Iron Man : Review
Rating: 3.5 stars
Just FYI, you may find some spoilers here.
I finally got around to jumping on another superhero's bandwagon (it is terribly difficult to abandon Bruce Wayne), and I come away with mixed feelings. If you want the short version of my impressions, it would be this: Iron Man is pretty cool, but he is no Batman. If you were expecting something that epic, you will be let down.
Now to elaborate. Through the duration of the first several scenes of the film, I was not feeling Iron Man. I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth all the way until Mr. Sparks was taken hostage. You may as well skip those first scenes all together; I'll give you the summary: Tony Sparks is a genius who is also ridiculously wealthy, and unfortunately lives like a bit of a pig. Then he inevitably is thrust into a life-threatening and -defining situation where he is changed into a "new man" (and manages to show off his genius in the process).
Despite my initial dislike for the character of Sparks, I will say that Robert Downey Jr. does an incredible job. He pulls the role off start to finish very nearly without a hitch. Just enough of a bad-boy attitude to add some dimension to the genius. Another big plus to the beginning of the movie is Yinsen, a man who saves Sparks's life and helps him in orchestrating his escape from his captors.
Once Sparks is back from his rather tumultuous time away, the story will either gain momentum or become a little too transparent, depending on how well one is paying attention. It was too obvious to me who our real antagonist was going to be, and the rest of the plot laid itself out once that detail was understood. I suppose the bad news I would bring to you is that the story is a bit of your standard, predictable superhero tale. Nothing I wouldn't expect after seeing the Marvel screen at the beginning.
Another detraction was the special effects. I personally cannot stand to watch a scene and be distracted by the obvious use of a green screen. I hate to go from a totally natural shot to one that looks fake. By nature of the action taking place in several scenes, you will see some of that going down. I also felt the final fight scenes to be very stock and repetitive. No surprises there.
Finally, the ending. I couldn't decide if it was clever or disappointing. I can concede I had not expected it to be so abrupt.
Let's balance that with the positives: Some very good casting, as I've already begun to mention. But by far, the best performance in my mind was Pepper Potts, as portrayed by Gwenyth Paltrow. She doesn't overplay the character; instead, she brings the subtleties that help to transform a supporting character into one of the most notable individuals in the entire film. I think I enjoyed the scenes with Miss Potts even more than I did those that followed the exploits of Mr. Sparks.
And while I've said the story is a bit predictable--unlikely hero, unsuspected nemesis, lady friend in the mix, etc.--the plot and characters do bring some variety and originality to the genre. The whole idea of how Tony Sparks become Iron Man is really very cool. And I was laughing out loud at some of his interactions with his inventions. (I want JARVIS!)
Did I mention how much I liked Pepper?
Let me also add a disclaimer: When I think hero, I think Batman. I think we may have established that. Whether intentional or not, I will always compare this sort of movie to Batman Begins. And against that standard, Iron Man doesn't measure up at all.
I also recognize that it's only proper to judge a work on its own merit. And standing alone, I would say that Iron Man is indeed good. It's very good. I merely feel that it could have been even better.