And I did! Movie was quite fun. Satisfying cinematic experience. Other than the fact that I missed a part because I really needed to go pee in the middle of the film. Horrible when it happens... ANYWAY. Back then I don't think I was blown away. I guess I just saw it as a nice superhero film with a fun lead. We had no idea there was a post-credit scene, so I had no idea that the movie was part of a bigger world.
Now it's been over 10 years since I first saw the film and my thoughts have evolved. Now I love the first Iron Man.
Iron Man (2008)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Screenplay by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Produced by: Avi Arad, Kevin Feige
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub, Gwyneth Paltrow
Based on a character created by: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby
Iron Man is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It tells the story of Tony Stark, selfish and rich, but also highly intelligent weapons manufacturer. While being imprisoned in Afghanistan, he learns responsibility and creates an armor to help him escape. Back home he becomes the superhero Iron Man and has to face his business partner Obadiah Stane.
So the story in Iron Man is quite simple. Selfish guy learns his lesson and becomes a superhero, a villain appears, superhero kicks his ass. It's your basic superhero origin story. For me that makes it a great example of simple story that's elevated by how it's told. Robert Downey Jr. is great as Tony Stark, action is fun, there's humor, the pace is good and dialogue works.
Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Tony Stark, drives the film. From start to finish it's his show. It's just a joy to look at him go. Even in the beginning of the film, when the character's being total asshole, you still kind of like him. He's having so much fun you don't mind that he makes his friend wait three hours for him, ignores his assistants birthdays and, you know, makes his money from selling weapons not caring who's buying them.
Downey does show some skill in the emotional scene's of the film too, for example the anger he shows when Tony Stark sees he's weapons are used in Afghanistan, in his dead friends home town, after Tony shut down the weapons manufacturing. But I think it's mainly the funny part that made him the face of the MCU as the whole. While I sometimes feel like he's arrogance is played out, in the end I always end up liking it. So far Robert Downey Jr. has appeared in 9 out 20 MCU films and nobody's complaining.
And there's other people too!
Because Downey is doing such a magnetic performance, it's a bit hard to focus on other actors in the film. Most of them do pretty good job though.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant and love-interest, does a really good job acting opposite of Robert Downey Jr. I think they have good, a bit weird, chemistry between them. I especially love them talking over each other, it gives a more natural and chaotic feeling to me at the same time.
Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane, the main villain of the film. He has this joyful, but a suspicious Santa thing going on. Shaun Toub's character Ho Yinsen isn't given much screen time in the film, but I feel like he does the job pretty well. Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes doesn't really impress me. He kind of just is there. Especially after seeing Don Cheadle take the role in later movies, Howard feels a bit wooden.
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| Movie teases Rhodey suiting up. Sorry Terrence, go invent new math or something |
Flying, shooting and punching
When it comes to action Iron Man does pretty good job. I don't think there's anything especially mind blowing going on, but neither was I bored of it at any point.
Fight scene's are mostly pretty clear which is very important for me personally. I hate it when bad lighting or too shaky camera comes in front of the action and then a movie or tv-show tries to tell me that I just witnessed something badass. That being said, there's some shakiness and quick cuts in the first scene where Tony Stark and soldiers he travels with are attacked, and in the scene where Stark first suits up to escape the terrorists. In these scenes it works because the first one is very chaotic situation and second helps establish the unknown force the terrorists are facing.
A scene that shows really well the joy of being a superhero is one where Tony Stark is back in U.S. and tests his second Iron Man suit (Mark II, the silver one). Downey Jr. does a great job pretending he's flying. Makes you want to have Iron Man suit of your own.
Another I really love (and missed first time because of my pee break) is one where Tony Stark goes back to Afghanistan to fight terrorists that are still using his weapons. The scene does really great job showing the awesome power of the finished Iron Man suit (Mark III, the iconing red and yellow). It's pure fun seeing Iron Man just beat the shit out of terrorists. Also it's the first time we see Iron Man actually saving people, which I love because world sucks and seeing heroes hero is inspiring.
Also in the final battle the villain grabs a motorcycle and hit's Iron Man with it.
No script, no problems
Apparently when filming of Iron Man started the screenplay wasn't finished. Pre-production had focused on making the story and planning the action (according to Wikipedia) so the dialogue wasn't ready. Actors had to make up a lot of it themselves. I can't really tell what lines came from the script and which from the head of the actors, but I'd assume that it's partly reason for the busy nature of the dialogue. Characters are talking over each other all the time. I think it's brings more natural feeling to the story and adds to the arrogance of the Tony Stark's character.
I think it's pretty amazing that despite unfinished script the end product is so great. It must've been a huge risk to go production with it. Failing in their first movie could've meant that there never would've been the MCU like we know it now.
Well maybe some problems
Iron Man is not a perfect movie. I mean no movie is, but for some reason people still need to mention it with every single movie they watch. I like to focus on the positive side of things, especially when I really enjoy the movie. So the few problems with the film I acknowledge do not ruin it for me. Just something that came to mind.
The villain, Obadiah Stane, is kind of lame. He isn't really given any backstory. He was just business partner of Tony Stark's dad and later Tony Stark's. I don't think they ever really explain what's his issue with Stark. Either he's pissed at being number two or he just doesn't like him? Jeff Bridges does great job portraying the character but that's pretty much it. Also in the end he just builds a bigger Iron Man suit (called Iron Monger) and hero fighting evil version of himself has become a bit of a cliché.
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| Why do I always think Tintin when I see that blue-shirt-yellow-tie-combo? |
Other thing I find a bit problematic is the portrayal of people in Afghanistan. All the people from Middle East or South Asia seem to be terrorists to fight or people for Iron Man to save. The character of Ho Yinsen is luckily neither but he dies very soon in the beginning. Representation of minorities and oppressed in media is an issue I find important, but there are smarter people who've written about it all around the internet. But I still wanted to mention it, because it did bother me a bit.
Universe building
After the success of the first Avengers film in 2012, every other studio has wanted to make their own cinematic universe. They mostly fail at this attempt because they try to do too much too soon. When Marvel Studios started planning their first movies, the Avengers team up was just a dream or a goal far away. They understood that building an universe starts with just making a one good film.
Iron Man is focused on telling the story of Tony Stark and how he became the superhero we all know and love now. There are no mentions or cameos of other superheroes. For a new viewer it is just one very good superhero film.
There is this agent guy Phil Coulson (played by Clark Gregg, who'd later star in MCU's first tv-show, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) who keeps popping up. While comic readers know the organization S.H.I.E.L.D, the casual viewer probably doesn't think lot about it. At least I didn't 10 years ago. Just another government organization in the world of Iron Man.
After the credits there is a scene with the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) teasing "the Avenger Initiative." As I said in the beginning, I totally missed this scene first time watching the film. We jumped out of our seats the minute credits started rolling. Now that I've seen it million times I do think it's quite an effective tease. Especially for the comic fans or people who are aware of the superhero group the Avengers. The movie you just watched actually was part of a larger world.
In the comics...
I haven't read lot of the Iron Man comics. Most runs just haven't grabbed my attention. I do own Extremis by Warren Ellis and first three collections of Invincible Iron Man (2015) by Brian Michael Bendis. Extremis was few years before the film and has inspired the movies. I think the idea of Iron Man's origin being in Afghanistan comes from it. The third Iron Man also borrows a lot from the book and I'll try to reread it before I write about that movie (if I get that far with this blog). Bendis' Iron Man is mostly good fun, there's for example great interaction between Tony Stark and Doctor Strange.
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| Invincible Iron Man (2015) #3, w: Brian Michael Bendis, a: David Marquez, c: Justin Ponsor |
As a bonus feature in my copy of Iron Man blu-ray, there's a great series where the comic book writers and artists talk about years of Iron Man comics. Especially interesting I found the fact that Stan Lee originally challenged himself by creating a character his readers would dislike and then make them like him by showing the character become better person and a hero. In the film I think this exists, but like I said earlier, Robert Downey Jr. makes even the most asshole Tony Stark likeable.
In the comics Tony Stark first had a secret identity. He told people that Iron Man was actually his bodyguard, which Stan Lee thought was a clever idea. The movie does reference this, says it's stupid and in the end we get the iconic moment of Tony Stark saying "I am Iron Man" to the press.
Good times
During these 10 years I've watched Iron Man too many times to count. Just this year this was my second time. The movie keeps being a great ride. It shows a great example of a superhero origin, it establishes Robert Downey Jr. as the face of the MCU and it's sets the tone for the future of the franchise.
I think it's also a great way to introduce people, not only to the MCU, but to superhero films in general. That being said it also works great as a stand alone film.
I had a blast revisiting the film again. I'm watching these in the release order, so next up is The Incredible Hulk (2008) the often ignored second movie of the MCU.
Have fun. Love and respect each other!
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