Back to the present, we catch up with Stark and another prisoner, Yensin (Shaun Toub), held inside a cave deep in the Afghani mountains. He awakens to find his chest wrapped in gauze and hooked to a car battery. The attack leading to his capture resulted in shrapnel becoming embedded in his chest that cannot be removed, requiring a specially designed electromagnet to be implanted in his chest to keep the metallic barbs from entering his heart and killing him. Raza (Faran Tahir) is forcing the scientist to construct a Jericho missile for his nefarious use. Rather than comply with this request, Stark takes the available materials and crafts a weaponized, bulletproof suit of armor that allows for his escape, not to mention a more efficient power supply for his chest magnet. And so Iron Man is born in a dark cave, not out of genuine desire to create such a suit, but as a necessity to escape.
On the surface, this is just another superhero origin tale, the likes of which we have seen time and time again, with the main difference being the costumes used in the end. In the past few years we have had Batman, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, X-Men, Hulk, and others. They all have the same basic structure, but Iron Man successfully stands out from the pack in much the same way Batman Begins. One of the reasons for this is the creative team understanding the heart of the character and tailoring a screenplay to who the character is without dumbing it down for the mass audience.
This is easily the biggest film of Jon Favreau's career, and while his style is not flashy or even terribly distinctive, he does a fine of job of keeping it grounded in reality. Above everything else, Iron Man has fantastic pacing. This is not really an effects extravaganza that is filled with wall to wall action, no, the effects are definitely there and play an important role, but the emerge from the plot development, they are not there for the sake of being there. It is filled with plot and character, it is not always exciting, but the pacing keeps everything moving along at a brisk pace so that when the end is reached you do not realize that more than two hours have passed. I know I was left wanting more.
None of the other characters get quite the full rounded treatment that Stark gets, but they all fill their roles admirably. Terrence Howard does a fine job as Jim Rhodes, even though he is another actor I did not really see in the role. I look forward to the potential of him playing War Machine, alluded to within the film as Rhodes looks at an unfinished suit in Stark's workshop. Gwyneth Paltrow steps into the shoes of Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, she does a fine job. She displays a sly understanding of how to deal with her overbearing boss, as well as some romantic interest. Paltrow and Downey display good chemistry on the screen, growing the tension, yet never becoming corny. Jeff Bridges rounds out the recognizable cast, playing the bald-headed Obadiah Stane. I like what he did here, although I think that he could have used a little more development, although this is a minor quibble.
Bottomline. I have a feeling that time will look down upon Iron Man favorably and it will be remembered as one of the top comic book hero adaptations. It comes out firing on all cylinders, telling a solid origin story as well as being a complete film unto itself. It features a good script, strong performances, and is just a lot of fun to sit through.
One last note, be sure to sit through the credits for a great post-credit cookie.
Highly Recommended.
1 comments:
Now here I can fully agree with you, this is a must see movie. Probably one of the best action flicks out right now, and one of the better Super Hero movies.
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