Heavy Metal
The Armored Avenger Hits the Big Screen
Growing up, I had a number of comic book heroes that I considered favorites. For me, a boy who put on leg braces every day as part of his morning routine, I often imagined I was suiting up as Iron Man. Now, well into the new millennium, there couldn't be a better hero for the Information Age. Iron Man is the dot-com revolution come to life. In director Jon Favreau's summer action film, the Marvel comic book character is finally given a chance to shine.
Written by: Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum &
Matt Holloway based on characters by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow
Rated
(for
some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive
content.)Running time: 126 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.
In Iron Man, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is kidnapped by rebel forces in Afghanistan. The rebels have one demand of Stark, build them a copy of his latest missile or die.
Stark, recovering from near fatal wounds, finds himself strapped to a device that keeps shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. When he modifies the device to generate its own power rather than relying on a car battery, he sees in it a possible solution to his capture.
With the help of his fellow captive Yinsen (Shaun Toub), he creates a suit of armor that allows him to escape his captors and put the hurt on their operation.
When Tony returns home, however, he discovers that his stockholders are not happy with his new-found conscience. Turning away from weapons manufacturing, Tony begins to redesign the armor that saved his life in hopes that he can use it to stop his previous inventions from taking more lives.
The effects in the film are spot on. Iron Man's armor (all three versions) are incredibly realistic. Perhaps one of the greatest feats of the film is making Stark's transformation realistic by showing a number of robotic arms assisting him in putting on the armor. It's much more realistic than pulling his armor out of a briefcase (as in the early comics).
For Downey Jr. it may not have been much of a stretch to play the womanizing drunkard Tony Stark. Everyone has commented that it seems like type casting, considering his past troubles with drugs. But seeing Downey on the screen it was easy to look past the actor and see the character. He plays Tony with a flamboyant arrogance at times, but also with an almost reserved humility when warranted.
Gwyneth Paltrow does a good job portraying Stark's under appreciated assistant Pepper Potts. It's interesting that Favreau chose to cast a leading lady in this supporting role. She brings some wonderful moments to the film, making us wonder what a devoted employee of Tony Stark does in her free time (assuming she has any).
Casting Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane also surprised me. I never thought of Bridges as the heavy, chiefly because he was always the goofy hero in films of my youth. With his bald, bearded look, however, he becomes Stane. This is a wonderful transformation! Paired off against Downey Jr., Bridges is able to create some great tension in the story.
The best casting in the film is a surprise that should not be spoiled. Stay through the credits and enjoy the tag at the end of the film.
Fans of the Iron Man comic book should be pleased that the franchise has been placed in Favreau's capable hands. His ability to tell a good story well -- and his willingness to push the envelope on the special effects -- has made Iron Man a top-tier superhero film.
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