Review: Iron Man

I hope you all missed me during my temporary exile from the blog world. But I have returned, armed with more time and a brand new review of the blockbuster hit Iron Man.

Let’s be honest. Who is cooler? Han Solo or Luke Skywalker? Who is more awesome? Superman or Wolverine? Most of us, with a few notable exceptions, would say Han Solo and Wolverine. Why? Because Skywalker and Superman are goody-two-shoes and Han Solo and Wolverine are bad asses. Both rogues, both anti-heroes who fight for good, but not from some eternal cause of greatness from within, but because they had to. That is what makes Iron Man so awesome, that and a stellar cast, a grade A director and one of the best uses of CGI I can recall from recent memory.

The story, if you haven’t seen it yet, is of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) a weapons dealing, womanizing, super intelligent, good looking millionaire. On a trip to Afghanistan to sell his new ware, a particularly lethal missile, he is kidnapped by terrorists and forced to build his first model of the Iron Man in order to escape. There is the buddy character (Terrence Howard) and the loyal servant Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow.)

Let’s recap for a second. Robert Downey Jr., one the greatest actors of our time, Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow. Let’s add to that the always interesting Jeff Bridges. And then let’s use this almost always perfect cast of actors in a superhero movie. The result is, as expected, a triumph of the highest order.

Beyond being fun the film does something else too. It refuses to shy away from its political messages, yet never allows these messages to take the center stage. X-Men and Spiderman both have a political agenda, this is certainly true, but in Iron Man the message is not nearly so hidden in the world of fantasy. Yes of course Iron Man is a superhero fantasy adventure, but it is also, above all else, grounded in reality. Thus the political implications of weapons dealings, of making wars and the like, become more apparent. You could argue with the validity of political discourse within most superhero flicks, but Iron Man wears its bleeding liberal heart on its metallic sleeves.

Another way the film is better than your average superhero flick is its utter defiance of all the rules of a good superhero movie. It breaks two of these in the last fifteen minutes so I will spare you this. But, in breaking these rules the film elevates itself to a level beyond most superhero movies.

Ultimately a good popcorn superhero movie should be about having fun and watching things go boom, but while Iron Man does all of the above, in the closing frames it does something else. Something I have read in other blogs and reviews that is a let down to some, but to me, it was the opposite. It becomes about more than explosions and fun and makes one of the simplest statements any film can make. That CGI and action sequences may enthrall our senses, but they will never trump the power of simple, trick-free, quality film making. So if you have some time to spare and promise not to chew your popcorn too loudly, your in for a good night at the movies. And, seriously, does it get better than that?