REVIEW: Iron Man

As Marvel's marketing team has been reminding fans over and over again, part of the journey is the end. That's what we'll get in Avengers: Endgame. But for now, I decided to 'go back and start over' at the beginning, by re-watching "Iron Man."

It's hard to believe now, but in 2008, the titular character was a relative unknown in pop culture. Only true comic book fans knew who he was, and even then, Iron Man was not necessarily very popular. Oh, how times have changed. And part of that, I think, has to do with Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance as the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. It's hard now to imagine that they are two separate people, because Downey's sarcastic, arrogant, self-depreciating humor and wit are now so synonymous with Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Downey's performance is arguably the strongest part of "Iron Man," but Jon Favreau's direction and script give light touches to the man in the heavy suit. Unlike many superhero movies before it, Tony Stark isn't gifted with magical powers, suffering from childhood trauma, like the loss of his parents (although that would become a theme in later movies), or longing for justice or vengeance. Instead, his superhero status comes from elbow grease and applied intelligence.

At the movie's open, Stark is sipping Scotch on the rocks in the back of a Humvee, headed back to the airport after a successful weapons demonstration. An ambush leads to his capture, where he is forced by terrorists to recreate his most formidable weapon. With the help of fellow prisoner Yinsen (Shaun Taub), the two create an iron suit, powered by an arc reactor that will help them escape. The arc reactor is also keeping Tony alive, by preventing shrapnel from entering his heart.

Upon returning home, Stark makes over the weapons empire his dad, Howard Stark, built, much to the chagrin of his business partner, Obidiah Stane (a scene-stealing Jeff Bridges). As the two spare over pizza, the sometimes contentious relationship between the two feels authentic. The same can be said for Tony's overly competent assistant and eventual love interest, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Re-watching this, I was a little bothered by the fact that Potts is portrayed as strong and capable in the beginning, but by the movie's finale, she's reduced mostly to a damsel-in-distress.

Aside from that, "Iron Man" doesn't get bogged down in the usual superhero tropes. The bad guy's monologue is reduced to a few short lines that don't feel too much like plot exposition, and by the film's end, Tony is somewhat reformed, but his bad boy instincts haven't been erased completely. Its action sequences are easy enough to follow, with a few humorous winks scattered throughout that feel right with the Iron Man character. Easily rewatchable, even 11 years later.


RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐