Movie Review 5/7 - Iron Man

Rating:

Downey shines in impressive ‘Iron Man,’ summer’s superhero movie

The superhero movie genre takes a cerebral turn with “Iron Man,” the first offering from Marvel Comics’ fledgling film division.
   
Despite underwhelming action sequences, the film takes its place among the better comic book adaptations in recent years due to a standout lead performance and some of the most wondrous applications of effects in recent memory.

Finally arriving on screens after years in development hell, the film has been expertly brought to the screen by director Jon Favreau, whose best-known previous directorial effort was the Will Ferrell vehicle “Elf.” Favreau does a great job handling both complex visual effects and a script credited to four separate screenwriters, and he shows that he’s capable of producing greatness of a far different kind than “Swingers,” which he wrote and starred in.

But “Iron Man”’s true revelation is leading man Robert Downey, Jr., who may not be giving the greatest superhero performance ever, but is certainly the best actor to ever portray a superhero. After years of comic book movies — most notably the entire “Batman” franchise — in which it didn’t actually matter who played the hero, Downey brings maturity, depth and gravitas to the role.

Downey stars as Tony Stark, a womanizing billionaire engineer/celebrity industrialist whose company is one of America’s primary defense contractors. Visiting Afghanistan to demonstrate the company’s latest technology — a missile that appears to launch other missiles in mid-air — Stark discovers that his own company’s weapons are being used against him. Then, he is kidnapped by a group of terrorists who are apparently not the Taliban, despite being tribal Islamic militants who are presently battling U.S. forces in the mountains of Afghanistan.

I won’t spoil how Tony escapes or what he does afterward, but he eventually decides to use his company’s resources for good and not for evil, leading him to create an armored suit that makes him into the titular superhero.

Also joining in the fun are a welcome Gwyneth Paltrow as loyal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard as a military officer allied with Tony and Jeff Bridges (with a bald head and beard that makes him a lot like Jesse Ventura) as a defense contractor whose intentions may not be entirely honorable.

The movie’s plot, as with most action stories these days, will no doubt raise questions about how it sees America’s role in the world. Are the film’s politics left-leaning? Perhaps, although “Iron Man” keeps the sanctimony to a minimum and is clearly not so much anti-American or anti-military as it is anti-defense-contractors-committing-treason-by-selling-arms-directly-to-terrorists.

Other than Downey’s performance, the best thing about the film is the visual presentation, both in live action and CGI. Shot by Matthew Libatique, it’s just a beautiful motion picture. The Iron Man suit itself looks fantastic. Tony’s gadget room is a sight to behold, and the view from inside the Iron Man helmet is even better. In one scene, while he’s flying, it looks like he’s watching the world through an advanced version of Google Earth.

If I have one complaint about “Iron Man,” it’s that there isn’t really any action sequence that stands out as a true classic. True, they’re exciting, but there’s nothing here as climactic as either the subway chase or the final duel in Sam Raimi’s 2004 “Spider-Man 2,” which remains this decade’s gold standard in regards to superhero films. Not to mention — why no use of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” until the closing credits? The song was included in the trailer, which was one of the best in recent memory.

Last summer’s “Transformers” movie was a mess in just about every way — it paid little mind to characters, while its action sequences and plot were a blur and its attempts at humor were cringe-inducing — yet, it was still the summer’s box office champ.

This year, the first big summer movie is a much smarter, much better effort, with a big-league performance at its heart. Hopefully, the moviegoing public will appreciate the difference and give the same support to a superhero adaptation that is actually good.

“Iron Man”

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard

Rated: PG-13

My rating: 4 stars (out of 5)