Iron man - Movie review
Thursday, 1. May 2008, 13:30:09
Iron Man has hit the big screens - In style.
The movie sees rich supercapitalist weapons Manufacturer Tony Stark coming to face with his own mortality and moral failings. When hijacked by terrorists after a weapon demonstration he is wounded by his own weapons, captured and forced to build a superweapon. With a week to live and kept alive only by an artificial pacemaker, he cobbles together a metal suit, an Iron Man, in order to escape.
His illusions that his wealth and personal status make him invincible shattered, he is forced to face the consequences of his past actions. Seeking to address his own concience and the imminent fact of his own mortality he builds newer and better versions of the Iron Man suit.
With his new moral stance at odds with his companies major trading stance he finds himself at odds with his mentor and business partner who seeks to sell the Iron Man technology to the very terrorists responsible for his near death. The struggle between the Iron men is set.
The movie is a roller coaster techno action special effects extravaganza. Robert Downey Junior dominates the screen as Tony Stark. Iron Man is his instrument of redemption, and the superhero, cool as he is is the counterpoint to the man. Between Tony Stark and Iron Man we have an insight into a man battling his demons and struggling for redemption. A modern crusader, a steel clad Knight out to right wrongs and set the world to right.
Storyline aside the movie is an impressive adaptation of the core Iron Man origin story which is 40 years old but is perfect when brought into a contemporary setting. The comic book updates to the iron man suits over the years is paid homage to in the updating of the suits during the movie. The supporting cast while blown away by Downey's indomitable screen presence is a capable and well cast ensemble. Gwyneth Paltrow turns out a fantastic 'moneypenny' to Downeys 'Bond', the tension between them is palable and brings both characters to life. Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane is convincing and understandable as the villain of the piece. No corny villains here. The choice and subtle updating of minor details which worked so well in bringing the Spider Man series is once again turned out. The effect is a fantastic well turned out convincing movie for fanboys and for newcomers alike.
This is no doubt another Marvel hot screen property in the making.
Ps lots of nice inside nods to the fans, Appearances by nick fury, shield agents, the obvious grooming of one of the villains as the mandarin. A nod to the upcoming avengers movie. The usual Stan Lee appearance, Jarvis as the computer presence running his house. Lots of nice touches.
10/10
- not a score I give lightly, I consider this to be a Perfect adaptation of Iron man, there was nothing in this I felt was out of place , or inconsistent with the Iron man of the comic books. yes this even blows away the SpiderMan movies.
Don't take my word for it check with Loki too.
Modified - critically speaking there are some flaws in the movie towards the end that should decrease the score to around 9/10 but I stand by the 10/10 in terms of how much enjoyment I got from this. I'm looking forward to going seeing it again.
The movie sees rich supercapitalist weapons Manufacturer Tony Stark coming to face with his own mortality and moral failings. When hijacked by terrorists after a weapon demonstration he is wounded by his own weapons, captured and forced to build a superweapon. With a week to live and kept alive only by an artificial pacemaker, he cobbles together a metal suit, an Iron Man, in order to escape.
His illusions that his wealth and personal status make him invincible shattered, he is forced to face the consequences of his past actions. Seeking to address his own concience and the imminent fact of his own mortality he builds newer and better versions of the Iron Man suit.
With his new moral stance at odds with his companies major trading stance he finds himself at odds with his mentor and business partner who seeks to sell the Iron Man technology to the very terrorists responsible for his near death. The struggle between the Iron men is set.
The movie is a roller coaster techno action special effects extravaganza. Robert Downey Junior dominates the screen as Tony Stark. Iron Man is his instrument of redemption, and the superhero, cool as he is is the counterpoint to the man. Between Tony Stark and Iron Man we have an insight into a man battling his demons and struggling for redemption. A modern crusader, a steel clad Knight out to right wrongs and set the world to right.
Storyline aside the movie is an impressive adaptation of the core Iron Man origin story which is 40 years old but is perfect when brought into a contemporary setting. The comic book updates to the iron man suits over the years is paid homage to in the updating of the suits during the movie. The supporting cast while blown away by Downey's indomitable screen presence is a capable and well cast ensemble. Gwyneth Paltrow turns out a fantastic 'moneypenny' to Downeys 'Bond', the tension between them is palable and brings both characters to life. Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane is convincing and understandable as the villain of the piece. No corny villains here. The choice and subtle updating of minor details which worked so well in bringing the Spider Man series is once again turned out. The effect is a fantastic well turned out convincing movie for fanboys and for newcomers alike.
This is no doubt another Marvel hot screen property in the making.
Ps lots of nice inside nods to the fans, Appearances by nick fury, shield agents, the obvious grooming of one of the villains as the mandarin. A nod to the upcoming avengers movie. The usual Stan Lee appearance, Jarvis as the computer presence running his house. Lots of nice touches.
10/10
- not a score I give lightly, I consider this to be a Perfect adaptation of Iron man, there was nothing in this I felt was out of place , or inconsistent with the Iron man of the comic books. yes this even blows away the SpiderMan movies.
Don't take my word for it check with Loki too.
Modified - critically speaking there are some flaws in the movie towards the end that should decrease the score to around 9/10 but I stand by the 10/10 in terms of how much enjoyment I got from this. I'm looking forward to going seeing it again.
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Only problem is, after how positive everybody is about this, I can't help but have too high expectations, can I?
By Loki Aesir, # 1. May 2008, 13:44:54
Not to use a corny magic ring wielding villain (mandarin).
Not to have space dragons(fin Fang Foom).
Not to ignore the dated origin.
Not to ignore the Mark one suit(just make it last for the escape).
Not to ignore various versions of the suit(feature several to keep everyone happy).
Not to bite off too much at once. - the alcoholism struggle is being left for the sequel. As is War Machine.
Not to make Tony Stark a wholesome faceless Bruce Wayne wannabe(flawed heroes are more interesting).
Not to ignore the is Iron man Tony Stark thread - cool they mentioned the whole bodyguard issue.
Not to ignore that Iron man comic is as much about Tony Stark and Stark industries as it is about Iron man.
It is another in a very successful line of comic to movie adaptations by Marvel.
Also the latest Hulk trailer looks totally fricking awesome. Though I still have some issues with the Hulk CGI. The Hulk still looks out of place compared to the real life people.
And seeing the Indiana Jones trailer actually makes me want to see that -- had been fairly lukewarm to the idea of another Indianna movie up till seeing the trailer.
By cryonic101, # 1. May 2008, 14:51:35
By cryonic101, # 1. May 2008, 15:15:03
I'm feeling lukewarm about Hulk, though. Not even enthusiastic enough to see the trailer, though I'm sure to see the movie in theatres. I never really fell for the character for some reason (Bruce Banner is his own brand of fun, though), and thus movies about him fail to engage as well.
Sounds good about IM, again. A sequel is guaranteed, or? Because if they do things as well as you say they do, it'd be a darn shame to never get the alchoholism.
Very happy they kept the bodyguard-bit - and also very happy Stark Industries and Tony plays a big role in it. That's one of the key personality-differences between Batman and Iron Man, who otherwise could be seen as rather similar, and I'm happy they play that up; Iron Man actually IS Tony Stark. Batman just pretends to be Bruce Wayne.
By Loki Aesir, # 1. May 2008, 16:53:34
There will definitely Be a sequel there are enough breadcrumbs left trailing in the movie to lead to the Mandarin and the alcoholism storylines.
After a nights sleep a 9/10 is probably more realistic, there are a few moments that could be done better. But I think my major sense of satisfaction is that the essences of the character , the superhero and the core storyline are all in place and work very convinvingly.
maybe a 9.5.
Anyway let me know what you felt about it after you see it.
By cryonic101, # 2. May 2008, 08:08:18
By Loki Aesir, # 2. May 2008, 09:58:40
I know I'm going to read Warren Ellis' "Iron Man Extremis", but there are bounds to other stuff that's worth picking up, and I'm also wondering about continuity and stuff like that.
Maybe you could do a post about it?
By Amrasananas, # 6. May 2008, 15:30:44
By Loki Aesir, # 6. May 2008, 15:45:32
My personal favorite era was the Iron man Armour Wars period issue #130ish (think its in trade) leading up to the IronMonger arc which obviously the movie drew on. This period had a huge emphasis on Tony as playboy/alcoholic. I personally really like the whole 130-240 issue period. (ok its 10 years - not very specific, but looking back its the classic period of Iron man )
I also love the Heroes Reborn Version of Iron man. Its totally awesome (though short) run really sums up a lot of the best ideas marvel was having about this time and are a definite precursor to the whole of the 'Ultimate' universe.
Recently - the whole civil war/Illuminati storyline is a wonderful portrayal of Tony as a driven calculating ,less than totally heroic human being whose mistakes occasionally get away from him.
I admit to not liking the extremis arc. The consequences of having Tony permanently wearing the armour removes his human vulnerability to a large extent. It sort of negates the whole concept. Tony Stark to me isnt a superhero he is a human who has a suit he puts on when he wants to sort out his own mistakes. Thats why I like the 80s stuff where Iron Man had one role in his own title ( bodyguard to stark ) and another in the Avengers (world saving traditional superhero - who fairly often screws up) .
If you want to read Iron man from scratch the Iron man v3. i.e the post heroes return period is essentially a reinvention and can discard everything prior to this.(as its a relaunch).
Ive stopped buying paper versions a while back and now rely on a marvel Digital Comics subscription. It has the advantage of allowing you access to a lot of back issues. Its not so great if you only want to follow one comic book - but its great for browsing.
Its also difficult to isolate my enjoyment of Iron man to a single title as he was always an Avenger and a lot of the best classic storylines of Iron man happen in the Avengers book(s). A lot fo the time a poor run of Iron man was compensated for by good Avengers stories.
By cryonic101, # 7. May 2008, 09:05:48
But I guess that's the same Iron Man the lone hero/Iron Man the Avenger-problem you're mentioning in the regular continuity in your previous comment...
I agree to a certain extent on the Extremis-thing, but I'll withold final judgement until I've read some more with it. So far it seems to be working fairly well.
By Loki Aesir, # 7. May 2008, 15:00:22
Its why I dont like Ultimate Iron man. It undermines the nature of the Stark persona and he only superficially resembles the earth-616 (marvels normal universe) Stark.
By cryonic101, # 7. May 2008, 15:05:48
By Loki Aesir, # 7. May 2008, 15:10:09
Ultimate Stark has the whole super nanites/regerneration thing going on in Ulltimate Iron man , but in 'The ultimates' hes more of a conventional Stark as theres no references to that sort of crap. I love 'The Ultimates iron man' I hate Ultimate iron man Iron man . Does that make any sense?
It looked like there had been a continuity breakdown between ultimate Iron man and The Ultimates. The same thing looks to have happened with Ultimate Fantastic four with their ages.
I think they explained that ultimate FF , ultimate Iron man and the Ultimates are not happening at the same time.
By cryonic101, # 7. May 2008, 15:42:04
Because, seriously, the entire point of the Ultimates-lines was to avoid this sort of continuity-mess-bullshit, wasn't it?
By Loki Aesir, # 7. May 2008, 16:04:50
Of course as time goes on the Ultimate universe acculmulates it own retcons and twists and quirks. Give it another 10 years and we will see marvel attempt its own version of DCs infinite crisis to address the 2 bloated universes.
By cryonic101, # 7. May 2008, 16:11:53
Bah, I say.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. ^^
By Loki Aesir, # 7. May 2008, 16:16:44