Heavy MetalFor the longest time now, the summer movie craze has been a highlighted season for studios to start a frenzy of releases that will promise a big profit in the end. Some of them are huge successes, some are gigantic flops, but all provide the audience with something. I really hope that this film fits into the former category, because it is a wild ride that everyone can enjoy.
Continuing the Marvel Comic book adaptations, Iron Man's leading man is Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., who is the eccentric, playboy billionaire that just so happens to control the most powerful arms dealing company. While Stark is testing his newest weapon in Afghanistan, his envoy gets ambushed, and he is captured by terrorist who try to get him to rebuild the weapon for them. Instead of being a good little arms dealer, he instead invents a sort of Iron Man prototype, and escapes. Upon his return to the US, he has a device in his chest that will prevent the shrapnel from entering his heart and a new found sense of the world to protect it. And thus Iron Man is born.
Marvel comic book adaptations have been hitting some rough spots lately. Even though their films outnumber those produced by DC Comics (which has currently stuck with their Batman and Superman), the comic chain has had some serious duds. Even their most successful franchises, Spider-Man and X-Men, had hit snags around their third pictures. However, Iron Man is a welcomed gift perhaps because of the Downey casting. It's true that he isn't the typical superhero, and there are times where his manic personality and witty comebacks would fit more so an over-the-top supervillian, but because Downey isn't Tobey Maguire or Hugh Jackman, his character offers a really fascinating quality. He isn't an everyman, but he's far different than what is expected.
The film also features a fine supporting cast, which is headlined by Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark's assistant Pepper Potts. Her chemistry with Downey is right on the money and Paltrow delivers her best performance in years (and I'm not even including her Oscar-winning work for Shakespeare in Love). As for the rest, they may be fine, but they don't match up to the quick steps from Paltrow. Terrence Howard is in kind of a throw away role as Stark's best buddy from the military and a nearly unrecognizable Jeff Bridges is Stark's business partner and eventual villain. Bridges is a good actor, but he's got one of the clumsiest, half-witted and forgettable villainous roles around, particularly faulting points because he stores his secrets in his computer inside the subtly named file "ultra-secret."
If you thought Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man was an odd choice, an even more unconventional thought is Jon Favreau as an action director. The not-quite-indie-sensation has been known in front of the camera, but has ventured behind it for films like Elf, Zathura and penning Swingers. The film is a little too maneuvered for him to be officially established in this genre, but I think Favreau, as unlikely as he is, has room to grow and any other films in this franchise from him would be welcomed.
This is an action movie, plain and simple. It has some good special effects and acting, particularly from Downey and Paltrow, but it does suffer from a lame villain and a bit of a labored script. However, it is still a great ride to take, and kicks off the summer season promisingly. Hopefully, the season will continue to be as good as this. ***1/2 / ****; GRADE: B+.
