The 2008 summer blockbuster season is now officially underway. Leading the charge this year is Marvel's Iron Man, starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow. If Iron Man is any indication, we're in for a great summer!Okay... so lets forget those other non-super hero/comic book films soon to be be released. Even if they aren't that good, if Iron Man is any indication, we're in for a great future of comic book movies! You see, ever since the summer of 2000 when X-Men landed in theaters and kicked off the new generation of super hero/comic book movies, the genre has slowly been trying to find its way, suffering some serious blows along the way.
Officially, we've had 3 X-Men movies, 3 Spiderman, 2 Fantastic Four, Superman, Batman, Daredevil, Hulk, Punisher, Catwoman, Elektra, and Ghost Rider. If I have missed some, forgive me. The point is that out of all of these, roughly half were generally considered good with Elektra, Catwoman, Hulk, Daredevil (which I like), Ghost Rider and both Fantastic Four movies generally being considered not very good at all. Catwoman and The Fantastic Four are outright garbage! While the special effects and computer graphics have certainly dazzled, actually producing a quality super hero movie has proven to be a somewhat difficult task, the problem being how to make a movie that is faithful to the source material and accessible to general audiences. Even X-Men and Spiderman have some rough patches. Batman Begins (a complete reset of the franchise) stands out from that list as being the first one that really REALLY worked, both as a super hero movie and as a movie in general. It undoubtedly took the genre to the next level.
So now we have Iron Man and I'll admit that I wasn't all that psyched leading up to it, largely because I'm not a big Iron Man reader. But I went with some friends on opening night and what a breath of fresh air it was! Following the success of Batman Begins, it seems that the producers (now the comic book companies themselves) have finally figured out to do it right. Top to bottom, Iron Man was nearly flawless combining excellent casting, great effects, good direction and great story. I honestly don't have a single bone to pick with the movie and the overwhelming amount of positive press for the film would seem to support my position.
Lets start with the casting. Robert Downey, Jr. plays an excellent Tony Stark. He captures the carefree, billionaire playboy persona to a T. And when things get real in the story, he plays an excellent serious Tony Stark persona to a T. Right up there with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, we now have two "real" super hero characters. They feel believable and they stay very true to source comic book material.
Jeff Bridges turned in a surprisingly good portrayal of Obidiah Stane. Bridges usually plays the good guy or the lovable character in his movies. This time he played the villain and he played it very well! Again, the character was cast well and good casting combined with good direction is a recipe for a good movie. Terrance Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow also fit well with their roles as Colonel Rhodes and "Pepper" Potts. Chemistry was evident throughout the cast.
As for the story, Jon Favreau kept it moving along. I didn't note any portion of the movie that moved particularly slow or that seemed to drag or just plain didn't contribute to the overall story. It started immediately, forgoing the usual elaborate opening title sequence, jumping right into the story and it kept chugging along through to the end. No complaints from me there. The dialog was superb! Downey, Jr. delivered Stark's lines very well and the humor was refreshingly relevant and appropriate. Some jokes were silly, but none of them I would categorize as cheap.
Another credit to this movie, again similar to Batman Begins, was that the process of becoming the hero was not abridged but rather explored at length. Like Bruce Wayne, we see Tony Stark building his power armor, running his trials and working out the kinks... once again lending an appropriate sense of realism and legitimacy. Yes, this is fiction and we're talking about a super hero, but through the comic book lens, super hero stories have their own sense of "real" and this movie captured it. So when Stark finally perfects his Mark III suit, we know how he got there and understand his super hero persona all the more.
As I've said, I really don't have any beefs with this movie, surprising since I wasn't drooling over it going in. I fully appreciate the amazing job they did making a comic-book movie. The fact that Marvel has created their own studio production company to make their own adaptations is definitely a good development and Iron Man is proof that comic book movies are on the right track.
With The Dark Knight only 8 weeks away, the summer is looking very bright indeed! 10/10
