New Review – Iron Man

Tony Stark is the ultimate playboy billionaire. Unlike previous American superheroes, he is not haunted by a dark past or bitten by any sort of bug to obtain superpowers. But what he does have is an amazing brain. And he uses it to put together some of the most advanced technology of the time to defend the world from, well, himself.

See, Tony became a billionaire thanks to taking over his dad’s Stark Industries, a weapons manufacturer. After his kidnapping in Afghanistan, he learns that he may have more to give the world than destruction. With this in mind, Iron Man is created.

Having not read the Iron Man comics, I wasn’t going into the film with expectations from that angle (which I hear is a bit different than the movie version), but as an avid movie watcher, I was hoping for something a bit more engaging than the last few superhero films we’ve seen. And that is what I got. the early beginning and the promise of a sequel. The film combines all the right ingredients, action, humor, suspense, drama, romance to make quite the fun start to the summer blockbusters.

What makes the film work is Robert Downey, Jr. As Tony Stark (Iron Man), Downey, Jr. has the right combination of machoism, a carefree spirit, likeable down to earth American qualities, and good looks. But, it is his likeable down to earth quality that makes Iron Man something special. Somehow, he is more of an American icon than Superman or Spiderman. You don’t have to be from another planet or be bitten by spiders to become special, you just have to use your own talents to become the best person you can. Isn’t that we are all searching for in some way? Sure, it helps that Stark has money, but that is just what makes the technology-filled work room fun.

Also starring in the film is Terrance Howard (Hustle & Flow) as Jim Rhodes ( in future films we will see him become sidekick War Machine). Sidenote: James Avery (best known as Philip Banks on Fresh Prince of Bel Air) formerly played Jim Rhodes in the Iron Man television series that ran from 1994-1996.

Jeff Bridges plays the dual role of Obadiah Stane and Iron Monger. What’s interesting about Bridges take on the role is that he typically is the good guy we all come to love, so seeing him as the supervillian was quite the treat. Plus, with the initial bad guys in the film being Middle Eastern (surprise, surprise), it was nice to see that corporate ruthlessness was behind most of the real evil (hmm, that sounds strikingly familiar to real life).

As for Stark’s love interest, Pepper Potts, Gywneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love) puts on her usual half smile performance with a little more flair this time around. Leslie Bibb (Wristcutters: A Love Story) plays a ruthless reporter from Vanity Fair that helps serve as the truth being unveiled to Stark about Obadiah Stane.

Iron Man was released nationwide May 2nd and is rated PG-13. It has a run of time of 126 minutes. The film kicks off the summer in the right tone, and I look forward to what else we shall see. Stay tuned for my summer preview in the Oxford Town on Thursday. Up next week is Speed Racer!!