Iron Man
finally! a playboy superhero!
2008-05-08
By Sergio Mims

CAST: Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard

WRITTEN BY: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway

DIRECTED BY: Jon Favreau

RATED PG-13

*** THREE STARS

Iron Man is further proof that the dweebs, geeks and nerdy losers who couldn’t get a date in high school are the powers-that-be in Hollywood. Destined to make enough money to fill up the ten Grand Canyons, Iron Man is a comic book fan boy’s ultimate erotic dream. It’s all sleek and shiny and purrs like a finely tuned Ferrari and it’s an entertaining ride with plenty of action and lots of humor. But after all is said and done all and the smoke and fire and broken glass is cleared, there's not much left to it and its faults appear more glaring. 

Based on the enduring popular comic book Iron Man centers around the mega wealthy Tony Stark (Downey), the playboy genius inventor of defense weapons and all around party hound. Things take a bad turn when he’s severely wounded and kidnapped during an assault by some Middle Eastern terrorists while demonstrating his latest defense weapon for the military in Afghanistan.
 
With his shrapnel damaged heart rebuilt with his own power unit attached to his chest thanks to a kindly doctor who’s also held hostage by the terrorists, Stark constructs a makeshift iron man suit to escape in a spectacular action sequence from his captors.

Once free Stark, changed by the fact that his own weapons had been used by the terrorists to kill and destroy their enemies, is inspired to improve and develop his Iron Man creation into a super duper, hot rod colored, super advanced, super high tech, flying destruction machine. But for what purpose is not clearly explained in the film except as another more advanced military weapon. Of course, there are other sinister forces at work all at the end leading to Stark as Iron Man having a final, protracted climatic battle over nothing more than who will eventually run Stark’s company and not for some global disaster threatening to wipe out all mankind.

Fortunately for Iron Man director, the actor Jon Favreau (whose previous film as a director was the 2005 tediously repetitive and mind numbing Zathura) gives Iron Man a lightweight irreverent tone, the opposite of the deadly, boringly lifeless Superman Returns, the stunning but brooding and serious Batman Begins, and the earnest but dull Spider Man movies. Favreau evidently knows his comic book action heroes inside and out and his film moves through its lengthy running time with a breathless pace and the action sequences are genuinely exciting with the many CGI effects smoothly integrated into the scenes. The film avoids the sloppy hodge podge feel and look that so many films relying heavily on special effects have. It's also refreshing that in Stark we find a super hero who’s a middle aged guy with a real personality and an active sex life instead of a geeky, virginal loser like Peter Parker, Spider Man’s alter ego.

Robert Downey Jr , with his patented ironic, sarcastic, way too cool for words persona is the perfect choice for the lead role. His unusual spin on words, jaded, casual acceptance of his situation and his off-kilter sense of humor makes him truly unique and a refreshingly different kind of superhero.

Unfortunately, the film does have problems since Stark in a singularly self centered creation. His Iron Man is, in the film, an extension of his own massive ego and unlike other super heroes doesn’t work to ease the misfortune of others. The result is a strange disconnect between the character of Stark and the audience.

Things are also not helped by the usual cast of clichéd movie sidekicks including the selfless woman (Paltrow), walking around in mile-high heels, devoting her life to her selfish man, and Howard, as Stark’s military liaison,  in the thankless role of the reliable, one dimensional black sidekick whose only function is to look concerned for his white boss. The villains are the usual tired lot of swarthy, smelly, ratty bearded Arab type. At least Jeff Bridges, in the supporting role, as Stark’s envious partner, seems to be having as good a time as Downey.

In the end, Iron Man is a genuinely enjoyable fun ride that falls back once too often on tired comic book movie clichés. For something deeper and more substantive we’re going have to wait until The Dark Knight comes out later this summer.

Film critic, lecturer and festival consultant Sergio Mims covers all things film from the city that works, Chicago. He is a regular contributor to ebonyjet.com