Iron Man Is Golden
Some have said this is the best super hero movie yet. While that is a lofty, abstract claim, it does appear to be an adequate review. Why?
There are a lot of factors that make Iron Man a good movie. The biggest audience, of course, is the non-comic reader. Basically, America. The movie is a stand alone title. You don’t really need to know about Iron Man to see this movie.
But doesn’t that alienate comic fans? Not really. See, the movie has enough little jokes, like S.H.I.E.L.D., that comic fans will get, but not knowing about them won’t detract from the viewing for the rest of America.
The film was also a great modernization of the film, replacing the Vietnam anxieties with today’s issues of war and terrorism.
I could have used some more action, but the humor and plot was well dispersed throughout and I have to say, I personally thought this was a better film than the rest of the genre, including Batman Begins.
Of course, Marvel is gearing up to an Avengers movie, as this film and the new Hulk movie will show, but what can we expect from a comic company that needs to stay in the public eye?
What I applaud Marvel for doing with this film is saving Iron Man. The past few years in the comics, Iron Man has become the militant liberal version of Bush - a contemporary allegory that won’t stand the test of time once Bush leaves office. They’ve crafted Tony Stark into being a super villain in every title. But this movie gave Iron Man some saving grace - showing a character who wants to end war and violence, going back to his roots in a unique way.
The film might not be as funny or thrilling the second time round, but for a first viewing, pretty damn good. Check it out.
Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
Comments
Geoff (Geoff) says:
(Posted May 3rd, 2008 at 11:21 am)
I agree that the film could have used a few more action sequences, but damn was this good. I can’t think of a single superhero film that had better casting for the title role (Christian Bale comes so close). I walked out of it already ready for the sequel
Matt (Matt) says:
(Posted May 4th, 2008 at 12:19 pm)
I think the plot of Batman Begins is a little more original, but Iron Man beats out BB for characters and dialog. I thought this was an extremely well-written film - especially, as everyone’s been saying “for a comic book movie.” Iron Man was sarcastic and witty in all the places where Spider Man was sappy and sentimental, and it worked well.
Robert Downey Jr. managed to play a abrasive, self-absorbed character that somehow never failed to be likable. The maturing of the character as the film progresses is very believable and avoids being corny.
And yes, there were some great inside jokes for comic fans, like S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as Col. Rhodes’ possible future as War Machine.
Matt Knicl (Matt Knicl) says:
(Posted May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 pm)
I think the reason IM seemed better than BB was Marvel had the option of seeing what BB had done and improve upon it.
Vas (Vas) says:
(Posted May 9th, 2008 at 1:14 am)
I think both BB and IM did an amazing job capturing the essence of their title characters and creating a riveting story around them. I place Batman Begins higher because I think that Batman’s essence is somewhat more interesting than Iron Man’s (not to say that Iron Man isn’t an inherently interesting character himself). But the fact that Batman lends itself to a darker movie just makes it a better film, even though both were equal in their adaptation skills.
Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » The Incredible Hulk (Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » The Incredible Hulk) says:
(Posted June 15th, 2008 at 11:57 pm)
[…] the success of Iron Man, Incredible Hulk ushers in a new era for comic movies. Unlike Marvel’s previous rush to sell […]
Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » Hancock (Capes & Cowls » Blog Archive » Hancock) says:
(Posted July 5th, 2008 at 6:34 pm)
[…] follow the traditional super hero “plug n’ chug” formula that even the new Iron Man and Hulk fell into - hero + villain = fight + resolution. It’s great that Hancock attempted to […]
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Matt Knicl
My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.
steve (steve) says:
(Posted May 2nd, 2008 at 8:57 pm)
This definitely wasn’t as good as Batman Begins, but it beat out everything else I’ve seen.
Some parts I hated, like the cheesy one-liners found in every Marvel movie and the plot twist with Jeff Bridges lost my interest. Other than that, Downey Jr. did an awesome job, he did a great job of creating Stark and the battle sequences were pretty entertaining, save the last one.