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Reviews Film / Iron Man 2008

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JamesPicard He who puts his foot in his mouth Since: Jun, 2012
He who puts his foot in his mouth
08/13/2024 21:12:34
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No Title

So upfront I will say I cannot be objective here. This is my favorite movie franchise. I'm a big superhero geek, and Marvel has many of my favorites. Between that and the fond memories I have of bonding over these movies with my Dad, my appreciation for the Infinity Saga is very strong. It also helped encourage my interest in writing reviews when I was younger. I'm probably going to be kinder to this series than I was to the Bond films, but I will acknowledge flaws when and where I see them. But enough preamble, let's get started!

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Iron Man was not my first MCU film. It wasn't even my first Iron Man film. So my experience with it has been quite different than the average MCU fan. For a while, I thought it was a good movie, but a tad overrated. On this last watchthrough though I think I finally got why people call this movie great.

Let's start with the obvious. The casting in this movie is pitch-perfect. Robert Downey Jr. is amazing in the role, redefining the character in such a way that it's difficult to imagine a more comics-accurate version succeeding on the screen. I honestly believe that when future film historians talk about great action film performances, RDJ will be included amongst the ranks of Errol Flynn and John Wayne. But to give him the sole credit for the good acting in this movie would be unfair to the rest of this cast. Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrance Howard are both fantastic straight men to RDJ's wise guy. Their relationships with Tony help provide a grounding element that early on keeps you from disliking him too much and also provides more reasons for him to change later. Paltrow in particular I think goes underappreciated as one of the better leading ladies in the franchise. And to round things out Jeff Bridges plays a fun villain.

But talking about Bridges brings up a point that does need to be addressed. Namely, the MCU's villain problem. While it's obviously unfair to blame this film for the failures of its successors, there's also no denying that the root of the MCU's villain problem lies here. Despite Bridges' fun performance, Obadiah Stane isn't a good villain. His motivation is shallow, his connection to Tony is thin, and the Iron Monger suit isn’t quite as intimidating as it could be. Stane’s not as credible a threat as one would hope. It's not the worst the MCU will get, but that's Damning With Faint Praise.

Still, the movie makes up for this thanks to the strength of Tony's redemption arc. The greatest foe he faces in this film isn't Stane or the Ten Rings, it’s himself. His selfishness and narcissism are more powerful than any arc reactor, and they’re the real hurdles he has to overcome. Tony starts the film as the asshole we all wish we could be, but when his eyes are opened to the devastation his life’s work has caused he changes. He still has a lot of work to do on himself by the end of the movie, but he transitions from being a narcissist to an arrogant Jerk with a Heart of Gold. It’s a solid story that RDJ delivers on spectacularly.

Finally, let’s talk about the movie’s production values. The score was done by Ramin Djiwadi, a name that is hopefully familiar to Game of Thrones fans. He gives it a very percussive and industrial sound, which fits the nature of this hero. The main theme on the album, ‘Driving With The Top Down’ also has some great guitar work by Tom Morello. The visual effects were primarily done by ILM, who brought their expected level of polish to the film. The suit-up sequence in the middle of the film is particularly impressive as the combination of practical effects and CGI make it difficult to tell what’s actually there and what’s not. The sound design for the armor is also top-notch. I love the sound the servos make as the suit moves around. These effects would be used less and less as the MCU went on, and it’s a shame.

Overall, Iron Man was a great example of what the MCU could accomplish. It took a character unknown by the general public and turned him into a star through a combination of a solid character arc, a fantastic cast, and some exciting action. It was a true winner of a film, and it set the pace for everything to come. Iron Man became the bar by which all other MCU films are judged, and it set the bar high.

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SpectralTime Since: Apr, 2009
08/13/2024 13:59:07
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Haven’t read it yet, making a comment here so that it can be easily accessed from the latest page. I’ve had titles eaten before too.

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SpectralTime Since: Apr, 2009
08/13/2024 15:04:14
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Having now read it, and as someone who saw it in theaters as it was coming out, I don’t exactly know when this changed about Marvel movies, but I’ve heard that there was no script for this movie, just storyboards, and the cast improvised everything. It was basically an independent movie made with a decent but not overwhelming budget, and that’s interesting to me in contrast with what later marvel movies, even some of the ones I really liked, would become over the next decade.

I also think it’s hard to look back with unclouded eyes knowing what a ridiculous messy tangle everything about the mandarin would become, but considering they have admitted they had no idea how they were going to make use of him, I do think the way the 10 rings Were handled in this film was reasonably subtle and good set up that doesn’t feel like it’s denying the audience a more satisfying conclusion by doing so.

And I basically agree that the ironmonger was a mediocre “bad guy version of the hero“ comic book movie villain buoyed up by a great performance. But considering basically every other Iron Man movie and many of the other Marvel movies did the same thing but worse, I’m torn between being forgiving to one of the comparatively better examples and glaring at patient zero for a problem that would only get worse…

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JamesPicard Since: Jun, 2012
08/13/2024 15:18:07
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Yeah, sorry about the lack of a title. I had to step away in the middle of publishing this, and when I got back I forgot to put a title in. I'd probably call it 'First Flight Soars' or something like that.

I'm a geek.
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SkullWriter Since: Mar, 2021
08/13/2024 21:12:34
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Another thing that people barely comment about this movie was that it set the trend to 'the huge skybeam'. Iron Monger's demise as falling to his death due to not taking in account the hazards of flying upwards, and not having the genius to save himself in the middle was good enough. Downright perfect. They didn't need to have him somehow survive just to have a last battle with Tony where he nearly dies due to Skybeam explosion (even if brief).


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