Three and one-half out of four stars (Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and suggestive content) Running time: 126 minutes. Reviewed at The Woodlands Tinseltown 17 on May 2.
In flies ‘Iron Man,’ the first comic book superhero epic movie of the season. And it’s a winner, this coming from a notorious non-comic book reader.
The original “Iron Man” was a strident anti-communist warrior. The first Marvel Comics installment of “Iron Man” debuted in March 1963 in Vietnam, taking on those fanatical Vietcong. He later turned up in the Persian Gulf War circa 1990 and has taken a recent tour of duty in Afghanistan—no rust for the weary, right? Ah, but I digress.
Who is Iron Man? He is Tony Stark, the irascible multi-billionaire weapons manufacturer and genius inventor modeled after Howard Hughes. The actor who plays him is Robert Downey Jr., he with the checkered past but a superb actor nevertheless. Downey delivers a knockout performance that alone is worth the price of admission to watch.
A superhero movie series has to start somewhere, but “Iron Man” starts in the present, or not-too-distant past as it turns out. With superb direction from Jon Favreau, the movie opens in Afghanistan. Tony Stark is there fronting for his Stark Industries, manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction par excellence. After test firing the Jericho missile system that demolishes half of a mountain, insurgents wipe out his military escort.
The seriously wounded Stark is brought to a cave where the gun-toting insurgents, led by the chrome-domed Raza (Faran Tahir), wants Stark to build him another Jericho missile system or else. Before then Stark had been saved by the Gandhi-like Yinsen (Shaun Toub), who must have studied heart surgery under Dr. Michael DeBakey. Yinsen implanted a cylindrical doohickey into Stark’s chest that keeps shrapnel from reaching his ticker, resulting in instant flatline.
Under closed circuit surveillance, Stark doesn’t build a missile—no, instead he makes an armor suit with mechanical arms and legs, electronics gizmos, and a weapons system featuring Gatling guns that fire out of his arms and pushbutton missile launchers. Topping it off is an iron dome that’s a cross between a welder’s helmet and Jacques Plante’s first goalie mask. When the incredibly stupid insurgents realize their folly, it’s too late. They’re blasted mercilessly and Stark flies out of harm’s way.
Stark returns to L.A, where he resumes the life of being the bon vivant ladies man. But the death of the American soldiers causes him to have an epiphany about weapons production.
That’s bad news for Stark Industries stockholders, who see their shares plummet and doubly bad news for Obadiah Stane (a superb Jeff Bridges), the co-founder of the company.
The pieces of the first Iron Man lie in the Afghanistan desert, soon to be rebuilt by the insurgents. Meanwhile the suddenly pacifistic Stark rebuilds a new and improved Iron Man, sleek red and yellow and looking like a 1952 Buick Roadmaster. Somehow you know the first Iron Man and the new model are going to be slugging it out, mano a mano.
Also featured are two Iron Man comics stalwarts—Starks’s Air Force buddy “Rhodey” Rhodes (Terrence Howard) and his always-dependable assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, with red hair).
The story is smart, the dialogue features witty lines mostly from Downey, and the CGI is first rate. This film is a treat. Even if superhero movies are not your bag, put some Iron Man into your blood.
