Iron Man (2008) | A Strong Stark Start
While it was not the only or the biggest superhero movie to hit the box office that year—The Dark Knight came out in 2008—Iron Man was a monumental film for a few reasons. It was successful enough to show that there was a demand for superhero movies that weren’t just about Batman. It made a B-list superhero like Iron Man a household name. It revitalized Robert Downey Jr.’s career, which had been languishing a little after he returned to Hollywood sober. And it kicked off the biggest film franchise in history. Revisiting Iron Man again for this review blitz, does it still hold up to memory?
Image: Marvel Studios
Pros
Acting from the entire cast is solid
Good balance of seriousness and comedy
Great pacing; the movie moves along and ends without being too long
Special effects still look good
Cons
Villain is a little underdeveloped
Some digital effects have aged poorly
Final fight scene is at night and a little tough to see at times
Plot & Thoughts
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the billionaire playboy who is the head of the weapons manufacturer, Stark Industries. He inherited the company and his brilliant mind from his late father, Howard Stark (Gerard Sanders). Tony is abroad in the Middle East with U.S. soldiers to show off new technology from his company and secure some big military contracts, when his caravan is attacked by terrorists. He gets hit with some shrapnel from one of his own bombs and nearly dies, but a great surgeon named Yinsen (Shaun Toub) saves his life and puts a magnet into his chest. The terrorists have taken him captive and want him to build them a new weapon, but he’s got other plans. With Yinsen’s help, they create a small reactor to go into Tony’s chest that can keep him alive and power up the new suit their building that will help them escape. It shouldn’t be a spoiler that Tony escapes because when he gets home, he reflects on his experience in captivity and the destruction his weapons have caused around the world, and begins making a new suit that he’ll use to make things right.
I remember when I heard the news that Robert Downey Jr. had been cast as Tony Stark, and I immediately thought that was a great choice. Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect pick for the character of Stark in both his look and his ability to play characters with big personalities. He embodies the character and immediately pulls you into the movie with his larger-than-life attitude and charming confidence. It’s no wonder that he quickly became the highest-paid actor in the MCU because of how well he was able to establish the character and make him instantly iconic with audiences.
It’s not just Robert Downey Jr. who does a great job, though. The entire cast is made up of talented actors who treat the material with the respect necessary to make a comic-book hero’s story feel like a serious endeavor. While Obadiah (Jeff Bridges) is a little undercooked as a villain with simplistic aspirations for Stark Industries, Bridges still brings his A-game to the character and makes him compelling enough to look past the character’s shortcomings. Terrance Howard as Roadie provides a great dynamic between him and Tony. He would be replaced by Don Cheadle in later films, which is a shame because he gives a great performance here. Gwyneth Paltrow, likewise, gives Pepper Potts a lot of personality to make her stand out next to Tony. The small interactions the two characters share show a chemistry and a history between them that makes them fun to watch.
Image: Marvel Studios
What all these performances do is make Iron Man an entertaining movie without relying on big action set-pieces. The acting and the directing help move it along at a brisk pace, especially with the rather shocking opening scene of the film to get things going. It’s an efficient movie that is just over two hours long. Had a little more been spent on Obadiah, it might have improved the character but made the movie too long as a result, so I’ll take the tradeoff. Iron Man it’s still a pretty tight experience and doesn’t feel like two hours thanks to the stellar efforts of the filmmakers.
When the action does pick up, it’s pretty good. The scene where Tony Stark takes his suit into battle for the first time is exciting to watch, with some great camera work to add dynamics to his movement as he blasts guys with his energy weapons. Of course, there’s the iconic moment where he blows up the tank and walks away from the explosion like every cool guy does. Some of the digital effects have not aged well, like the final fight with the villain, which was likely done at night to hide a lot of those flaws, because it’s a little difficult to see what’s going on all the time. Nonetheless, a fair amount of what you see in the movie is done practically, which makes everything feel and look more real with the various sheens and textures of the metal. Unlike the later films in the MCU, the suit is not often an amalgamation of digital effects; it’s a physical suit that Robert Downey Jr. and stunt doubles had to wear.
TL;DR
More than 15 years later, Iron Man still holds up as a great movie. The movie treats Tony Stark’s journey from carefree playboy to self-righteous superhero with the seriousness it deserves, and instantly made him an iconic hero for the new age of Marvel. At barely over two hours, it doesn’t feel like a slog at any point, and the performances keep the movie entertaining from beginning to end. The MCU became a film juggernaut for a decade, thanks in large part to how good Iron Man is.
