the mrs and i saw iron man saturday. even though i'm an erstwhile comic book reader, iron man was never one that i read, so i'm unfamiliar w/ some of the characters (pepper potts?).
having said that: i loved it. i used to read the avengers back when i used to read comic books, and iron man was one of the four founding members (along with the hulk, thor & ant man), so i know a bit about his story. his origin story was in vietnam, but the general aspects of the character are retained, if updated for a more contemporary timeline. incidentally: if you see it, i understand (i didn't think to do this myself) that one should wait through the end credits. FYI.
i'm trying very hard to avoid spoilers. the very large themes however are impossible not to discuss, if obliquely.
story:
the story is a simple enough one: inventive genius is forced to use his genius to escape from captors in a war zone. he does, but unfortunately the results of his genius wind up in the wrong hands, which goes on to become a major problem. knowing a little bit about the story arc of the character from the comics, i can see very readily how the film sows the seeds for more than one sequel.
acting:
jon favreau does a wonderful job of giving his actors enough room to stretch themselves a tad, although the luminous gwyneth paltrow (who i'll confess has never looked better IMHO) is regrettably under-utilized in this role. downey jr gets to stretch his acting skills, best captured in a number of his reaction shots, i felt. having said that, jeff bridges as obadiah stane does a really good job with a role that could easily have been more lampooning than acting.
visual design & cinematography:
the special effects, as you might expect, are truly superb. the fight sequences and other extended SFX scenes are truly impressive. i'm reminded in some respects of the effects in the transformers--sometimes uncomfortably so--but in certain important respects, that really can't be helped, if you ask me. i do like the look of the armor: it's a nice update of the classic look, esp the facemask.
summary:
i would easily put this right up with the first spiderman or x-men films. marvel studios has a winner here, IMHO. the action is good, the characters are reasonable and understandable, the story makes sense, i think; an eminently enjoyable experience.
ed
silverwhisper posted on May 05, 2008
| views: 314
Comments
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GracefullyGrowing said on May 05, 2008....
Thanks for the review. I saw that it's rated PG13. I'm wondering if I need to pre-view this before I let my seven-year-old watch it. He wants to see it REALLY bad. I will say I've let him watch Transformers (he's a die hard fan) and other "violent" movies. He's not prone to violence so for him I don't think this is a problem. He understands he's watching a movie.So what do you think. . . let him see it? -
MissMimi said on May 05, 2008....
It appears as though a lot of people agree with you. Iron Man was number 1 at the box office this weekend, by far. -
Expendable said on May 05, 2008....
Interesting movie. The bag of cheeseburgers made total sense to me. What he says at the end was a bit surprising but I could see how everything led up to it. Loved the robots, especially the one with the fire extinguisher. -
uniquely-ironic said on May 05, 2008....
If you suspend the logical side of your brain, this movie is easy to enjoy. I thought the characters (especially Jeff Bridges) did a good job. The plot, though predictable, moved along quickly enough so that you didn't get bored. It's my opinion that this is one of the best roles that Robert Downey Jr. has done to date. I generally don't like him, but had to admit that he was convincing in this role. -
vacantmind said on May 05, 2008....
This isn't my normal movie but, i did enjoy it. So, did all the males in my house. Loved the targeting system on the suit.
Grace...i don't think this movie would offend you. There is one sex scene...it is really quick and doesn't show much. If he watched Transformers then you are probably safe here.
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the_infernal_optimist said on May 05, 2008....
We're going to see it tonight. DH can't wait! It's not really my sort of movie, but I liked Transformers a lot and didn't think I would, so maybe this will be the same. (Besides, I picked yesterday's movie - The Bucket List - so I can't complain!)
~Infernal
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biglove said on May 05, 2008....
what a great review! you should do this professionally. thanks ;-)) -
diabolicdame said on May 05, 2008....
Thanks for the review Ed.. i have been reading about the movie and I will now watch it when it releases here. You are pretty good at this, you know? At reviews, I mean. I guess you really are this prolific guy!! :-D -
mOOn_platOOn said on May 05, 2008....
I promised my son I'd wait until Friday to see it with him. Damn it all!!!!! Why??? WHY????? -
BDSMrose said on May 05, 2008....
I can't wait to see it. I think I am going to try this weekend. The first weekend is a little crowded for my taste. -
silverwhisper said on May 06, 2008....
grace: i honestly don't think there's a problem there and would say it's on par w/ the transformers re: violence, myself.
mimi: i'm sure they do--when you get a 93% "fresh" rating at rottentomatoes.com, you're doing something right!
ex: yeah, that scene was very funny re: the cheeseburgers--i can totally see that. i didn't think that line was surprising, myself--and the robots were hysterical, no? :D
u-i: well, you do have to suspend disbelief--i mean, we're talking about a movie that's based on a comic book here, so forget physics entirely! yeah, the oft-troubled downey jr did have opportunities to show his talent. nice to see that we agree re: bridges, who i thought was quite good in this.
vm: there were a lot of little touches in the film i dug--the targeting system was nifty, i agree. :>
infernal: so what'd you guys think of it?
biglove: why thank you! i just like to find a structure to writing these. i'm forgetful; if i didn't follow a format like this i'd forget half of what i wanted to say! :>
diabolic: now now, it's hard to tell how good a job a reviewer does w/out having seen the film yourself. but yes: yes i am. :D
moon: man, that's gotta be frustrating! btw, when you see it, let me know if you see a preview for a new version of hulk.
rose: yeah, i can see why you'd say that--but i'm a guy who likes to attend midnight premieres when i can (SW trilogy, LOTR, harry potter). i can suffer through the population density just for the quality of the crowd during the show, you know?
ed -
the_infernal_optimist said on May 06, 2008....
I really liked it, ed. And I know that for a lot of people, it doesn't affect things for them, but I was relieved that the violence was tastefully handled. It could have been a lot more splattery, you know? There really weren't any scenes that bothered me. I also liked that you didn't have to know all about Iron Man before you went in (and I agree that they set themselves up for a sequel or more).
The acting was good, the story moved right along...I wasn't expecting to like it a whole lot, but it was a very good movie. :)
And I saw the preview for the new Hulk movie and thought the guy looked a lot like Shrek. :-p
~Infernal
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silverwhisper said on May 06, 2008....
yeah, i can see what you mean re: the violence. :> and yeah, i saw the hulk movie preview too but didn't have that shrek reaction--weird!
ed -
mOOn_platOOn said on May 09, 2008....
Shrek on steroids. Hulk still has that sort of unmistakable animated look just like the Ang Lee version, just more veins. If only the rights to Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and X-Men weren't spread out all over the place. They could make an Avengers movie with Iron Man, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Wolverine, The Human Torch, Invisible Woman and The Hulk ready for release for the Holiday Season.I was surprised at how dynamic the first hour was without the super-hero. Between Stan Lee and Robert Downey Junior, Tony Stark has been manifest as a remarkable character whose "alter ego" actually is the costumed crusader instead of the other way around. It's a "stark" difference. ;)After all, Batman is playing at being Bruce Wayne as a cover, Superman "powers down" to pretend like he's Kent, Peter Parker wants to be Spider-Man more than himself, enjoying adulation from the masses - but Iron Man? That's just Tony Stark in a suit.Cool. -
silverwhisper said on May 10, 2008....
moon platoon: actually, i believe this is the first film for marvel studios, b/c they're sick of everyone else making money off their IP, and i suspect the reason the hulk is the next film is because they're laying the groundwork for an avengers flick. next up would logically be thor & antman, right? i can easily see both of those films working well, the recent success of fantasy-related films certainly suggests at least to me that they would want to release the after hulk, and antman's the thinking man's avenger--at least, until the beast anyway.
so yeah, i can see this. apparently they're also at work on a captain american film, too.
ed -
mOOn_platOOn said on May 12, 2008....
Yes, although Cap may be a tough sale internationally. It will be quite a challenge to formulate a Captain America film with worldwide appeal. BTW I got within 10 feet of Stan (The Man) Lee himself on Saturday at a book signing. He was commenting on his "scintillating cameo" in IRON MAN in true Marvel fashion. Of course the ultimate flick will be THE TRIALS OF IRVING FORBUSH. Or maybe YANCY STREET GANG ADVENTURES. -
silverwhisper said on May 13, 2008....
oo, yancy street gang adventures! and that's really nifty you got to see stan lee up close. is he really as bombastic IRL as he is otherwise? i liked his came in the first FF movie.
i agree, a cap flick with worldwide appeal is really tricky. it's gonna be interesting to see how they do that.
ed -
mOOn_platOOn said on May 13, 2008....
Yes, Stan seems the same - of course he was on camera and at a book signing, so naturally he's in "action mode" - it was indeed cool. Excelsior!! -
silverwhisper said on May 14, 2008....
right back at ya, moon platoon! :>
ed
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