Iron Man

Well well, Iron Man actually turned out to be probably the most satisfying superhero movie in recent memory. Perhaps it’s partly because Iron Man has always been one of my least favourite Marvel leading characters (though his part in the Civil War storyline was quite impressive), and so I wasn’t expecting all that much, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The story of an arms dealer having a crisis of conscience after seeing first-hand what his weapons are responsible for has never been more relevant, and generally it was just a well-paced, well-crafted, neatly-constructed and well-acted piece. It was safe, and in many ways obvious, and there was nothing startlingly original to be found, but it was satisfying and ticked a nice range of emotional boxes. The improvisational dialogue felt nice and natural, there were funny moments with machines, Robert Downey Jr made Stark believably arrogant and also likeable and humble in his reformation, Jeff Bridges pitches his comic book baddie well, just silly enough without being unpalatable, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Moneypenny knock-off Pepper Potts was ingenuous enough for the whole thing not to seem horribly patronising, and the fact that we had hints at not only War Machine, but a rather famous actor coming in after the credits as a certain head-of-operations with an eyepatch, bodes well for the sequels, and an Avengers project (if Captain America and Thor can get good adaptations…).

Great classic hard rock from the likes of AC/DC and of course Black Sabbath, some truly outstanding shots and great CG, a grittier feel to the first half that just managed to work, good performances and a general feeling of exuberance and good intentions, this was a movie without much depth, but certainly enjoyable. Roll on Batman, as well as a fair few other middle-to-lowbrow but enjoyable movies to come, especially Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones.

(written May 4, 2008)