Warning - This movie is almost eight full years old. Obviously there are going to be spoilers up in this piece. If you haven't seen this movie, that sounds like your fault. So don't get all mad because I spoiled how it ends. (Iron Man wins)
Despite being labeled as the opening to Phase Three, one could almost argue that next month's 'Captain America: Civil War' is the culmination of Marvel's Phase Two. As Phase One was brought to a head in 'The Avengers', last year's ultimately disappointing 'Age of Ultron' seemed more like a placeholder than a culmination of events. 'Civil War', on the other hand, definitely feels like the climax of tension that has been building since Iron Man and Captain America first met back in 'The Avengers'. And so, since we've got that coming up in just a few short weeks, I thought now would be a good time to reexamine the opening gambit from Marvel studios, 2008's 'Iron Man'.
It's hard to think of a time when Marvel was taking a big gamble, but everything leading into Iron Man felt risky. Back before Disney bought them, Paramount was financing a film based on a (at best) C-list Marvel superhero, directed by a guy whose biggest film to that point was a Will Ferrell comedy, and had gone waaaaaaaay out on a limb with a star in Robert Downey Jr. who hadn't headlined a major film in almost fifteen years. and had spent the majority of that time in and out of rehab and jail. Yet despite the production seeming, on a surface level, super risky, once that first trailer hit, tension started to ease and excitement started to build.
Despite it definitely being a superhero movie, I don't think it's a stretch to call 'Iron Man' Marvel's most character driven film to date. And Favreau casting Downey could be called the true beginning of the juggernaut that is the MCU. In hindsight, it seems like such an obvious choice. Even Tony Stark's personal history paralleled with that of RDJ. Genius talent, haunted by addiction. The fact that he slips into the skin of Tony Stark with such ease makes the movie work, because he's not just Iron Man. He is the film itself.
'Iron Man' opens with a jolting sequence that jerks the audience sharply between a lighthearted ride in a humvee, to a horrifying run-in with an IED, a jarring kidnapping, and then rewinds things to 36 hours before Tony Stark's life changed forever. Showing Tony's life prior to the events in the Afghan cave, we see that Stark is every bit that "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist". And while he definitely has a charitable streak in him, his bread and butter is still weapons and women. Just like the AC/DC he blasts everywhere he goes, Tony is a walking, unrestrained id. Even though we only get a short glimpse of this pre-cave Stark interacting with his assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and friend, Rhodey (Terence Howard, seeming much more at home in a military uniform than Don Cheadle*), it firmly establishes that even though he can be a brash, womanizing and narcissistic ass, Tony still has people who care about him pretty deeply. And if he has that, he can't be an all-bad guy. These sort of moments are where this movie excels.
Despite it definitely being a superhero movie, I don't think it's a stretch to call 'Iron Man' Marvel's most character driven film to date. And Favreau casting Downey could be called the true beginning of the juggernaut that is the MCU. In hindsight, it seems like such an obvious choice. Even Tony Stark's personal history paralleled with that of RDJ. Genius talent, haunted by addiction. The fact that he slips into the skin of Tony Stark with such ease makes the movie work, because he's not just Iron Man. He is the film itself.
'Iron Man' opens with a jolting sequence that jerks the audience sharply between a lighthearted ride in a humvee, to a horrifying run-in with an IED, a jarring kidnapping, and then rewinds things to 36 hours before Tony Stark's life changed forever. Showing Tony's life prior to the events in the Afghan cave, we see that Stark is every bit that "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist". And while he definitely has a charitable streak in him, his bread and butter is still weapons and women. Just like the AC/DC he blasts everywhere he goes, Tony is a walking, unrestrained id. Even though we only get a short glimpse of this pre-cave Stark interacting with his assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and friend, Rhodey (Terence Howard, seeming much more at home in a military uniform than Don Cheadle*), it firmly establishes that even though he can be a brash, womanizing and narcissistic ass, Tony still has people who care about him pretty deeply. And if he has that, he can't be an all-bad guy. These sort of moments are where this movie excels.
His chemistry with Paltrow is wonderful, and she does a great job playing the foil to Stark's oddball sensibilities. Likewise, Terence Howard establishes Rhodes' character so easily, that while he does grow frustrated with Tony's antics, he still considers him a friend and is fully capable of relaxing enough to have a good time together. This is a superhero film that is subtly drives the plot forward while taking the time for Tony to talk to the other characters so that we can fully learn who this guy is.
*I really like Don Cheadle. I do. But I think Marvel made a huge mistake in replacing Terence Howard. He just seems like Rhodey, whereas Don Cheadle seems like Don Cheadle playing James Rhodes. Also, I just happen to think Howard has better chemistry with RDJ, although this movie gives more time for the two to establish rapport than IM2 or IM3. Either way, when Rhodes looks longingly at the unpainted Mark II armor and says, "next time, baby" I wince a little inside at the missed opportunity.
When the action catches up to the present, Tony finds himself stuck in a cave with another hostage, Ho Yinson (Shaun Toub). Yinson is responsible for saving Tony's life, but instead of just being Stark's assistant in creating his first proto-Iron-Man suit, he's the driving force behind Tony's complete shift in perspective. Yinson doesn't let Stark off the hook for his responsibility in sowing chaos in the middle-east, but he is gentle in his demand that Tony be honest with himself, and forces him to take an unflinching look in the mirror and take stock of his life's real legacy.
The opening and cave sequences are the strongest in the film. And RDJ does a wonderful job of going from constantly wisecracking smartass to horrified, outraged, and determined. In a movie that is pretty lighthearted from beginning to end, these are the least lighthearted moments; appropriate, considering the stakes involved. And then Tony escapes. In a thrilling set piece showcasing an old-school Iron Man armor and several rudimentary weapons, Tony outsmarts his captors and returns to his former life. But this is a Tony Stark who has seen some shit, and he is no longer able to be the man he once was. Driven by both guilt at his role in the death of his military escorts, and Yinson's sacrifice during his escape, Tony is determined to redefine his life's work. As he tweaks the designs of his armor**, now dubbed Mark II, he clearly doesn't have a plan yet, but he knows this armor is part of it.**While in reality, the Iron Man suit is impossible for...a shit ton of reasons, the movie does a good job of making you believe in Tony's genius enough to disregard fundamental laws of, you know, physics, gravity, and the sheer number of times Tony would have likely died during his various escapades. Basically, RDJ > inertia
To this point, the movie has been damn near flawless. But about the halfway point, it starts to buckle under the pressure of being the typical superhero movie. Character development starts to take a back seat to the necessities of the plot, and with little in the way of combat experience, Stark manages to become a pretty adept superhero in no time at all.
After the terrorists who took him hostage resurface, Tony develops the final version of the Iron Man suit, manages to fly it halfway around the world, attacks and effortlessly frees a group of hostages by killing all the bad guys. To this point, the film has been so wonderful in it's development of Tony-as-a-real-person, but it completely glosses over the fact that he's now an armed combatant and efficient killer. The story has gone out of its way to establish that Tony is now taking responsibility for his actions, but here, we see him jump headlong into the fray without regard for the consequences, not only political, but...I mean, dude, you're a killer now. Yes, they're bad guys. Terrorists. But you're killing people now and you seem to be ok with that. And to me, that is problematic.
More problematic, however, is the revelation of the true antagonist of the film: Tony's adopted father figure and corporate right-hand, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). While the movie does a great job of creating a multi-dimensional hero, the villain is pretty one-dimensional. And not only that, his motivations are never really clarified. Sure he wants control of Stark's company and tech, but given that he was already succeeding in doing all the nefarious shit he had been getting away with before Tony was nearly killed, why does he all of a sudden decide to have Tony killed? Stane's shift from harmless colleague to homicidal nutjob** is so sudden, it feels like the screenwriters were just like "oh, shit...forgot to put a villain up in here. Um...how about Iron Monger?" Stane builds himself a suit of armor (in which, I still can't figure out how his arms and legs fit, especially when you see his torso revealed beneath) and of course, the Iron Monger vs. Iron Man is the big fight at the end.
After the terrorists who took him hostage resurface, Tony develops the final version of the Iron Man suit, manages to fly it halfway around the world, attacks and effortlessly frees a group of hostages by killing all the bad guys. To this point, the film has been so wonderful in it's development of Tony-as-a-real-person, but it completely glosses over the fact that he's now an armed combatant and efficient killer. The story has gone out of its way to establish that Tony is now taking responsibility for his actions, but here, we see him jump headlong into the fray without regard for the consequences, not only political, but...I mean, dude, you're a killer now. Yes, they're bad guys. Terrorists. But you're killing people now and you seem to be ok with that. And to me, that is problematic.
More problematic, however, is the revelation of the true antagonist of the film: Tony's adopted father figure and corporate right-hand, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). While the movie does a great job of creating a multi-dimensional hero, the villain is pretty one-dimensional. And not only that, his motivations are never really clarified. Sure he wants control of Stark's company and tech, but given that he was already succeeding in doing all the nefarious shit he had been getting away with before Tony was nearly killed, why does he all of a sudden decide to have Tony killed? Stane's shift from harmless colleague to homicidal nutjob** is so sudden, it feels like the screenwriters were just like "oh, shit...forgot to put a villain up in here. Um...how about Iron Monger?" Stane builds himself a suit of armor (in which, I still can't figure out how his arms and legs fit, especially when you see his torso revealed beneath) and of course, the Iron Monger vs. Iron Man is the big fight at the end.
**During the climax of the film, Stane's monologuing is so drawn-out and forced, I halfway expected Syndrome to show up and shout "you sly dog!" to Tony.
There's also some minor confusion on my part as to what Tony's chest piece is doing. Is it a electromagnet keeping shrapnel out of his heart as is explicitly stated? Or is it running his heart, as if his heart actually needs batteries as is repeatedly implied. Why does he go into cardiac arrest immediately without the chest piece? Yes, this is a minor nitpicky thing, but it still bugs me!
That being said, the little nitpicky things, and Stane's immediate switch from good guy to bad guy with little preamble does nothing to ruin the fun of this movie. It's a pretty entertaining character study wrapped in the cloak of action, superheroes and wish fulfillment - owning the ultimate toy. Put it on, and you can be a superhero with little to no training! It's a good movie, that could have been really great, but I think it's elevated in the public perception based on the idea that it began the MCU. I have no idea if they actually planned the entire Phase One story out before filming Samuel L. Jackson's cameo as Nick Fury, but in hindsight, it was a genius move. Coupled with RDJ's unexpected cameo in 'The Incredible Hulk' later that summer,(made even more special by the fact that rival studios, Paramount and Universal, allowed the connection in the first place) what might have just been a fun little easter egg turned into crazy hype and speculation that we were headed toward a much larger Marvel Universe.FINAL SCORE - 7.75/10
Iron Man has been available on Blu-ray and DVD for several years now. You probably own it. Tony Stark will next be seen in Captain America: Civil War, opening May 6, wherein he's being kind of a dick.
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