Iron Man (2008) Review

The year 2008 was a high point for both Marvel and DC. With the release of The Dark Knight, the sequel to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, it would put comic book movies in a totally different light and proved that they can be much deeper on different levels. But for Marvel, they would have similar success in forming their own film studio to produce films centering around the characters they still have the rights to, and the film that would set the Marvel Cinematic Universe in motion is Iron Man. While not an A-list superhero, Iron Man's popularity would soar into the mainstream thanks to this movie and Rober Downey Jr.'s performance.

Tony Stark is a self-described "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" who specializes in making powerful weapons. However, he gets in trouble when he's captured by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings who force him to build his latest weapon, the Jericho Missile. Although he got wounded in the ambush, an electromagnet was placed in his chest to help him survive, courtesy of fellow prisoner Yinsen. Together they form a plan to build an iron suit for Tony to wear and make a grand escape. Though Yinsen dies in the escape, Tony made it through and is saved by his friend, Colonel James Rhodes. After returning home, Tony decides to change his way of life and stop making weapons, much to the dissent of his father's partner, Obadiah Stane. Tony builds another iron suit which he uses, later on, to strike back against the Ten Rings after he's been given photos of his weapons in Afghanistan. But it turns out Stane was the one who arranged the attack on Tony and decides to use Tony's old suit to dispose of him.

First, I feel it is very appropriate to talk about Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as Tony Stark. Where do I even begin? After making some poor choices in his life, Downey Jr. finally decides to make some positive changes and this movie was a major comeback for him in the spotlight. Even though Stark is highly egotistical, he has a lot of charisma and great one-liners that make it impossible to hate him. He also shares good chemistry with his assistant Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. But even then, his path from ego to hero is very believable in an example of art imitating life. As for the supporting cast, we have Terrence Howard as Tony's close friend Rhodey who does okay but would be replaced by Don Cheadle who does a bit better in the role. We also have Tony's chauffeur played the film's director Jon Favreau and Paul Bettany as JARVIS. Tony's AI butler. Last but not least, there's Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Invasion Enforcement and Logistics Divison (SHIELD) who would become a prominent character in the franchise and the show Agents of SHIELD. I never expected him to be so popular and just want to say that I apologize for taking him for granted.

Then for the antagonist, we have Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. Even though the MCU has been successful with its franchise, it seems like they can't do most of their villains right with a couple of exceptions. But in my opinion, I think Jeff Bridges does pretty well with the material he has to work with. He did have his threatening moments, but when he dons the Iron Monger suit, he is very boastful though I didn't find it too distracting.

However, with only a few flaws, Iron Man was a huge critical and financial success with a great lead, great levity, and awesome action all in a strong formula. At first, even though I liked it, I didn't think much of the movie because I wasn't into comic book movies that much. I mean I watched the Spider-Man movies and even Fantastic Four, but there weren't some movies that blew me away at that time. So you might find it hard to believe that I was unaware of the post-credit scene where Samuel L. Jackson appears as Nick Fury talking to Tony about the Avengers initiative. I haven't watched the other movies in theaters but that all changed when I saw Captain America The First Avenger as well as the teaser for The Avengers at the very end. I knew that Marvel was onto something huge and I had just been foolishly ignoring it. But looking back at the first film that started it all, I can definitely see why this franchise made Marvel movies such a major mainstream success and luckily it still continues with more great entries and some that don't quite hit the mark but doesn't lessen the fame of the franchise.

RATING: STRONG APPROVAL (A-)