Iron Man Movie Review

Okay, so I know it’s not technically a comic, but a break once in a while can’t hurt.

There’s been a lot of buzz around Iron Man’s release, and it’s been pretty much entirely positive. The casting of Downey Jr. seemed perfect, and Favreau is a genuine Marvel fan. It seemed like the film couldn’t be anything but great, and the only questions was how great? Would it be Spider-Man great? X-Men 2 great? Or would it join the ranks of Daredevil, The Punisher and Ghost Rider as fairly faithful adaptations, if ultimately mediocre films?

Well, take it from a Marvel fan who bores easily in action films: Iron Man is probably as close to a perfect incarnation of the character as there has ever been. On a pure aesthetic level, it looks amazing - it’s futuristic and clean and embodies everything about the side of Tony Stark that loves to spend money. The CGI on the Iron Man suit is almost beyond criticism - it looks as amazing today as Spider-Man did when it first came out. Maybe in a few years we’ll see how it’s dated, but right now you’ll believe a man can fly (when he’s wearing a big robot-suit.) The action scenes are all unique and no part of the film ever gets boring, even for a second.

It certainly helps that the acting is fantastic. Downey Jr. is Tony Stark as much as Hugh Jackman was Wolverine. The two are immediately inseperable. Howard plays a believably conflicted, if under-used James Rhodes, and Paltrow’s Pepper Potts is as effortlessly together as a person ever was. There’s not a bad actor in the entire film. The script cuts right to the core of all of them, showing Rhodey’s conflict with his friend, Potts’ desire to protect, and Stark’s emerging sense of accountablity for what he’s done.

Luckily, Iron Man doesn’t spend too much time on the comics origin, instead streamlining it into a wider, appropriately cinematic story that involved fighting Stane and the Iron Monger. In the middle part of the film, the plot drops back a little leaving space for a few action set-pieces and some of the best superhero comedy outside of a Sam Raimi film, which comes at all the right moments. In fact, there’s not a wasted shot or piece of dialogue in the entire thing.

There are some sore points. The opening contains some fairly shocking allusions to current events which, while they eventually get put into context, do feel a little tacky at the time. Likewise, when depicting Stark’s womanising ways, things get a little patronising to women for the sake of a couple of good jokes, though I do think it’s later addressed fairly. The politics of the film could legitimately come in for a beating - they keep the locale and motivations of the minor villains fairly vague so as not to pin things on any religious group, but it doesn’t do anyone any favours with its depiction of generic, anti-American Arabs - then again, it’s an action movie - 20 years ago it would’ve just been some generic Ruskies, and simply ends up reflecting modern tensions rather than doing anything to fuel them. Without spoiling the film, it’s fair to say that the Americans aren’t ultimately depicted as being any better.

Even with those issues skirted around, the film as a whole is as near to perfect an adaptation of the character as anyone could’ve hoped. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a post-credits scene that’s worth the price of entry alone. Seriously, see it.