DoctorEss reviews Iron Man

It’s great to see it finally happening. What the fans have been talking about for years. The moment when the Marvel universe actually became reality. Where we saw on the screen what we read for years in comics. SPIDER-MAN was great but it really wasn’t in the Marvel world. PUNISHER wasn’t even great. HULK wasn’t great. Both of those films existed in something like a vacuum universe. Now we get IRON MAN, one of Marvel’s lesser known heroes and yet, now the highest grossing movie of the year so far.

I’ve always liked Tony Stark (aka: Iron Man). I’ve always been attracted to comic book characters without intrinsic powers. Superman is fine but give those powers to anyone with a personality like Superman, and you would have another Superman. He never seems to be in any real danger (yes, I know he died but that a completely lame fan stunt to sell books and to my point, he’s back as usual). I’ve always loved Batman. Like Iron Man, he has no powers except his wit and personality. It gets by on his smarts. Iron Man is the same way. And Favreau perfectly captures the feeling of reading a great Iron Man comic book. You can really tell he understands what is great about Iron Man (not just for fans but what taps the general public’s feelings as well).

What worked:

The film lives and dies on the sheer, dripping, charisma of Robert Downey Jr. He owns this film. He elevates what are already amazing performances and shows that he can compete not just at an Indie level as an actor but that he can play with the big budget guys also. You will love his character and personality in this film. The film really lives or dies on his work more than anything else and he definitely delivers.

Although, not given a lot to do yet, Terrence Howard is excellent. He‘s already on my list of actors that I go to see no matter what they are in. He’s an amazing performer and luckily, because this film has done so well, we will get to see him do a lot more in upcoming films.

When I first saw SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE or GREAT EXPECTATIONS, I was blown away by Gwyneth Paltrow. She was so intense. But she has appeared lifeless and disoriented in her last few films. She was a disaster in SKY CAPTAIN. I started to think maybe she had lost that special ability to hold things together. But she’s back in this. Maybe Favreau just knows how to direct her. Either way, she is an absolute joy to see on screen. She’s having fun. There is definitely fire in her performance again.

It’s nice to see a plot about bad guys we can all relate to. Finally, someone with the balls to use terrorists and current events has a back drop for the story instead of resorting to some East German Nazi group or Russian ex-KGB agents as the bad guys. I give huge credit to Favreau for having the guts to do this and I think it elevates the entire film because the enemies are believable and tangible.

This movie has a plot and dialog. It isn’t just action (although I thought it had just the right mix). There is actually some substance to what the characters say. Like BATMAN BEGINS, reality is injected wherever possible to make it seem like it could “really happen.”

What didn’t work:

Jeff Bridges is a genius. He’s “The Dude” man. He’s Flynn from TRON. He’s a brilliant actor that takes risks. Don’t get me wrong. He is absolutely solid as the bad guy in this. But this is more of a problem with the script. He isn’t given anything more than the clichéd ending that we all dread. He’s bad, puts on a suit like Iron Man’s and they fight it out in a somewhat lame battle on top of a building. If there is a weak point to the film, it is this. Favreau even admits this when he talks about what they can improve for the sequel. Luckily, even this less than great part is good enough that it doesn’t really detract at all from the fun you are having by watching this movie.

The concept of Iron Man itself is so ridiculous and dumb and yet you walk out of this believing it and really wanting more. Above all else, this has to be the defining trait of why people love this film. It makes you believe. It makes you want more. It makes you happy that Marvel has it’s own movie studio now. It makes you believe we are actually one step closer to making the Marvel universe a reality.