Iron Man

MCU 2021 Marathon

MCU #1:

Iron Man was my favorite Marvel hero. As a teen I collected 1-150 with the main series. I doodled the Iron Man helmet during class at high school when bored.

So it was a huge surprise when this came out in 2008 and it was so freaking GOOD! Jon Favreau, the guy that had done Elf and Zathura (the Zumanji sequel) had just started a cinematic revolution? What!?!? (And Favreau is doing it again with The Mandalorian).

Robert Downey Jr. was made for the part of Tony Stark. The origin story was modernized and handled well. They included most of the early Iron Man suits from the comics. They took the time showing the more modern invention of the suit and the challenges of making it work (e.g. maneuvering with the repulsors).

I finally understood what Spiderman's fans felt like when Sam Raimi's Spiderman series became a massive pop culture sensation years earlier. Fantastic!

There are issues. Pacing mostly. Jeff Bridges is too much the stereotypical villain with an over-the-top fight scene at the end.

This was the beginning of the MCU world building effort which was more "slight-of-hand" in the earlier movies -- Stark's OCD making itself evident, that Shield guy at the party, and Samuel Jackson pinging Stark about Avengers in the end credits.

It began and ended with Iron Man. That makes me happy.

"I am Iron Man"

Great movie, which serves as a perfect introduction to Tony Stark's character. The antagonist was a bit boring, but except for that, I loved the movie!

With a B-list superhero, a risky lead actor, a genre that hasn't really done much other than say Nolan's Batman, this movie had a lot to prove. Wow, did it ever. It proved that superhero movies can be realistic, emotional, funny and have highly entertaining action. This is the movie to launch the MCU, and started the shared universe that DC comics and other franchises are following.

Let's start with the number one reason why this movie is so good: Robert Downey Jr. I am so glad that Jon Favreau kept pressing the studio to make sure RDJ had this role because he completely nails it. He effortlessly portrays the cool, sarcastic, alcoholic, playboy that I don't even think he's acting. He's clearly not perfect as he is the guy we think is awesome but don't necessarily want to be. This role is basically synonymous with RDJ now because you can't think of Tony Stark without immediately thinking of RDJ. Iron Man wasn't a househeld name before but thanks to RDJ's performance, it is now.

The action in this movie is incredible as you get to see him fly around, take on terrorist cells and fight the main villain. What I even found to more intriguing is Stark's entire time building his suit, both in the Afghan cave and in his garage because it is amazing to see his genius at work, while still being snarky and basically a tool.

The writing and humor is also very good in this movie. I read that a lot of the lines, especially RDJ's were improv, which is able to keep this movie very fresh, not Rotten Tomatoes style, but it helps a lot by breaking the molds of superhero movies.

A couple complaints in this film is the pacing and the final villain. The pacing starts off very well, not really rushing into him being Iron Man, establishing his character very well before his abilities. Then the final battle comes around and it's basically just an evil version of his character, which sort of works with the problem of his technology getting into wrong hands, but the fact that it's just fighting a mirror is kind of boring. The final battle comes around pretty quick and it resolved fairly quick as if they are trying to wrap it up really quickly. I did like Bridges' Obadiah Stane with his intimidating yet charming persona but in the end he was just a reverse of Iron Man, not that interesting.

+ Robert Downey Jr + Fresh, new start for superhero movies + Writing and pacing (mostly) + Action and Humor - Final Villain

Final Score: 9.3/10

When it comes to ranking the Marvel superhero(live action) films, Iron Man is for me up there with the better ones. It looks fabulous, the whole film is very slickly made with top-notch special effects(which look like time and effort was really put into it), awesome-looking futuristic gadgets and Iron Man's suit will be a guaranteed delight to anybody who is familiar or loves anything to do with the superhero. There is a pulsating soundtrack that adds much to the tension of the first half of the story and the enormously fun action sequences, which are exciting and tense with expertly choreography. The script crackles with smart humour that doesn't go overload, all of which is laugh-out-loud funny, yet the hostage plotting that takes up the first part of the film is intelligently written and somehow avoids being over-serious or over-familiar. The story has enough to allow you to emotionally connect with Iron Man(who I've always considered one of Marvel's most interesting and multi-faceted characters) and has a clever mix of the comic's 1960s origins and the effects of contemporary war, which will provide plenty of nostalgia while also feeling relevant. Jon Favreau does a great job directing, he never loses control of the story and he doesn't do anything too fussy. Robert Downey Jnr's performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man is a power-house and one of his best, doing much with the smart dialogue while making the emotional side of the characters wholly believable. Gwyneth Paltrow is a good, loyal side-kick with wise-cracks that don't come across as annoying and Jeff Bridges is surprisingly very good in an against-type role. Personally, the only disappointments were the useless character of Christine Everheart and the somewhat rushed and over-blown finale that wasn't quite as thrilling as it could have been, other than that Iron Man was a classy addition to the Marvel cannon and a great film on its own. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a hard playing billionaire genius. He is captured in Afghanistan after demonstrating his newest weapon. He is forced to create new weapons for his captor. Instead he makes an armored suit to escape. He also makes an arc reactor to keep his heart going and shrapnel from killing him. Once back in the States, he moves his company to concentrate on arc reactor technology and stop weapons manufacturing.

This is all RDJ. He and he alone makes Iron Man work. It's doubtful if anybody could have done it better. It's certain that he's made it next to impossible to replace him. Director Jon Favreau has built around him the dazzling array of tech fun, and Gwyneth Paltrow as his Girl Friday. It is RDJ's fast talking, quick wit, and personal history that makes him the perfect Tony Stark. Great character, fun movie.