I saw “Iron Man” over the weekend and here’s what I thought.
The Summer movie season is beginning and the first of the potential blockbusters I saw was “Iron Man.” Yet another in a long line of “borrowed” IP remade into a shameless attempt at scoring some fast cash.
But it’s really good! Honestly. I really liked this movie.
I admit, I never read the Iron Man comics when I was younger. I was more of a Superman kind of kid. But I was at least familiar with Iron Man. However, since I am not an expert, I really cannot comment on the accuracy of the movie or how well it upheld the original. But I can say what this movie means to non-experts.
As with most superhero comic movie remakes, this is an “origin story” inasmuch as it details where the hero came from. Robert Downey Jr. is showing that he is an incredible actor, very charming, with superb screen presence. I can’t wait to see him in “Tropic Thunder” later this year. And apparently, according to IMDB, he’s reprising the Tony Stark role in “The Incredible Hulk”. I just hope he can pull his personal life together because it would be a shame to lose his talent to a weakness for drugs and alcohol.
The premise of “Iron Man” is that a brilliant arms manufacturer has a huge crisis of conscience when he realizes that his weapons aren’t always ending up in the good guys’ hands. As such, he pledges that he will use his talents to rid the world of his former products to make the world a little safer and better. Sort of a do-violence-to-stop-violence milieu.
As an origin story, there is considerable time spent on the creation of the Iron Man suit, a suit of high-tech armor that allows Downey’s character to fly, shoot missiles out of his arms and energy blasts out of his palms. They almost spent too much time on the creation of the suit. In fact, he gets the suit working and then goes on his first “mission” to bring some bad guys to justice while destroying the weapons he created which the bad guys acquired. But that’s his only mission before he has to have the big mano-a-mano showdown against the nemesis bad-guy at the end. Personally, I would have loved it if he had gone on several of the originally-intended missions and used the results of each one to fine-tune the suit’s design. But sadly, a huge chunk of the movie was spent on the development and testing of the suit.
Not that that is so horrible. The technology he has is a treat for any true geek to watch. Gleeful giggles of “oh, I gotta’ get me one o’ those!” eeked out of me continuously. And his helper robots that have bits of their own personality (the one that’s on hand for putting out fires, but likes to douse Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher whether or not there’s a fire, is priceless) are a treat.
In the end, there are basically 3 parts to the movie. The beginning, where he finds his conscience, the middle, where he builds the Iron Man suit, and then end, where he has the showdown with the bad guy. As I say, I would have liked to have seen more.
So, it’s a very good movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It wasn’t perfect, no, but it was a lot better than other movies in the same genre (first “Incredible Hulk” I’m looking at you!). I give it 4/5 stars. Definitely a must-see if you’re a geek and are into action films.
Related Posts on This Topic:
Summer Movies Continue: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade of the Raiders of the Kingdom of the Temple of the Doomed Crystal Skull Ark
Summer Movies, Derailed but Still Going Strong
IBM Gives me the Bird
Keeping the Peace
Another “I Told Ya So”
Yeah I saw the Iron Man movie on opening night. I am a big Marvel/DC fan and read both the Marvel and DC Comics stories.
The Iron Man movie from my viewpoint was terrific.
Posted May 18th, 2008 at 9:07 pm Michael Swanberg Says:
Great! Now we have a consensus. One person (me) who didn’t read the Iron Man comics and one (you) who did. And both of us thought the movie was great.
I’ve heard that the new Indiana Jones movies is getting bad reviews. Too bad.
-Mike
Posted May 19th, 2008 at 8:24 am manpan Says:
Yeah I heard that too about the new Indy movie. What I don’t understand is how can someone write a review even for a movie that has not yet been released. Where are all these bad reviews for the new Indiana Jones movie coming from. I wonder?
That is too bad that it is getting bad reviews. Maybe the people who wrote the bad reviews managed to get a pirated copy of the movie in advance of even the theatrical release. Last winter I was in India and I saw I Am Legend on VCD or DVD as a rental. At the time I Am Legend was not yet in U.S. theaters but was about to enter theaters a short time later.
U.S. movies generally appear in the U.S. first before being released internationally. It wasn’t even out on DVD in the U.S. meaning it was probably a pirated copy.
Posted May 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm manpan Says:
I’ve always wondered when do the Indiana Jones movies take place? I know what years they were filmed but when were they really set to take place. For example: In the first movie when Indy has to locate and rescue his father he is doing so from a group of Nazis. Hence, the movie must have taken place during the 1930s-1940s when Hitler was rising to power and the Nazis took over Germany which paved the way for the beginning of World War II.
In the second movie Temple of Doom it took place either before or after WWII == it was after the British had come to India and if I’m not mistaken it was after India regained its independence but there were some people of British descent still in India. Indy has to fight a extremist, radical cult called the Rugee (spell check) who believe in the evil goddess Kali Ma. In the third movie Indy is again fighting Nazis. Now in this new movie (the fourth one) he fights against the Soviets which means it takes place after WWII probably this new movie is set to take place during the Cold War.
Posted May 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm Michael Swanberg Says:
If I’m not mistaken, all of the movies say at the beginning what the year is.
Raiders of the Lost Ark takes place in 1936 or so, if I recall correctly. Then Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a prequel and takes place before the first movie, say in 1935 or so. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade takes place as Hitler was really rising to power, so probably in the 1938-39 range. Although, the first part of the movie takes place about 20 years prior to that, so 1918 or so.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes place in 1957.
What’s interesting about Kingdom is that there are many mentions to Indy’s participation in WWII. Apparently, he attained the rank of Colonel (I assume in the U.S. Army) and worked as a spy for the OSS. Frankly, I am far more interested in the tales of Indy during the war than I am of his exploits in archaeology. He was even apparently a double-agent at one point.
It’s too bad that Harrison Ford is probably getting too old to make movies involving Indy’s adventures in WWII Europe. But I am betting there will be books, or comic books, or something involving this portion of his life. Perhaps a younger actor could take up the role, but that’s always a difficult thing to sell. In the end, Indy could spawn enough tales to be as ubiquitous and exciting as Bond, Jack Ryan, and Rambo combined!
Duh… why not check wikipedia? Okay, according to the Wikipedia, the movies take place, respectively, in 1936, 1935, 1938, and 1957… wow, I was spot on. Although, it seems that the beginning of the 3rd movie was set in 1912, so 26 years before the rest of the movie. I was wrong on that one.
-Mike
Posted May 23rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm manpan Says:
I don’t know why I didn’t check Wikipedia — sometimes it is inaccurate as in the past most material published to it is by individual users when they discuss TV shows but some information is perhaps accurate. I guess I didn’t pay attention at the beginning of the movies when they mention the year the movie is set in. I will be watching the new Indy movie anyway — I want to know what its like and what the story is. The only movie I ever watched and then felt as if I wanted my money back was Pirates of The Caribbean III At World’s End — I watched the entire movie and still didn’t understand what happened. I read some reviews from some people who said they had to watch it a second or third time just to understand the story.
I also plan to see Iron Man again asap it was that good I would want to see it again.
Posted May 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm manpan Says:
Thanks!
Posted May 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm Michael Swanberg Says:
I am going to post a review to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in a few days.
-Mike
Posted May 24th, 2008 at 9:43 am manpan Says:
I just saw THE INCREDIBLE HULK! It is bigger and better than the first movie. You may remember the first HULK movie in 2003 starring Erica Bana as Bruce Banner the title character who becomes the HULK. The first movie was an origin story of how he became the HULK. The second movie (in which the lead actor has changed to Edward Norton) has Bruce Banner (aka Edward Norton) return in all new sequel — set after the first movie. This time Fugitive Dr. Bruce Banner must utilize the genetic accident that transforms him into a giant, rampaging hulk to stop a former soldier that purposely becomes an even more dangerous version.
Posted June 28th, 2008 at 2:49 am
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