Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man
Directed by Jon Favreau
Iron Man is the perfect superhero movie. Its exactly what I want from that genre and its even a perfect comedy, too. Robert Downey, Jr. fires off more one liners than there are explosions in the entire movie. Like when’s he’s asked if he’s the DiVinci of our time, he replies, “I don’t paint.” Everybody plays their part excellently, there’s even a great blink-or-you’ll-miss-it moment from Jeff Bridges, where his character rides on a Seg-Way while smoking a cigar.
I even noticed a connection with my favorite movie, RoboCop, as Iron Man feels like a modernized version of that 80′s flick. Besides both movies sharing a healthy dose of comedy, action, and character drama, the characters match up too. Its just you have to think of Bob Morton (RoboCop’s creator) as corporate playboy Tony Stark. Tony’s assistant Pepper Potts shares the same role as Robo’s partner Anne Lewis; Dick Jones is the same as Obadiah Stane, they even share the same motivation. Instead of inserting commercials like RoboCop, Iron Man uses press conferences for its tongue-in-cheek moments. I shared this theory with a friend, who agreed, but even one-upped my theory! He said if Murphy had not become RoboCop, he’d share the same role as Rhodes in Iron Man, that of the straight-arrow, milquetoast do-gooder, which is juxtaposed against the Morton character. Man, “juxtaposed” is even a cool word, too.
Iron Man was in possibly a difficult situation because it was the first movie in a series of them that would lead up to the first Marvel team-up movie called The Avengers. If it failed, would they have attempted more movies or just aborted The Avengers plan? I think they chose the best movie for the job because Iron Man is an interesting superhero. He wasn't born with powers like the X-Men or acquired them from a freak accident like Daredevil, among others, instead he's the rich, play-boy type that you aren't supposed to like. In movies you always need a strong, identifiable lead and that's more true in this genre, and I feel Robert Downey, Jr. was the perfect man for the job. Maybe too perfect. I'm glad Iron Man was a success as well as the rest of the movies leading up to The Avengers.
Directed by Jon Favreau
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| Credit: Paramount Pictures |
For some reason I haven’t watched Iron Man since it was in the
theater, even though I bought it the day it was released on dvd! I guess
I like to wait til I have forgotten a lot of the movie, which is
exactly what happened. Its been so long that it felt like I just watched
Iron Man for the first time.
Iron Man is the perfect superhero movie. Its exactly what I want from that genre and its even a perfect comedy, too. Robert Downey, Jr. fires off more one liners than there are explosions in the entire movie. Like when’s he’s asked if he’s the DiVinci of our time, he replies, “I don’t paint.” Everybody plays their part excellently, there’s even a great blink-or-you’ll-miss-it moment from Jeff Bridges, where his character rides on a Seg-Way while smoking a cigar.
I even noticed a connection with my favorite movie, RoboCop, as Iron Man feels like a modernized version of that 80′s flick. Besides both movies sharing a healthy dose of comedy, action, and character drama, the characters match up too. Its just you have to think of Bob Morton (RoboCop’s creator) as corporate playboy Tony Stark. Tony’s assistant Pepper Potts shares the same role as Robo’s partner Anne Lewis; Dick Jones is the same as Obadiah Stane, they even share the same motivation. Instead of inserting commercials like RoboCop, Iron Man uses press conferences for its tongue-in-cheek moments. I shared this theory with a friend, who agreed, but even one-upped my theory! He said if Murphy had not become RoboCop, he’d share the same role as Rhodes in Iron Man, that of the straight-arrow, milquetoast do-gooder, which is juxtaposed against the Morton character. Man, “juxtaposed” is even a cool word, too.
Iron Man was in possibly a difficult situation because it was the first movie in a series of them that would lead up to the first Marvel team-up movie called The Avengers. If it failed, would they have attempted more movies or just aborted The Avengers plan? I think they chose the best movie for the job because Iron Man is an interesting superhero. He wasn't born with powers like the X-Men or acquired them from a freak accident like Daredevil, among others, instead he's the rich, play-boy type that you aren't supposed to like. In movies you always need a strong, identifiable lead and that's more true in this genre, and I feel Robert Downey, Jr. was the perfect man for the job. Maybe too perfect. I'm glad Iron Man was a success as well as the rest of the movies leading up to The Avengers.
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