Iron Man
By Matthew Rodgers
It’s a burden they all have to bear; Every time a new superhero blasts from the page onto the big screen they have to deal with the comic book equivalent of the “difficult 2nd album”, the origin movie. Thankfully Marvel’s latest cash-cow Iron Man has a few things going for it in order to distance itself from franchise non-starters such as Daredevil and Ghostrider, namely director John Favreau and the man in the iron mask, Robert Downey Jnr.
Tony Stark (Downey Jnr.) is a wealthy businessman whose primary concern is with drinking and fraternizing despite maintaining his father’s questionable legacy at Stark Industries weapons division alongside mentor Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Forced into a life changing piece of impromptu black & Decker action he builds a make-shift armored suit to escape some cut and paste terrorists, changing his moral outlook on his vacuous life and becoming Iron Man in the process. Fun most definitely ensues.
As impressive as the suited and booted battle scenes are – and believe us when we tell you that the comedy infused mid-air mash-ups put anything Superman did on his Return to shame – the real draw for the Iron Man crowd should be the man formerly known as Chaplin. Only ever the brooding hero that’s become the staple of his caped comrades on a couple of occasions and even then he deals with the slightly clunky dialogue with a sincerity that makes it believable. Downey Jnr’s Stark is riddled with caustic wit and an underplayed extravagance “Yes, I can fly” greets his first test run of the famous red suit. He is much more accessible as the richmanboy than say, Hayden Christensen was in the recent Jumper, it’s a welcome burst onto the mainstream for the reformed actor.
That’s not to say it’s a one man show; Gwyneth Paltrow discards the bodice and the demure demeanor to spark with Stark, this is no simple damsel-in-distress, it’s a refreshingly strong female role in a very macho-centric genre. Terence Howard gets all the best lines and a couple of the fanboy nods as Stark’s best friend Jim Rhodes and as a bad guy Jeff Bridges is perfectly duplicitous.
And finally who would have thought that the one-time Swinger and Elf director John Favreau would have had such a capable handle on the action spectacle. Perhaps drawing out the iconic suit creation a little bit in the cave based first third he soon tightens the reins to deliver some stunning set pieces that are beautifully rendered, and more importantly after last years summer of bloat (Pirates) kept short for maximum impact. As Iron Man dodges metal fists and jets alike you will tilt from left and right with his every move.
Like a great teaser trailer to a better film, what Iron Man lacks in the originality stakes it more than makes up for in enthusiastic adrenaline fuelled fun and a terrific leading man.
