Casual Cogitations

There's very little here that's left to chance here. In less than four minutes, they establish who this character is and leave him dangling on the edge of death. Over the next 30 minutes, we learn Stark is whip smart, has the resources to do whatever he wants, and most of all has the passion and determination to pull it all off, no matter the cost. Now imagine that power in the hands of someone whose entire life has been turned inside out and the consequences of his lifelong actions have returned to haunt him 100 fold. This field is fertile beyond belief and they cultivate it well. From the opening title card to the crash of the Mark I, this is hands down the most impressive Marvel character adaptation to date. And yeah, I'm callin' you out Spidey.

Bringing Iron Man to the big screen must have been tough. Sure, the high-tech armor and all the explosions are no-brainers, but the character behind the armor is tougher to pin down. Superman and Spider-Man are likable every man, Batman is a brooding (and therefore cool) loner, and the Hulk and the X-Men are sympathetic, misunderstood monsters. But Tony Stark? He's an obnoxious bastard. He rubs people the wrong way, he makes bad decisions, and he often puts his own needs and wants above others. If you were to meet him, you'd probably think, "What a rich jerk."

So how do you make this guy a hero for audiences to root for? One option would have been to toss out the character as originally written and go in some other direction. Another option would to have made his change of heart—so to speak—in the movie a "night and day" juxtaposition, where's he's only a jerkwad before he becomes Iron Man, and then he's a newly stalwart Tony afterward. Favreau and the screenwriters, however, take the path less traveled, by sticking with an unlikable protagonist throughout. Sure, Tony sees life in a new light after his Afghanistan escape, and he's newly devoted to doing the right thing, but he's still Tony. He still loves the parties and the hot cars, and he still doesn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of him. Funny thing about unlikable protagonists—when written well, we do end up liking them in a way, simply because they're fascinating characters.

Shouldering the burden of this performance—and the entire film, really—is Robert Downey Jr. Some have said that Downey Jr. is merely playing himself in the movie, and others have drawn parallels between the actor and the fictional character. I won't disagree, but if that's what he needs to inform his performance, than why not? Downey Jr. carries the movie with loads of cocky swagger, but there's just enough of a glimpse to Tony's underlying humanity seen here and there to let us know that he's not really that bad of a guy.

For as well-made and fun as this movie is, it made some serious narrative missteps during its climax, just slightly tainting the enjoyment of the overall film. As noted above, the finale does offer some action, but it's not really the big, larger-than-life set piece the movie needs at this point. The finale starts with Iron Man not at full strength, with his suit's automated system already telling him he's losing power. Wouldn't it have been more exciting to Iron Man cut loose with all his firepower, instead of being in a weakened state for the whole fight?

Even worse, it's here that the movie falls into cheesy superhero clichés, giving Paltrow embarrassing lines like "He's gone insane!" and "But you'll dieeee!!!" Likewise, Stane has an awkward line about his targeting system, which will give all the Star Wars haters nightmare flashbacks to that whole "I've got the high ground" thing. With all the careful thought and planning that went into this movie, it's too bad they couldn't go the extra mile for the finale.

Downey makes this character and the movie. The levels he explores are as fascinating as the game plan that Jon Favreau, Peter Billingsley, and their creative team put together. Iron Man is a rare nuanced superhero adventure—loud and boisterous when it needs to be, but thoughtful and provocative at its core. I can't wait to see where they go from here.


The world needs another comic book movie like it needs another Bush administration, but if we must have one more (and the Evil Marketing Geniuses at Marvel MegaIndustries will do their utmost to ensure that we always will), Iron Man is a swell one to have. Not only is it a good comic book movie (smart and stupid, stirring and silly, intimate and spectacular), it's winning enough to engage even those who've never cared much for comic books or the movies they spawn.