Iron Man - Review

I watched this film with my grandmother recently and the moment that Tony Stark suited up as Iron Man and went to town on the terrorists in Afghanistan, she said, "Wow! Yay Iron Man!" That's when you know that you are doing something right with your superhero movie. This is how you create an origin story and it all starts with Tony Stark. Robert Downey Junior is the perfect choice for Iron Man and Tony Stark. I read somewhere that Tom Cruise was in the running to play Tony Stark and while I think it would have worked, Robert Downey Junior pulls off the billionaire hot shot perfectly. Not only does he portray the right amount of arrogance and comedy, but he also brings some humanity to the role which makes you care for him. The perfect balance. Plus, the suit is just awesome. When I was a kid, I was pretending to be Spider-Man on the playground, but now, I'm sure kids are growing up wanting to be Iron Man and they are pretending to be flying around in his suit. Not only is it awesome to see a character like Tony Stark build something as cool as the Iron Man suit basically from nothing, but it is also nice to see the progression of Tony throughout the story. Sure, he still has that arrogance to him throughout all of the Marvel movies, but he changes from a rich man who is only concerned about getting richer, to a man whose sole purpose is to protect people and get weapons out of evil hands. This movie is also elevated by the pure amount of star power in the cast. Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges definitely add to the story and I think gives this movie a bit more relevance. As for the action scenes, there really aren't many and the action scenes we do get are not the most exciting (especially seeing all the other Marvel films since this) but like I say in almost every movie, what is most important is the characters. I would much rather have a mediocre action sequence with characters I care about and am invested in than an amazing action sequence with characters I hate or have zero interest in. So while the action scenes may be a bit lacking, the story and the characters make up for it. This film also falls into the origin story trap with more time dedicated to the rise of Iron Man rather than having a compelling villain. It's not terrible by any means, but something I should mention. The final action scene didn't draw me in as much as other superhero films have only because the villain, while not bad, could've been a bit more fleshed out and interesting. Not a major problem, but something some people might not particularly enjoy. However, the stuff that is good, is really good. Robert Downey Junior's performance alone is enough to give it a thumbs up in my books. If you don't really like superhero movies or may be looking for one to dip your feet into, Iron Man is a great choice!