Review of Iron Man (2008) by Alex G — 06 Oct 2013

At a certain point Marvel films became plagued by what I call the threes. Spiderman three, X-men three and Blade three. All of which caused a sour taste in the mouth of Marvel film goers. What was to come after amazed me, and continues to even to this day. Marvels big bang was from one film, one film that spawned a universe, and is at times only looked over because of the Dark Knight. This film reestablished a spiderman-less Marvel and was the first in a one-two-punch for a serious validation of comic book films.

The Good; The spot on casting, the brisk pace, chemistry amongst all the actors, the sharp dialogue, a comic film for all film viewers, the sense of discovery, the final scene.

The bad; The final battle's conclusion.

The Good.

Casting in the title role was spot on; in fact every single role was spot on. This extends to even the nameless henchmen in the base of Stark's captors. That is nearly unheard of. That is, a seamless continuous establishment of a reality I cannot even begin to commend for its realism. It is not only Downey Jr., Howard, Paltrow and Bridges. It is a perfectly conducted act.

In other reviews I comment that the pace was brisk and enjoyable, there wasn't a dull moment etc. etc. In this review I have to make a distinction between this pace and others. The pace was so I was always curious and excited about what was around the corner or what the next act would bring. The summer of two thousand and eight spoiled us with these two sets of pacing that we found in the Dark Knight and Iron Man. In this film we are allowed to have more fun, leave behind the notion of a transformative piece and happily, willingly indulge in escapism for the entirety of it and still leave happy and changed by it. All due, to a most cocky, confident, brisk, fun and engaging pace in the film.

Generally speaking, there is a duo or trio I can say I loved most in the film. Their relationship romantic or otherwise stands out amongst the others. In Iron Man I had no favorites. Every character seemed to have such vibrancy, such color to their relationship. Obediah or Rhodey or Potts no character felt out of place or out of the loop in the grand scheme of things, to the point where I'd felt a serious amount of shock and irk at the betrayal of Obediah. This is rare for a piece as such.

Quentin Tarantino is known for making some of the most biting sharp dialogue we have in contemporary cinema. I know not if Iron Man took notes from previous Q.T films or if they simply branched out on their own, but Iron Man has considerable wit and charm in its dialogue with believable lines that suit the characters and the universe well.

To me the most important aspect of this film that, this was the first super hero film where I felt a majority of non-nerdy fans came together with us nerds to celebrate in Iron Man. There was no real boundary between film goers. It was light enough that any viewer could come in and enjoy the piece, while detailed enough that the serious film goers could be cognitively engaged passed the ooh ahhs of the film.

I have not felt as if I were truly discovering the means of maintaining a hero as I did in Iron Man since Batman Begins. This film does an incredible job of engaging the viewer in a sense of co discovery with Stark. From every mark in the film, to the arc reactor the sense of discovery in the film separates it from most other titles.

What made me the most happy of this film was its cocky atmosphere. A smug grin and a dose of confidence surely is what delivers in this universe. So much so, that the final scene almost did not catch me off guard. "I am Iron Man." Those four words created a near masterpiece with this film. No other character has had the back bone to disregard the secret identity quite as Stark has, to throw caution to the win and with a smirk accept responsibility.

The Bad.

My only real complaint of this film was that there was a glaring irritation in the climax of the final fight. It just seemed void and done before is all. The rest of the fight was fantastic it's just its climax left me a bit disappointed. This is the only part that keeps this from being an escapism masterpiece.

Iron Man along with The Dark Knight has changed the comic book adaptation world forever. One a titan of transformative film making, the other escapism, both are doing their part to validate super hero films. There follow ups both have high expectations not only in the form of sequel but for all film Marvel, D.C or otherwise. 8/10.