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As of late the big question regarding Jon
Favreau’s Iron Man hasn’t been whether it will please the comic geeks
who are eagerly awaiting it but, rather, whether there will be any
surprises left when it hits the screen. In a massive ad campaign to raise
awareness of the character — not as well known as Marvel Comics
cornerstones Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four — new
trailers and scenes from the film have been released with alarming
regularity. I’d been starting to think that if I waited long enough
the whole thing would eventually be leaked online by Paramount Pictures.
Having seen the movie, though, I’ve decided that this aggressive
strategy was the perfect approach: Favreau and company have heightened
awareness but kept a few cards up their sleeves to please fanboys and
newbies to the Tony Stark universe alike. Modeled after eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes,
Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a billionaire playboy who’s made his
fortune through a variety of scientific ventures, most notably the
development and sale of high-tech missile systems. This man-about-town has
the world on a string and sports a self-deprecating sense of humor that
contributes to his appeal. Only his assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth
Paltrow), sees the man behind this façade. Stark gets a sudden
wake-up call when he’s taken prisoner by a group of extremists after
demonstrating his latest weapons system in Afghanistan. Injured, with a
piece of shrapnel lodged close to his heart, the industrialist is forced to
make a weapons system for the terrorists by their leader, Raza (Faran
Tahir). Stark manages to turn the tables on his captors, fashioning a crude
suit of iron armor with which to shield himself as he makes his escape. Stark has a change of heart about how his corporation
operates and the products it makes, and soon after his return he announces
that Stark Industries will no longer be producing weapons systems. This
doesn’t sit well with Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), the chief
executive who was minding the store in Stark’s absence. Soon Stark is
seeking to modify his initial armor design, hoping to use it to help those
caught in the path of the weapons his company has produced — a
project that catches Stane’s eye and disdain. Favreau and his team of four screenwriters do their
best to navigate the pitfalls inherent in films of this sort. The template
is inescapable: The background and motivation of the main character must be
provided and the birth of the protagonist’s alter ego examined in
meticulous detail. The movie follows design this to the letter but has a
great deal of fun with it; Stark’s prototypes and his experimentation
with the Iron Man suit are fraught with mishaps, providing some welcome
comic moments. The laughs are coupled with gasps of awe once the suit is
perfected, and the fun kicks into overdrive. The firepower that Stark
provides inspire wonders as well as empathy. As might be expected, the special effects are
top-notch, and the flying and battle sequences are as slick as the main
character. Though the final fight scenes are a bit hard to follow, earlier
moments devoted to Stark testing the suit and getting encased in the armor
are fantastic.
Although the movie is a technical marvel, it would
have been an empty shell without the strong turn by Downey Jr. His
transformation from capitalist to hero is made logical by the sincerity the
actor invests in it. There is no over-the-top moment to signal the change,
just a quiet new sense of determination that Downey conveys with assured
strength. His performance is so strong that even though we know that Iron
Man is nothing more than a digital effect, we’re fully aware that
Stark is inside. Downey’s performance ensures that Stark
doesn’t get lost in the million-dollar tin can. Though a bit long — the result of a protracted
subplot involving the not-so-surprising villain of the piece — Iron Man is a film
brimming with fun. Providing the sort of adult hero that those put off by
the teenage sensibility of the Spider-Man movies will find appealing,
Favreau sets the bar high, giving the rest of the summer-film roster a very
hard act to follow.
This article appears in Apr 24-30, 2008.
