IRON MAN starts the summer season off with a bang…or should I say a repulsor ray?
Now that’s how you make a superhero movie! I just got back from seeing the new Marvel Studios release, IRON MAN, and was literally blown away. Sure, I’m the exact demographic they’re targeting this release to (male, early 20’s, geek) — but I’ve been incredibly disappointed with the recent breed of superhero films.
The problem is they’ve saturated the market. For every good one we get, there’s usually a slew of three or four crappy ones to follow. So as excited as I am for these releases, I usually expect the worst.
Well, IRON MAN was a different sort of movie. It was fast, exciting, funny, action-packed, and wildly entertaining. Pretty much the epitome of what you want a summer blockbuster to be. As much as I’m excited about THE DARK KNIGHT, it’s a little too cynical and brooding to be a popcorn movie.
What impressed me the most was the snappy dialogue. It felt fresh, unrehearsed, and kept the movie going at the pace it needed to keep the audience on our toes. That’s why it wasn’t too big of a surprise when I found out that much of the script was improvised on set. I was happy to see that Favreau’s roots as a comedic writer were carried over to a big budget picture like this, because ultimately, it’s what made the movie so successful.
We cared about these seemingly ridiculous comic book characters because of the improvised moments. When Tony quips with the military officers about MySpace and gang signs, it makes him relatable. But it’s not just the improvised aspect that made us like Tony Stark: Robert Downey Jr. owned the role, and made a chauvinistic douchebag with questionable morals into a likable character the audience rooted for 100% through his performance. It’s hard to think that there could ever be any other choice for the role.
The rest of the cast rounded out nicely, as well: Jeff Bridges was awesome to see in a villainous role (complete with your classic supervillain-pattern baldness and an evil beard!), Gwyneth Paltrow held down the fort as the sort-of-love-interest (and I usually am not a huge fan), not to mention Terence Howard doing way less than he should (although I hear this is all set up for the inevitable sequel…). Overall, the film was one hell of a ride, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I may have some moral qualms with the depiction of middle easterners, but as a pure popcorn flick, I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who enjoys having fun.