There aren't a lot of comic book movies that I would go so far as to call "good movies". Right now, I could probably name most of them off the top of my head: Batman Begins, Hellboy, Sin City, Ghost World, American Splendor, V for Vendetta, and I guess X2 wasn't bad (I still need to see Persepolis). So that's seven by my count, unless I'm forgetting any (EDIT: Eight. I forgot A History of Violence).Well, you can add Iron Man to the list. In fact, you can probably put it right near the top.
I'm going to try to write a coherent review and not just type "IloveitIloveitIloveit" repeatedly, but to be honest the notion is kind of tempting. Because god damn, I loved it.
To start, the acting is great. I was happy that just about everyone opted for "acting" and not "comic book acting" (see: Willem Dafoe). Robert Downey Jr nailed Tony Stark (the role, that is), although I don't think that was ever in much doubt. More surprising is Gwyneth Paltrow's incredibly entertaining Pepper Potts. Maybe it's because female supporting characters in comic book movies unfortunately tend to be underwhelming at best (see: Katie Holmes, Kirsten Dunst, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, and whatserface who played Lois Lane), but seeing her character portrayed as witty, warm, and, more importantly, competent, was something of a welcome shock. Jeff Bridges played Obadiah Stane straight, which again was a smart move, making him considerably more sympathetic a character than one would expect. Finally, Terence Howard rounds out the cast as Jim Rhodes, and while he had a bit less to do than the other characters, he wasn't without a few great moments (at least one of which had the crowd cheering).
One of the many reasons that past Superhero movies seem to have failed, in my opinion, is that they fail to deal with the extravagant nature of Superheroes in a way that is appropriate for live action. I mean, people who run around in costumes punching other people who run around in costumes may seem fine in illustration, or even animated, but in the real world it's easy to look ridiculous. A lot of Superhero movies, then, either take themselves far more seriously than they should (Daredevil), or revel in the ridiculous so much that the audience feels like they're watching a parody of what a film should be (Spider-Man 3).
Iron Man, not so much. It manages to hit the right balance of camp fun without being ridiculous, and that's probably largely due to the fact that this movie begins fairly grounded in reality. To say that this movie could happen in the news is a bit much, but by starting your film in Iraq, you already know you're dealing with a much more sober film (the irony of using the word sober while reviewing Iron Man is not lost on me). Also, Iron Man is less of a guy wearing a costume who fights crime and more of a guy who fights crime whose weapon of choice happens to look really cool. Like with Batman Begins, when Iron Man dons his suit for the first time, it seems perfectly natural. This is probably due to the fact that both films actually try to put some thought into the why of the suit. They're not just wearing costumes because it looks cool and that's what Super Heroes do. They're wearing the costumes because they have a very specific function.
Everything I've said so far is well and good, but I think I'm failing to touch up on the main thing: how unbelievably cool everything is. Iron Man as a character has always been awesome, pushing human technology to the absolute limits of suspended disbelief, and that tradition continues here. It occurred to me as I was watching Iron Man suit up that this may be one of the rare Superheroes that actually has more potential on screen than on the page. As cool as it is seeing him launch weapons in a comic book, there's so much to be said for the fluidity of everything on the big screen (even the computer he uses to design the suit is jaw-droppingly sweet). The CGI in this movie is some of the best I've ever seen - enough to make me believe that Iron Man was meant for film. As a comic book fanatic, that's saying a lot.
Finally, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not staying past the credits. I don't want to hype it up too much, but the fortyish second clip after the credits might have been the greatest theatrical experience I've had since watching Kill Bill volume 1 in theatres.
So, bottom line: I guess I kind of recommend this movie.
10 out of 10
