Iron Man

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Permalink Reply by Filler on June 1, 2008 at 1:13am

Running out of comics...that's a good one.

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Permalink Reply by somedude1019 on June 1, 2008 at 1:56pm

Intro: After last summer’s staggering amount of disappointments, film goers should be, understandably, gun shy of Blockbusters. This is quite obviously not the case as scores of teens are lined-up to see ‘08’s first summer hit Iron Man.

Summary: Being, admittedly, not the biggest fan of the “Iron Man” comic books, I can only tell you what the film gives me. Tony Stark is the quintessential “Playboy Billionaire” and Stan Lee knows it seeing as how his cameo this time round is Hugh Heffner. Stark makes his bread by being a weapons manufacturer and on, I what assume is, a routine trip to the Middle East, stark gets captured and forced, by some especially generic terrorists, to make a missile. Stark tricks his captors and builds his first Iron Man suit to escape. Back home Stark has the stunning realization that killing people is, *gasp*, bad! and proceeds to turn his life and business around.
Story If you couldn’t tell from the summary, the story is fairly generic, all the plot twist are very obvious; once again we have a hollowed shell of a story meant to move us from one bad-ass action sequence, or Stark one-liner, to the next. It’s fan service at best and a cop-out at worst. But keeping in mind that Iron Man is a Summer Blockbuster, you really shouldn’t expect to be blown away by some amazingly deep plot (even though Spider-man did). So it does deliver… somewhat
7.4

Acting Robert Downey Jr. is simply awesome in this picture, All of the emotional turmoil that usually runs rampant in the Superhero sub-genre is put on the sidelines to deliver a truly awesome character that all move goers will be truly jealous of. Unfortunately that’s pretty much where the props end, it’s not that the film is short on heavy hitters, it has: Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow, but none of them seem to deliver what was expected
8.4

Presentation. .Iron Man is by all means a Blockbuster and really hits its stride, however a huge budget means absolutely nothing without good art behind it; Iron Man knows this and everything looks just 100% awesome from start to finish. Gain quality seems to have stepped down a notch since Transformers, and it is disappointing you don’t here the “Black Sabbath” Classic until the credits but those are drops of criticism in a sea of awesome.
9.7

Overall: 8.5

Closing Thoughts: Iron Man is not the greatest Superhero movie ever; it is one of the better one’s though. And being that the summer season seams to have already started, this is a great way to kick it off. It’s an action-pack adrenaline-rush to be sure, and if you don’t expect much more then you will not be disappointed, and this is defiantly a step in the right direction since last summer.

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Permalink Reply by andrewpotter1 on June 2, 2008 at 11:22am

That's like the shortest review ever lol come on! tell us why ya' liked it!

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Permalink Reply by Je suis le President Charley on June 2, 2008 at 9:51pm

OK, Mr.Potter, here you go:

Unlike many films of the comic book genre, Iron Man takes so many bold risks that its almost shocking that it isn't a complete flop. A recovered alcoholic in the lead role, a director with no action film experience, and a screenplay that actually allows ample time for character development, it's a wonder that the studios gave it the green light. Little do they know that their risks will pay back in dividends.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is the heir to and brainchild of a multi-billion dollar weapons industry which his father created, but more than just inheriting the wealth he adds to it with his own arsenal of sleek, sophistocated fire power. During a trip to one of the many nameless sand dunes in the middle east, his entourage is ambushed and he is held captive for months, during which he is instructed to re-create one of his new weapons using parts salvaged from old missiles that, ironically, were manufactured by his own company. Severely wounded by the ambush, he's given a new "heart" which is basically a downsized version of an early invention. As a result of his captivity, Tony has a change of heart (ho ho), and decides to put his powers of invention to work for the betterment of mankind.

While this all sounds very cliche, the tale is told with such brilliance that one can easily forgive the predictable direction it's going in. Robert is accompanied by Terrence Howard as his best friend, Rhodey; Jeff Bridges as his business associate, Obediah; and Gwenyth Paltrow as his faithful assistant, Pepper Potts. All of them actors a force to be reckoned with when at the top of their game...and boy are they ever. The long recovered Downey takes his personal experiences and turns in a remarkable performance as a man who is conflicted by the choices he's made. Already proven as a fine dramatic actor, here he showcases his comedic chops, delivering witty dialogue with such quicksilver timing one is constantly in danger of missing the punchline, a quality so few actors can boast. It certainly helps to have an intelligent script that takes the subject matter and runs away with it with such a barely contained glee that we're only too happy to be along for the ride.

Not to be outdone by its comic predecessors, the computer graphics in this film is simply mind blowing. Again, owing to a (forgive the pun) MARVELOUS screenplay, the story doesn't get bogged down by the technical details, but allows just enough of it to seep through to make the suits creation credible. As Tony is testing his new suit, he encounters many painful hiccups along the way, much to the delight of the audience. By the time he finally gets it off the ground (literally), the experience is so exhilirating that you just don't want it to end.

This film was clearly created by people who loved the comic and wanted to do it justice. Jon Favreau should be applauded not only for his efforts, but for his willingness to give his actors time to find out who their characters really are. So much so, that the final suit doesn't even make it's grand appearance until an hour and ten minutes into the movie (I know, I counted). More than just a story about personal triumph, Iron Man earns it's title by providing a compelling look at the weaknesses of humanity, as well as celebrating its ability to overcome those weaknesses and do some amazing things in the process.


Sidenote: Those who know me will know I'm plagiarizing my own work (I'm too lazy to write a new one for this forum). Then again....who the hell knows me here? *lol*

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