Iron Man (2008)

It was the best thing out in a while on May 2nd. Iron Man, it looked good from the previews. Maybe it would be a better Superhero film, or maybe it would just go in the trash like The Punisher, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider. In the end, Marvel has enough superheroes to last another 10 years.

Ok, but this one looked better. First off was the cast, A-listers; Robert Downey Jr., he was nominated for an Oscar stars. Gwyneth Paltrow actually won an Oscar. Then it’s directed by Jon Favreau, the guy from Swingers. Maybe there would be a Vegas scene and some guy saying “money!”

The trailer was cool. Iron Man was cheeky, and the movie takes place in Afghanistan, so maybe it is up-to-date. It could be something that we can relate current events to or something to make feel like we are winning that war. How many movies even mention Afghanistan?

Finally, it made over $100 million, it’s first week. It is the first major hit of the summer of 2008 film schedule. So it must have done something right. Marvel now has a film studio to make sure we are not superhero deprived ever again.

So, all of that stuff did work good enough. Iron Man is in no way classic or even a movie to see twice, but it is good. Favreau threw in touches a la Swingers to take it out of the Marvel Universe to make you forget you are watching comic book movie. There are scenes in Vegas, pole dancers, and plenty of hard liquor. You wish that there were more of those touches. Downey keeps the movie going with his delivery and charisma. In fact, Downey carries the film.

There is one cool actions scene, but the big one at the end was lame. Nevertheless, expect see more of Iron Man. Iron Man II in a couple of years. Tony Spark, Iron Man, makes an appearance in the new Hunk movie this summer, and if you wait till the very end there is an interview scene with Stark who alludes the Avengers, which is an Marvel comic. Don’t be surprise to see an Avengers movie at some time.

The best thing about this movie is that it doesn’t really seem like a hero movie. The character is really well developed for any movie, and Tony Stark does have any real powers except being a really smart guy, which is refreshing.