Iron Man Review

        Hard to believe that I’ll be dipping my toes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More so that I was only in the 8th grade when Iron Man came out. Not knowing that every film that Marvel Studios would put out were going to be in the same continuity. Now, it’s quite something to see a bunch of C-listers get a massive boost in popularity within pop culture. Even the Marvel brand is well known to people who haven’t even picked up a comic book. So throughout the entire summer season, I’ll be doing a massive retrospect on the MCU films that changed everything. 

1. Tony Stark

        Back in my younger days, I was a massive Spider-Man fan. I haven’t picked up the books, but it was just through the Sam Raimi films that I was a sucker for the hero. It wasn’t until that a family relative got me hooked within the greater Marvel Universe. So much so that when the first teaser trailer for Iron Man came out, I was hyped. Mind you, this was at best a B-Lister, in terms of popularity only Spider-Man and the X-Men at least made a dent within the public consciousness. 

        What immediately set this one far apart from what came before is within the opening scene. Our very first exposure to Tony Stark is breaking the ice with the Air Force soldiers that’s transporting him. I feel that it’s in one way us reacting to him. We all expect the heroes to be meek such as Peter Parker. With Stark, well literally he’s different. Everyone asks him questions to which he replies with his earnest smugness. 

        They’re ambushed and the terror group known as the Ten Rings capture him. From there we see the full introduction with Tony. He’s an industrialist and a playboy who’s not afraid of what anyone thinks of him. Robert Downey Jr. has that role nailed down to a T. Just his overall characterization makes him so engrossing to watch since we see him change from his normal life to being captured. It’s one of those moments in clarity where he wants to escape and gets a smack of reality of what his work is doing. 

        I just love the interactions between Tony and the other characters, what makes it work aside from the spontaneity is that half of it was improv. They didn’t have a working script and RDJ mostly ad-libbed his lines while the co-stars had to do the same to at least make the conversations feel real. Only Jon Favreau could have perfectly captured that whole dynamic chemistry without it feeling the least bit jarring. 

        One thing that I’m pretty sure people made the connection was that Iron Man feels like a sort of second coming of Robert Downey Jr. His behind-the-scenes life has been documented and it almost seemed like he was in a path of self-destruction. Matter of fact, he even credits Burger King as a way for to at least stay clean. When Stark returns to the country, he immediately asks for a burger of all places the home of the Whopper. 

        Side characters wise everyone does a good job. Both Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard both play their characters good when bouncing off of Tony Stark. Especially Jeff Bridges who plays Obadiah Stane, of course he plays the villain. Within the film, I just love how the whole approach to him slowly showing that he is the villain is played out. Mostly to keeping Tony in line, to literally playing a piano score that is actually that of Salieri. To those who don't know or seen Amadeus, but Salieri is to Stane what Stark is like Amadeus. 

2. The Suits

        It feels quaint seeing just the shots of Tony building his first suits. The first one is both a mixture of practical and clever CGI. I think what makes it all work is just seeing how Tony uses his brain since we saw in a montage just how smart he really is. I just love the whole setup when he finally uses the Mark 1. It’s bulky and just seeing it in action is one of the many highlights in the film. In addition, with seeing him move forward and upgrade to the Marks 2 and 3, he has that drive where he wants to better. 

        I just love the whole montage approach when he’s fine tuning and testing out his ability to fly. That whole sequence when he tests out the Mark 2 is great. Now, it’s one thing to have the case of the member-berries, where one has their nostalgia trump any or all of logic. But having that moment where he’s enjoying flying and pushing the limit of how far he can fly practically establishes the whole tone for the film. It’s supposed to be an escapist film but also rein in on why Tony puts on the suit. 

3. The Ending

        I remember that when my brother went with me to watch this film, he loved the ending. And I don’t blame him, it was new and fresh at a time when it’s been established that the identity of the hero was always kept a secret. It’s been a trope and one where it shows the humbleness of the hero to keep the dual identities apart. With Iron Man, it tossed that out the window. Just seeing that closing shot of him holding his card to read it out and then just utter out that he Is Iron Man is something that encapsulates who he is. 

4. The Assembly

        No one could’ve imagined just how big of an impact this one film had in terms of pop-culture and within the entertainment business. Like, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing the merchandise and of course being the talk within the school grounds. It was practically a big gamble for Marvel Studios since they funded the whole movie, with Paramount only acting as a distributor. Had this movie not stick with the general audience, there wouldn’t be any team ups or zeitgeist to change the public perception of geekiness. 

        If you’ve read my review for The Dark Knight, I said that the year both that one and Iron Man came out was consequential for both parent owners. Both had made an immediate impact, while Warner Bros. tried to recapture lightning twice with another hero with the sort of same vibe failed. With this one, it laid the groundwork of being a character story that made it engaging. So much so that it’s after credits scene almost seemed too good to be true. 

        I might as well talk about it since Marvel Studios has practically made it as a way to get people hooked on the next story. While it wasn’t entirely new, it was used as a gimmick that didn’t have any follow ups. Some played for laughs within the context of the story such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. With Iron Man, it’s nuts that there would be an overarching storyline of a potential team up. Originally, they shot the scene with specific mentions of mutations and radioactive spiders. Of course, they couldn’t use that since those heroes belonged to Sony and with 20th Century Fox.

5. Overall

        Iron Man is one of those hallmark movies that changed everything within the landscape of comic book films and in Hollywood.