Iron Man

Review by Clint Morris
Interview: Iron Man Director - John Favreau

In today’s world, superheroes don’t fly with “clouds between their knees”, nor do they have to go up against mousse-mopped failed teen stars (Jon Cryer in Superman IV - #1 on VH1’s ‘Hollywood’s Worst Casting Decisions), hump a blue screen, jump off a box or listen to Prince on their Bat-walkman’s.

Yes sir, we’ve come a long way since Frank Castle went without his Skull T-Shirt for that first Punisher movie in 1989, and Matt Salinger got the ‘biggest break of his career’ by playing Captain America in a barely-seen straight-to-VHS offering from the early 90s – very far, in fact.

No longer does the comic-book movie get placed amongst the action/adventure titles at your local Blockbuster – it has its own shelf!

The modern-day comic-book movie received its much welcome rebirth with 1998’s Blade – though not a terrific movie (in my opinion, the Guillermo del Toro-directed sequel was much better), it still encompassed many of the elements that those early superhero movies didn’t : character, name actors, impressive special effects and, probably most importantly (for the fan of the comics), a link between the source material and the visual transfer.

If any film assured Hollywood that comic-book films were worth investing in though, it was X-Men – an astronomically successful film that went out of its way to appeal to everyone and anyone; not just tiny Timmy with his wardrobe-housed comic collection. It was a terrific movie. Everyone enjoyed it.

Thing is, the Bryan Singer-directed X-Men set such a high precedent that the other genre favourites that followed were deemed a blunder if they weren’t even half the film its predecessor was. Ok, so Spider-Man and Batman Begins lived up to expectations, but what of Elektra? Fantastic Four? Ghost Rider? Catwoman? X Men : The Last Stand? Spider-Man 3? 

Well, towed off to the comic-book movie graveyard they were – and they won’t be the last additions to it either. Comic book buffs are just waiting to tear the next X-Men : The Last Stand or Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer to shreds and fling it to the dumpster.

Iron Man will be glad to know he isn’t going to be a Comic Con attendee’s breakfast.

At the same time, where the fans would’ve offered to buff Batman’s codpiece or wash Wolverine’s back-hair, they probably won’t be jumping to hose down Tony Stark’s metal sweatshirt. And why?  Because it ain’t quite as good as X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman Begins – it’s sad that we have to look at it that way, but that’s the way it’ll be looked at, so why shouldn’t we?

But also, Iron Man was always going to have it’s work cut out for it – more so than say one of the lesser-known comic properties Elektra or The Punisher - because it’s one of the more well-known properties, and the fans rank the comics alongside classics like Superman and Batman. You just know those stringent fans aren’t going to be happy with certain aspects of it – whether it’s a good film or not.

And it is a good film – it might’ve just needed a little bit more than 'the best friggin superhero movie cast ever!' if it was to compete with the big boys.

Robert Downey Jr plays the billionaire alcoholic weapons inventor Tony Stark/Iron Man, a smug playboy who receives the wake-up call of his life – and career – when he’s shot down in enemy territory in Afhanistatn (by one of his company’s own weapons), and awakens to find himself in a cave, guarded by soldiers, and with a mechanical thingamewatchit where his heart used to be (a kindly local saved his life by making the transplant).

Thanks to a bulletproof Iron costume he creates in the cave, Stark is able to escape from the enemies clutches.

When Stark returns to America, he’s a new man – determined to stop making weapons, and for the first time, starting to see more in his loyal assistant Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) than just an in-house coffee maker.

When Stark’s green-eyed business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), unsurprisingly disagrees with Stark’s no-new-weapons policy, and cuts him out of all future company decisions, the hero takes things into his own hands by creating a metal suit, equipped with boosters so he can fly, that’ll take him back to Afhghainstan where he’ll be able to blow up the weapons and the men that have made them himself. (He’s about to get away with this because his buddy, Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), is one of the big military men and can’t write off the Iron Man’s actions as ‘training exercises’).

Iron Man doesn’t do much wrong – it’s got some great action sequences, some amazing special effects, is pretty loyal to the comic, and most of all, features an insanely terrific performance by Robert Downey Jr (he could be my favourite actor to wear a superhero costume – he’s that cool! Can’t imagine it would’ve had the same effect had original choice Tom Cruise taken on the role).

And though it does tread fairly predictable and well-worn territory, I suppose it has to follow a sort of formula, doesn’t it? Being a superhero movie, it can’t strive to be too much more (everyone remember what happened when it was announced Jack Black was going to star in a comedic version of the superhero series, The Green Lantern!? The internet went bezerk. The project was cancelled within weeks of the announcement).

Having said that, there are some things director Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura) could’ve done to improve Iron Man. Firstly, he needs to reacquaint himself with a pair of scissors. The film is too damn long. The first half is especially sluggish – the whole ‘suit building’ sequence seems to take up a whole reel by itself – and it isn’t until about the forty-minute mark that the action kicks in.

Even when it does kick in, it isn’t especially sensational stuff (the whole 'battle in the city streets' thing has been done to death). If he’d spent as much attention to punching up the storyline, and trimming the fat, as he did fine tuning the performances of his awesome cast (Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges also shine, Terrence Howard not so much – but maybe, since in the comics his character eventually takes over the guise of Iron Man, he’ll get more to do in the sequel), Favreau might’ve had a Spider-Man on his hands.

(On a side note : Those anticipating the first appearance as Samuel L.Jackson as Nick Fury, another popular comic character from the Marvel universe,  originally set to make a cameo here, will have to wait for the DVDs deleted scenes – seems his cameo was cut out of the film).

Not the Iron-Clad hit it should have been, but pretty damn close.

4 out of 5

Street Kings
Australian release: 1st May, 2008
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges
Director: Jon Favreau