Film Bites

Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is Hugh Hefner and Donald Trump rolled into one. He is the billionaire playboy that middle-aged men and teenage boys dream about being. Bedding a different model every night, driving a different car everyday of the month, Stark has it all. His company, Stark Industries, is a pioneer in the military industrial complex; as the owner of a multi-national mega-corporation, Tony has the world’s leaders on speed dial. That is until his military convoy is attacked during a demonstration of his latest weapon, the Jericho.

While it captivity, his captors demand Tony use his technical prowess to build them a Jericho missile. Rather than aid his terrorist captors, Tony builds the means for his escape; the Mark I. Upon his return home, Stark vows to reform Stark Industries for good. During his captivity, his self-discovery showed him that weapons of war are not the means to riches; they are the means to death and destruction. While Tony is busy reorganizing Stark Industries, those closest to him have other plans for his company.

Hollywood has lined up a new film for every superhero that has ever seed the inside of a comic book. Obviously, some will fail, while others thrive. Thankfully, Iron Man was one that seemed to thrive. While not perfect in every aspect, what it managed to do well, it did really well.

First the bad. For the first half of the film, the bad guys were a group of terrorists ambiguously named The Ten Rings. The film does a wonderful job of making them out to be the most evil beings on the planet. You are over joyed when Stark gets his revenge. The only problem was, his revenge comes about an hour into the film. After killing off the main bad guys, a new baddie must be identified. Sadly, there is next to no back-story on the new bad guy, so you don’t feel that it was out of Tony’s element when he eliminates him. Next time, we’ll only need one reason for our protagonist to fight, not eleven.

Now the good. What Iron Man did well was make Iron Man really seem like a super hero. Robert Downey Jr. played the most lovable, piece of elitist scum possible. You loved every minute of seeing him get torn down from his high horse, but you also felt bad for him when he hit rock bottom. This was mostly due to Downey Jr.’s impeccable acting in the role. Even after coming home you could see he was still an asshole, but one who had a little more love in his heart.

Aside from the acting, the special effects really portrayed a level of technology that is only present in comic books. Automated systems rebuilding suits of armor in 8 hours is only the stuff of computer-generated trickery; but that didn’t stop it from being totally awesome. Thankfully, the technology didn’t try to be ‘real’, which left it open to rather ridiculous concepts, but that’s fine. Viewers know it’s a superhero movie and expect a certain level of unbelievability.