Movie Review: Iron Man
Comics had gotten big in the 1960’s with introductions like the Hulk and Spiderman, but in that same decade emerged another hero, Iron Man. Iron Man, like all other Marvel Heroes, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In 1986, Howard the Duck got his own movie. Throughout the next 15 years, Blade, the X-Men, and the Punisher also made it onto the big screen. Then, from 2002 to 2007 we experienced Sam Raimi’s Spiderman saga. Gay cowboy movie director Ang Lee also gave his take on the Hulk in 2003. And of course, how could we forget Ghost Rider from 2005?
Now where was Iron Man in all of this? Development hell. The production of this film was being tossed around and never really worked on until Jon Favreau picked it up in 2006. Favreau had already worked on movies such as Elf and Zathura, so he was up for the job. On May 2nd, 2008, Iron Man was realeased. It grossed the highest amount of money in 2008 thus far and has gained wide critical reception. Now was this a good film, is the real question.
Plot (5/5):
The movie starts out by showing the Afghanistan desert floor from an angle, only to cut away to military trucks driving through the desert. Back In Black by AC/DC immediately plays as we see business man Tony Stark chatting with army soldiers. All of a sudden, a battle erupts and as Tony tries to escape, his heart is pierced with shrapnel from his own bomb. He is taken into captivity by Afghans and will not be let go unless he makes his extremely powerful Jericho missile for them. Tony creates a power source for his heart and builds the Iron Man Mk. 1 suit. I won’t go into detail about how he escapes, but it’s damn awesome. When he returns to America, Tony declares at a press conference that he will not be producing any more weapons. His colleague Obidah Stane is angered at this. Meanwhile, Tony is improving his Iron Man. Back in the desert, the Afghans find the Mk. 1 armor…
Sound (4/5):
This has a soundtrack composed of awesome, however, the song choices aren’t good. Sure, there’s Iron Man, but then there’s Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendecies and Cochise by Audioslave (well, in the trailer, anyways). That’s 3 songs from Guitar Hero. Bleh. But then, there’s the awesome film score and Back In Black. The sound effects are also another thing to note. The sounds used for jets (whether on a plane or on Iron Man) are cool. The sound effect of stomping metal also never gets old.
Direction (5/5):
It was taken very seriously at times and often comical. The true source of this powerful movie lies in 3 words. Robert Downey Jr. It was his deliverance of the role of Tony Stark that made this film so worthwhile. The fight scenes are well choreographed as well. This film, while funny, also has its share of thrills. Some scenes make you go HOLY SHI-. Well, for me anyways. The CGI was awesome. Period. From a flying Iron Man to the icing problem, it’s all good. We’re all, in a way, kinda fearing for Tony because of this new life he has to adapt with his artificial heart. Just think. How would you react to having an artificial heart that you sometimes had to replace for a better one?
Overall:
Well, I greatly enjoyed this movie. This is one of the best superhero movies out there, along with Spiderman 1 and 2. If you are a fan of the comics or even not as so, go see this film. Its awesome story has been modernized from the 1960’s version, yet it seems good for modernized. This could be considered Jon Favreau’s greatest film in 50 years, but then again, who knows? He could top it. Although, this seems highly unlikely because this, fellow poopers, is what I consider to be the 2nd greatest film of 2008, the first being Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but that’s a story for another time. Good night, true believers!
Fun Fact: There is a scene after the credits with a person not in the actual film. You’ll love that.
Article by SonicNerd23.
