Review by Russ Sheath

I have my worries about this summer and what it means for the super hero / comic book movie.

I mean look at what’s on offer over the summer, second outings for the Hulk, Hellboy and Batman (if we discount the Burton and Schumacher efforts of past years) an outing for distant comic book cousin Indiana Jones, and of course the Star Wars animated effort, Clone Wars. Combine this with Wanted, Speed Racer and X-Files 2 and in short, it’s a great summer for fandom, but consider this…The proven track record shows that the sequels generally get better (X Men 2) then worse (X-Men 3) or generally get worse from the outset (Spider-Man) so I do worry which movie may prove the nail in the coffin of the enduring love affair that Hollywood has had with the Superhero genre.

With these great concerns in mind when a fresh comic book movie hits the big screen I am of course enthused and excited for the ongoing future of seeing my favourite characters translated onto the big screen and it is amid the usual hype, fanfare and of course fan speculation that the first of two Marvel Comics related movies hits cinemas this week. I was fortunate enough to attend a press screening.

Iron Man has received a massive marketing and publicity push as far back as San Diego Comic Con last year, when on every lamp post (and there are a lot of lamp posts in San Diego) hung a banner featuring the armoured avenger. This was also where Robert ‘Tony Stark’ Downey Jr as well as the mark 1 armour received a public unveiling. With all this and a gradually building head of marketing and fan interaction from the film’s director, John Faverau (Foggy Nelson to Affleck’s Daredevil) the movie has a lot to live up to and presumably a lot resting on its red and gold shoulders.

Iron Man is the story of Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist whose main product just happen to be weapons. The movie begins in Afghanistan where we meet the confident and charismatic Stark, a man at the top of his game and who is more Bill Gates meets Howard Hughes than Richard Branson.

Stark, as I say is charismatic and likeable although we know that we shouldn’t ‘really’ like Stark as his antics, especially with the ladies show him to be somewhat immoral, and utterly without consideration of those around him. It would have been easy to play Tony when we meet him as an out and out immoral, unlikeable character thus making his change of heart (literally) all the stronger when it occurs later in the film, but from the outset Downey Jr plays Stark as a charming rogue who the audience can’t help but instantly likes and who is heralded as a national hero and patriot.

When Starks’ convoy is ambushed by a Taliban-esque organisation called the Ten Rings (A reference to the Mandarin a classic villain for Iron Man die hards to spot) the reality of his situation and the reality that he has bought about becomes all too apparent as the missile that explodes next to him bares a Stark Industries logo.

Captured and mortally wounded Stark’s life is saved by Yinsen a medical doctor who is also held captive. Stark is forced to re-create the weapon system that was being demonstrated to the military before his capture, but only after using the conveniently accessible missile power source to upgrade the electromagnet keeping him alive. Our terrorists, seemingly former criminals from McGyver or the A-Team fail to heed Starks slow progress on the missile project or his efforts to work on his means of escape.

But escape Stark does, aided by the suit of armour that he has crafted during his captivity. Naturally Yinsen is killed and the terrorist leader swears his revenge, but you don’t care about that, you want to see Iron Man and when you first see the much previewed Mark 1 armour I would be lying to say it’s not a thrilling moment. Arriving with a sense of foreboding that reminds you of the t-rex arrival in Jurrasic Park, Stark takes the battle to the enemy and escapes.

3 months after being captured and now back in the US of A Stark goes about realising his awakening and the realisation of what the legacy of Stark Industries has done to the world with the weapons it produces. Stark’s trusted right hand man Obadiah Stane, resists this change and Jeff ‘The Dude’ Bridges plays the character masterfully as further from the moustache twirling villain that you might expect. A likeable mentor to Stark who’s initial reaction to his boss’s radical change of direction is at first concern before making way for outright hostility.

Part of Tony’s plans to move away from weapons development is to create a suit of armour, the mark 2 and later the mark 3 to help rid the world of the weapons he created. It is here that Downey’s versatility as an actor really shines as some very funny moments in the testing and development lead to some mishaps along the way. When the Mark 2 armour makes its first appearance you can’t help but let the 10 year old on you gasp ‘cool’ and you know that kids everywhere will be feverishly designing their own suits of Iron Man armour when they get home.

It is here that the dichotomy of the film becomes apparent, it is essentially and almost by demand and expectation a kids film and will sell piles of action figures and voice changer helmets. The themes and delivery however, make this film operate on a level far higher than the ‘eye candy’ of the Fantastic 4 or even Spider-Man thus placing it more in league with the X-Men (first two) than other Marvel movies and doing what Batman Begins did by firmly showing Hollywood that these icon super hero movies don’t have to be so overtly kid friendly, ala the Fantastic 4.

From here on and assisted by Pepper Potts (Paltrow), Starks’ assistant for whom there is a bubbling undercurrent of romantic interest Stark sets out to rid the world of his weapons and save his company as the increasingly hostile Staine turns from mentor to adversary as we build to the inevitable super hero showdown.

The thing about this movie is that it doesn’t try to be anything that it’s not, it doesn’t attempt to appeal to the conventions of comic book movie fare of being ‘dark’ or of trying to manufacture an atmosphere. The film simply does its own thing and manages well with it. This lack of manufactured atmosphere works well as Iron Man is a personal, character driven story and this bodes well for future chapters and the avoidance of the pitfalls that the Spider-Man movies met.

I have to say that elements of the plot come across as thin or never quite going to the extremes of exploration that they might, Obadiah Stain’s sudden mean streak and reasoning is never totally convincing, possibly because he is played so well as a straight man rather than an out and out villain from the outset. Interestingly it is the writers attempt to add a back story and a connection to the terrorists that has been long standing that detracts from this believability and I found Stain a more convincing villain when he was simply a an industrialist who doesn’t agree with his boss’ change of heart and change of direction for Stark Enterprises. The films’ central plot just about manages to hang in there before into genre stereotype and while the plot was well executed this might have been an opportunity for writers and director to stretch some creative muscle and break with convention. Personally I found Iron Man doing battle with more conventional forces more thrilling than the inevitable showdown with Obadiah Stain / Iron Monger. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from Venom, Sandman and Cyber Goblin levels of bad, it’s just that the first two acts were so engaging I almost felt that genre demands of the final act showdown to be….predictable and thus unsatisfying.

The thing that really makes this movie stand out when compared to its peers are the performances. You are in no doubt that Downey Jr is Tony Stark, the self obsessed, charming millionaire. Gwyneth Paltrow as Starks right hand woman and potential love interest Pepper Potts has some great moments, especially her first scene and she totally ‘gets’ the character that she is playing, clearly (as the only actor in Sky Captain who ‘got’ what she was doing) enjoying the genre although there are moments where the script threatens to allow her to descend into shrieking heroine stereotype.

As frustrated straight man to Stark’s antics Terrance Howard manages well but is given precious little to do, although there is promise and hints at delights of the War Machine variety to come.

Missed opportunities? Sure there are a few, but ultimately, given Iron Mans B-list status in the eyes of the general movie going audience the film wasn’t going to have to deal with the usual shenanigans that translating a comic to the big screen involves. In fact, one might argue that all they had to do was get the armour right. Well Faverau has done this and more. Given the liberties that are taken to translate page to screen in these movies Iron Man might have been ripe and open for ‘interpretation’ from director and Hollywood bigwigs. It is here that Faverau and his team will meet the appreciation of fandom and other than the contemporising of the back story few liberties are taken and this will make fans extremely happy. Iron Man delivers and shows Hollywood that while CGI is great, it’s a solid cast with great performances that can make an Iron Man fly.