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Written by: Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (screenplay), Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber &
Jack Kirby (characters)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Leslie Bibb, Clark Gregg, Jon Favreau
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Verdict
Downey Jr. does such a great job with a character that remains self absorbed, but also gains a greater purpose. Tony has to wrestle with the fact that he's made his fortune on selling weapons, but plenty of enemies obtain those weapons too.The debut of Iron Man is a fun scene. The villain is incredibly shallow. This could have done a lot more with the villain. A villain we understand or one we absolutely hate would have been better than the tepid character we got.
It depends.
Review
This is the movie that started the Marvel universe. It's got a great opening, starting with AC/DC and Tony (Robert Downey Jr.), the self absorbed playboy, riding in a convoy and giving soldiers a hard time. Downey does a great job of playing it and still keeping Tony likable.
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| Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark. |
Tony is the head of Stark Industries, a weapons supplier for the military. He's abducted in the opening scene and realizes his weapons are being used by terrorist organizations. That's something he had never thought about. Tony is a genius and rich, where the money came from was never a concern.
Tony's abduction creates a chronic health issue, where he needs a battery to stop metal from penetrating his heart. He creates the reactor to do that so he doesn't have to lug around a battery and then creates a suit powered from the reactor to escape. Thus Iron Man is born.
With his newfound influence, Tony decides to help the military and destroy terrorist targets. He also wants Stark Industries to stop manufacturing and selling weapons, instead focusing on energy. That's a problem for his business partner who's been selling weapons to all sides.
Tony is no longer a playboy. With a sense of purpose and justice he wants to do something to benefit the world instead of himself. The level of technology Tony has is impressive, but I like the process this shows with refining and developing the suit. This movie especially focuses on how the suit is assembled onto Tony.
Tony's first mission out in the suit is a lot of fun as the military can't identify him. It's the moment where he truly becomes Iron Man.
The big finale doesn't do much because the villain is so shallow. Tony's business partner Obadiah just wanted money, there's so little development. While Jeff Bridges does a nice job, he's working with very little material. The movie doesn't even try to let the villain justify his actions. It could have used Obadiah's relationship with Tony's father more. Part of what makes a good hero is a good villain. This manages to create a good hero despite his issues and the complete lack of a good villain.
Overall this is a fun movie that ushered in a new era of super hero movies that became box office juggernauts. The formula this movie created is followed by the succeeding movies. Great casting helps reinforce the extensive use of CGI.
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