Review: Iron Man

Iron Man opened to blockbuster-sized box office ratings, but does all the hype live up to expectations? The short answer, yes. The long answer, well, read on.

Iron Man tells the origin of, well, Iron Man, as he goes from lowly playboy millionaire Tony Stark to crime fighting, do-gooder Iron Man. The film opens briefly explaining Tony’s weapons manufacturing success, which helps to explain how he’s found his way to war-torn Afghanistan, where his life changes forever. A technological genius from an early age, Stark follows in his father’s footsteps and helps develop weapons for the military. However, he realizes how his weapons are being used for evil and, after a life threatening experience, he ends up building a suit to help fight those who would do evil, blah blah blah.

But how is the movie, you ask? Well, to put it bluntly: fun. Robert Downey Jr. gives a great tongue-in-cheek performance as Tony Stark.  Downey seems to be genuinely having fun as he parades around town with hot women, or drives through downtown traffic in one of his many luxurious sports cars, or, oh yeah, flies around saving the day as Iron Man.
Aside from Robert Downey Jr.- not that there is much screen-time not featuring him (hey, when you pay top dollar for a high profile star, you use him)- the other actors and actresses seem to be pretty aware of who the star of the picture is, and play their parts appropriately. There are a few key moments where the acting cheeses up a bit, but they pass rather quickly, and you can pretend they never happened.

The script is, for the most part, solid. There are a few moments that almost had me cringing, thinking, “I can’t believe they actually kept those lines in”, but for the most part, the script allows for what most of us want to see: Iron Man running around being bad-ass. The story realizes what it’s dealing with (a superhero movie) and doesn’t try to make anything more of it than that, and in this it succeeds successfully. The pacing could be improved just slightly, and perhaps there are a few sequences that feel a tad inserted or unnecessary, but other than that, there is good writing all around.
Of course, in this day and age, this is hardly anything to mention, but the CGI is top notch. You’ll hardly even notice that Iron Man is completely computer generated. (no, Robert Downey Jr. is not running around in a 2-ton, hydraulic, computerized suit).  If you do happen to catch a moment where it’s obvious that the suit is CGI, I can almost guarantee that you won’t really care.

So anyway, Iron Man: while it may not be the best movie ever, or even the best movie of 2008, is still a downright fun experience. I highly recommend you go out and see it with some friends now. Right now. Stop reading this, call up some friends, and go see it. Do it.