Iron Man

I saw Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., this morning, the first on my list of must see summer movies. There weren't any movie moments; this movie isn't great, but it's definitely good, and definitely worth my time and money. Downey in the title role was an amazingly apt casting choice. Jeff Bridges was also good, and I barely recognized him (I'm not saying that's why Bridges was good, it's just a well done transformation... heck with it, he's bald, okay? lol).

Minor spoilers may follow:

As I said, Downey did a fine job in his role, as did all the main characters (Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard). I will definitely make a point to see the sequel in the theaters which, I suppose, is the main point, what Marvel intended and what Marvel hopes for. The special effects were good. There was no point where I thought, that's obviously CGI, even though I knew it had to be. I'm not saying it was perfect, but in no way did it distract me from the film.

The movie starts pre-Iron Man, and we get to see Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) transformation from weapon maker to armored hero. It's interesting to see an adult hero for a change. Stark is in his thirties, steadfast in his belief that his weapons are benefiting America and mankind - bringing about peace with a big stick. Stark has a change of heart when he sees his weapons being used by terrorists, and when he learns his company, Stark Industries, is complicit. I find it novel to have a superhero who isn't a child or some pubescent teen. Stark is a middle-aged adult who decides to drastically change his life, and who refuses to have a secret identity.

Aside: does it mean I'm old if when Stark declared he was moving out of the weapons business, my first concern was, what's going to happen to all his employees, lay-offs? Perhaps it's more of a sign of the current state of the economy.

Iron Man was slightly predictable eg. I knew what was going to happen to Virginia "Pepper" Pott's (Paltrow) gift as soon as I saw it.

Is there anything I disliked about Iron Man? Two things are foremost in my mind. The first is a casting choice, and the second is something about movies in general and Iron Man in particular.

The odd casting choice was Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Having been introduced to Nick Fury in the comics, seeing Jackson, briefly, as Nick Fury was very strange, and abruptly pulled me out of the movie. I'm sure with time, i.e. in the upcoming sequel, Jackson will get more than a couple seconds of screen time and I'll get used to him in the role of Fury. But at least for now, weird.

The second thing is when the movie has "real" people playing themselves. Instead of contributing to the suspension of belief or to help place the movie's events in reality, I find it jarring, cringe-inducing, and a cheap gimmick I'd much rather they did without; all it does is jerk me out of the movie-verse, a stark and abrupt reminder (one that I don't need whilst immersed in a movie) that the movie is fake. So what brought this on? There were several cameos in Iron Man with people playing themselves. The most, and extremely annoying one was a CNN financial commentator. I hate his show to begin with (too much yelling); why in the world would I want to spend money to watch him?! Hugh Hefner's cameo wasn't as bad - his scene was mercifully short and he had no lines.

Cameos are fine per se, but they shouldn't speak, and for the love of all things good don't have the "celebrities" be themselves. Oh yeah, news people acting as themselves in movies? Three strikes. News people should report the news, not be the news (I'm thinking of you, Entertainment Tonight -- gag, barf).

Oh yeah, this is another of those movies where you want to stay until the credits finish rolling.

I give Iron Man 4 out of 5 stars.