Movie Review: Iron Man

OK, it's been awhile since I done one of these, but I figured I'd get back to doing my movie reviews. Now, I'm no movie critic, I'm just a guy who watches movies and tells you what I think of them, nothing too technical there.

Time to talk about IronMan, the first of the 5 Films I Will See This Summer.

Now, as you all know, I'm a huge comics fan. Love them since I was young enough to read. But out of all the characters I know (Superman, Batman, Spidey, The Hulk, etc.) Iron Man is kind of low on the list.

Don't get me wrong. I'm familiar with the character and all that, but I don't buy the comics, get the action figure, have the cartoons on tape or DVD, that type of thing. Pretty much, I didn't much care for Iron Man.

That is, until last summer, when I saw the trailer for this movie. Needless to say, that peaked my interest.

After seeing the movie, which basically tells the origin of how billionaire industrialist Tony Stark becomes the titanium clad superhero, I have to say, I was totally, flat out, blown away.

First off, I have to say that I give mad props to Robert Downey, Jr. for playing Stark in this. I'd admit, when I first heard that he was going to play the lead, I was a bit skeptical. He was not the person I had in mind for the role.

But I tell you what, he absolutely, positively hit it out of the park with his portrayal. He was cocky, sarcastic, arrogant, witty and downright serious when need be. He was also funny when the moment called for it as well as noble as well when he saw the error of his ways and realized that he needed to be the hero instead of being a playboy. Overall, in my mind, Downey was being himself in this. And when you're playing yourself, it makes the performance even more realistic. So hats off to him for doing that.

I also gotta say that the effects in this movie rocked. The flying sequences alone would be enough to make this a hit in my mind, but there were a lot of well done action sequences, as when Stark got captured by the terrorists early in the film (ironically enough, thanks to the very weapons that his own corporation developed) the scene is jarring, scary, and real. When Stark manages to escape with the first crude version of his suit, it's very well done with a lot of firepower. And then, there's the suit up sequence where Stark gets into the red and yellow suit that Iron Man is known for, and I have to tell you that is one of the coolest looking suit up scenes that I've ever seen.

As for the others in the cast, Terence Howard was good as Stark's friend, Rhodes. Gweneth Paltrow did a fair enough job as Stark's secretary and possible romantic interest. And even though I think he'd be better off not being in the suit at the end, Jeff Bridges was a good villian as Stark's business associate and eventual enemy.

Director Jon Favreau, who also has a small cameo, did a very good job putting this film together, again with the sequences, the storyline, which is very true to the comic book origins, and finding the good balance between humor, action and drama. And he's also aware of the character's history, even using in a couple instances the theme music to the old cartoon show, which was my first exposure to Iron Man.

Overall, I'd say this was one of the better comic book movies I've seen, right along with Superman, Batman Begins, Spider-Man1 and 2, and X-Men 1 and 2, and the potential for this character as far as movies go is huge. Heck, they've already planned the sequel for 2010 after kicking some serious butt in the box office so far (Oh, and a heads up if you see this, stay for a bonus scene immediately after all the closing credits roll)

For a character that I didn't much care about growing up, I can definitely say after seeing Iron Man, I'm going to keep an eye on this one from now on.