Sitting down to see Iron Man was immensely exciting to moviegoer me, even before the opening credits burst onto the screen. Prior to the main event, I was treated to an assortment of summer superhero movie previews: fruitful and furious and having my heart aflutter at an intensity level disproportionate to the short time I’d been sitting in my theater seat. 2008 is to resurrect Hollywood’s greatest larger-than-life action figures, Batman and the Hulk, together in a matter of months. The way I see it (much, I’m sure, to his cult fans’ displeasure), Iron Man is a bit of an underdog when it comes to staking his territory in this thrilling threesome. I’ll admit that after getting entirely too excited about seeing Christian Bale’s Batman and Edward Norton’s Hulk, my nerves tensed a bit in anticipation of a potentially big let down over Downey’s Iron Man. But, alas, this superhero feature was a solid sell; I enjoyed this movie almost to the max.
Here’s a quick synopsis. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the son of a World War II weapons manufacturing genius and the newest head of his company, Stark Industries. Though Tony is partly the typical picture of second generation wealth – he enjoys riding fine automobiles and elite tier women- Tony is also hardworking, fearless, and determined not to fail.
As the twenty first century’s war on terror reignites his customers’ demands, Tony devises a new round of all powerful, top of the line, never before seen artillery and markets it personally overseas. During a trip to Afghanistan, Tony’s transport van is overtaken and he is captured and tortured by terrorists. The injuries from the explosion threaten to finish Tony off until a fellow captive doctor saves his life; he surgically implants an ingenious contraption consisting of a magnet attached to a car battery, designed to keep shrapnel from entering Tony’s heart. The terrorist organization knows Tony is worth more to them alive than dead, and so after ordering his repair, they force him to construct a top rate missile for the enemy side. Instead, Tony builds an Iron Man suit and busts out of captivity.
Back in America, Tony has a change of heart about weapons, and decides to perfect his suit design so that he can single handedly fight terrorism while saving American soldiers and Middle Eastern civilians. While ever so slowly falling in love with his beautiful assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow,) and keeping his mission secret from his Air Force friend, Lieut. Colonel Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Tony runs into just a few small snafus before he is put to the ultimate question: Who is Iron Man?
It is probably next to impossible for audiences and critics alike to consider Iron Man in a vacuum; after all, this is a movie that’s part of the fairly competitive superhero movie genre and it’s set square in the middle of a pretty hot political topic: terrorism. It seems many moviegoers are already coming to profound and grandiose conclusions about what statements Iron Man makes about 911, Osama Bin Laden, and the Iraq War. But I would argue that Iron Man, though it is set in real world time and place, should be enjoyed for its action, its humor, its characters and storyline alone; in my opinion, people really shouldn’t look for any type of political instruction or vindication from an action flick that utilizes such deliberately terrible technological dialogue as “Just press the master bypass button!” When it comes to superhero movies, I think it’s best to keep figures like Batman in their Gothams – that way the audience isn’t too tempted to look for hero antics in America.
This is not to say that there isn’t any larger cultural message to be taken from Iron Man. During an intense scene, Tony’s eventual friend-turned-villain taunts him, “Do you really believe that just because you have an idea it belongs to you?” Iron Man is the creator of his fantastic suit, his incredible one man attempt to use weapons for good. When his nemesis steals his technology to thwart Tony’s humanitarian efforts, he creates an interesting scenario that really does function nicely as a springboard for an interesting intellectual discussion: “Who is Iron Man?” and “Does the artist own his art?” If there is a moral to Iron Man, the answer to these questions is it, but even if this film is entirely void of any morality at all, it’s still an enjoyable ride.
Robert Downey Jr. is prime cut for this role; he juices the elements of arrogant playboy, genuine do-gooder, and loveable love interest together into quite a fabulous cocktail of courage. Gwyneth Paltrow is lovely, fresh faced, and freckled – adorable and thoroughly convincing in her role as the beautiful Miss Pepper Potts. Terrance Howard is an on screen genius in this film as in all his others. Iron Man is wrought with humor and top rate dialogue; go see this film and just… have a good time.
