually prefer the score for Iron man 3 over this. I also don’t understand why they use the song Iron man by Black Sabbath, sure it says Iron man but it has hardly anything to do with the character, I’m just nitpicking when it comes to that though.

Iron man is a really fun film, it’s one of the best origin stories out there when it comes to comics and it is one of the better MCU films. It’s able to blend the serious tones and humour to a perfect extent that the other two films fail to comprehend. The action is pretty slick and Robert Downey Jr gives a career  saving performance that people will remember for the rest of his career, he is Iron man.

I give Iron man a 8/10