Ok folks, here we go my fist movie review, I beg of thee please be kind. Being true to what seems to be an interesting schizophrenic character trait of mine, you may find this review to be a little hypocritical after my last post condemning big budget Sci-Fi movies but I simply could not resist the draw of this one. All it took was one sneak peek trailer and I was hooked, consumed in a whirlwind of red and gold enthusiasm. I have to say for the record that I have been building myself up for this movie for some time now, almost to the point of not wanting to see it, I was scared, scared that Hollywood in its infinite cinematic wisdom would let me down as it has done so many times in the past. (can we say the 2003 rendition of Hulk, hell we can kill two birds with one stone here, two reviews in one it was awful, Ang Lee, the director of this comic book abomination together with the rest of the players should be loaded into a space ship, sent to the planet of ass kicking robots to have their asses perpetually kicked until the end of time.) Anyways back to Iron Man, so I here you ask was I disappointed? Well read on my friend.
The movie opens with our reluctant hero Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) giving a demonstration of his companies’ latest and greatest instrument of death, the Jericho. Stark is kidnapped post demonstration by a militia group hell bent on Stark recreating the Jericho for their own mischievous uses. Stark defiantly ignores his captor’s threats and constructs himself a suite of iron in an elaborate escape attempt. Upon returning to the so called civilized world Stark, rebels against his own company, secludes himself from society and improves upon his iron suite.
The movies ends (nobody get mad, I don’t consider this a spoiler because we all know how it’s going to end) with an all out battle involving Stark and his nemesis. Iron Man (Stark in his now fancy red and gold suite) is out gunned but still manages to come up trumps and save the day.
Well that’s the movie in a nut shell, so what did I think? The truth is its awesome, brilliant, stunning, standing on your seat shouting for more good. As I may have subtlety touched on earlier I was unsure of Hollywood’s ability to tell this tail well, well my fears were unfounded. This movie has everything I normally don’t like so much in Sci-Fi movies, big budget and an all star cast (Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow to name but a few) and yet they pulled it off in a stunning feat of visual entertainment. Robert Downey Jr. was perfect for the role, full of alcohol fueled cynicism and witty one liners. His supporting cast was equally as good, very well cast and very well acted. Unfortunately my favorite characters don’t get a mention in the credits, they are a couple of comical robots that assist Stark in his own private laboratory, as far as robots go they are not the smartest artificial intelligent machines in science fiction, in fact I think they share the same robotic gene pool as Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000 but thankfully they inherited all the same endearing qualities as their afore mentioned mechanical compadres. As far as the story goes its exactly what you would expect, it’s not going to win any best script awards but come on people it’s a comic book movie, the age old battle of good versus evil, we know the story, we have seen it a thousand times with a thousand super heroes in a thousand cheesy super hero costumes but it doesn’t matter, it’s a good story damn it. Visually the movie is great, good CGI, believable (well almost believable) technology and some nice cars thrown in the mix all go a long way in making this one of the best comic book to big screen transitions I have seen. Bottom line is this is a good movie it gets my vote.
For all of you that skip straight to the bottom of a review to cut out all the waffle all the get the author’s yay or nay here you go. If you have not seen this movie yet stop reading about it, turn of your computer, put some clothes on, run as if you life depended on it to the nearest movie house, pay whatever extraordinary amount of money they ask for and sit on the edge of you seat for the next 126 minutes basking in the glory of this wonderful movie adaptation of a timeless comic book classic.
Check out Iron Man on IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/
1 comment:
Were we at the same movie?! I know we were because I drove but I took more away from this than just another sci-fi flick with cool cg/fx!
Can we first say how believable is it that Gwyneth Paltrow would have a secret crush on Robert Downey Jr?
However I so bought that Ms. Potts who has diligently been there for Stark through thick and thin, would be crushing hard for her boss! The advantage of a big budget cinematic undertaking is just that you have a big budget to play with which allows for such a phenomenal cast! Downey who is an eccentric engima in his own right adds to the character craft of his own personal story to the Tony Stark character. As Robert Downey Jr. states in an interview concerning his own personal problems: “You can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal.” I have no preconcieved notions about Ironman or its characters. I just anted a movie that my 11 yr old son and I could enjoy. Before me played out a an amazing tale of self examination and reprioritizing to what really matters in life.
tony Stark the boy genius, inheriting his fathers company and millions is known as a playboy and dispassionate businessman and from what I gather an absent-tee business owner who is more or less floundering both in his personal life and profession. I think its safe to assume that upon being captured and suffering such a trauma it causes a re-evaluation of priorities in Stark.
The bio-medical modified heart symbolizes a "new" heart which is a metaphor for a renewed spirit and positive attitude. Stark returns home to make it his mission and new purpose to correct the error in placing weapons of mass destruction there by power into the hands of tyrants. Our actions bear consquences which resonates through out this movie. He also makes ammends in his personal life as well. Stark validates and appreciates Pepper for all she has done and continues do for him. This is illustrated very profoundly when Stark must change out his improved heart modification and he states to Pepper there is no one else-he shows great vulnerability in asking for help and recognizing he would otherwise be alone if not for her. Pepper then reaches into Starks chest and reconnects the wires. I find this to be an awesome symbol of healing and opening up to love. I think this is not only a sci-fi movie or the latest installment of a comic book adventure but a modern parable for living through your mistakes, learning from them, and attempting to put them right by redefining your life purpose. Stark said it best "I shouldn't be alive unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that its rights".
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