|
MOVIE
REVIEW: IRON MAN

04/29/08

SYNOPSIS:
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment's big screen adaptation of Marvel's legendary Super Hero Iron Man will launch into theaters on May 2, 2008. Oscar(R) nominee Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the story of a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man.
REVIEW:
“Yeah. I can fly.”
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages and moviegoers of
the world, welcome to the beginning of the blockbuster movie
season of 2008. I can’t resist but to use the cliché . . .
and this one starts out with a bang! Last year it was
Spiderman 3 and this year it’s even better, and cooler, with
Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. Yes! It was great. If by chance
you have read enough of my reviews, you would be able to
determine that I really enjoy a good action movie. This one
made me feel like a kid again. I was adding my own sound
effects during many of the action scenes. It was impressive,
it was super high tech, it was quick witted, and it was a
lot of fun. Iron Man as a superhero is just too fast, too
cool, and too awesome. Marvel has got it going on! Talk
about being hot, Marvel is on fire. And as is customary,
Stan Lee does his little cameo (watch for it).
Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark (Iron Man), son of an
industrialist who founded Stark Industries. The super genius
son eventually takes over the company after his father
passes away bringing to the table his incredible abilities
and engineering savvy. Needless to say the company is quite
successful and Tony is revered as a war hero of sorts being
very much involved in the military without actually being in
the military. Unfortunately, he is also a Lord of War of
sorts (referring to the character in the movie of the same
title) without him knowing it. What he does know is that he
is wealthy beyond measure and he lives the life of a rich
playboy extraordinaire. But don’t let that fool you because
he is still a phenom. He has robots and computer systems in
his lab that he can control and basically talk to like they
were human . . . it’s unreal. Once Iron Man comes into the
picture, he becomes a lot more down to earth, even though he
can fly, really, really fast. You know, the best way to
describe Iron Man is that he is cool. Peter Parker is a nerd
who got bit by a spider and became Spiderman. He is an
incredible superhero but not exactly cool. Bruce Wayne has a
dark past which turns him into an intimidating and menacing
Batman, but I wouldn’t best describe him as cool. Superman
is all powerful and just plain super . . . not quite cool.
The Hulk is a beast, nuff said. Iron Man is just simply
cool. The gadgetry, the weaponry, the high tech computerized
abilities, the flying capabilities, and even the look of the
suit itself are all super cool. Can I tell you that when he
puts the suit on, it’s got nothing to envy the Transformers?
You’ll be saying “the Trans-who?” Mr. Downey owned the role.
He was sharp, both looks and speech. I was skeptical about
him playing a superhero role and I was proven wrong. Jeff
Bridges with an interesting look also brings a solid
performance. That’s pretty standard for him. I was a little
disappointed with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Stark’s
personal assistant. She was not very convincing with her
role. This movie had a wide variety of interesting
characters. Even one of the robots was quite a character.
The storyline was good enough for a superhero movie. You’ve
got to expect it to be a little cheesy. The dialogue,
however, was very quick and intelligent. You really need to
pay attention if you don’t want to miss anything, especially
with Downey who has quick delivery. I’m not even going to
mention how good the special effects were . . . oh, I just
did. But be sure to see the movie in a theater with good
visual and especially good audio. I saw it in an old theater
and believe me it takes away from the effect. And yes, they
do play “the song”. You’ve gotta love Jon Favreau as an
actor (if you don’t know the name, look him up cause you
will recognize the face). By now you should really start to
appreciate him as a Director (Elf, Zathura). Action fans,
don’t miss it . . . yeah, he can fly!
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>
People Movie Review
Iron Man
Chris M |
90 |
Supremely entertaining!!
This film is so much fun. Robert Downey
Jr. fits this character like a glove.
The action scenes are something special,
as is the razor sharp, comedic script. A
great popcorn action flick....highly
recommended!! |
Brian |
100 |
Ok, so, I just finished
watching Iron Man earlier today and
loved it. I loved it, and yet, I
couldn't really put my finger on why it
was that I liked it so much. I started
thinking back to other recent action
movies I've seen like Transformers.
Were the effects better in Iron Man? No.
Was the story better? No. Was the
directing better? No. Nothing was really
better, yet I liked it more. Why?
Then it hit me. Not once during the
whole movie was I taken out of my
engagement with the storyline by the
lead character being emasculated
by the "strong female character role
model" while she did something
fantastical while the heroine is left
cowering somewhere in awe of her massive
stones.
I was never left shaking my head at
nauseating cheeseball stunts to
pull the males role down just to boost
the women's role up in an attempt
to gain a few extra bucks.
Hollywood uses this tactic ad-nauseum to
attract female movie goers and I find it
to be insulting that such a cheap trick
is so often employed. Women are strong
and confident enough that they don't
need stunts like this. A strong female
role is more effective by having a
strong role and character rather than a
lame tactic like this. That is what made
Iron Man for me. It's in no way
degrading women, which I would not stand
for, but it is completely sans cheesy
all too
common Hollywood gender role reversals.
All I can say is that I'm glad that Iron
man was allowed to keep his masculinity
throughout. Never once was he made to
watch an androgynous romantic interest
drive an 18 wheeler 60 mph in reverse
while blasting aliens out of the sky
with an m16/grenade launcher while he
cried in the corner. Were there
strong female roles? Not exceptionally
strong, no. But Pepper had more courage
all throughout the film than I could
ever muster. The movie revolves around
Iron man, because that's what the movie
is about; Iron man. Forcing anything
else would be nothing more than a cheap
stunt. |
Submit Your Movie Review
|
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Mark Fergus
Hawk Ostby
Art Marcum
Matt Holloway
Genre:
Action Adventure Drama
Duration: 2hr 6mins
Staring: Robert Downey Jr.
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Shaun Toub
Gwyneth Paltrow
Producer: Avi Arad
Kevin Feige
Distributor: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Rating: PG-13 for some intense sequences
of sci-fi action and violence, and
brief suggestive content
Release Date: May 2, 2008
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
VIEW TRAILER
| |
Home |
DVD |
Advertising
|
Press Kits
submissions |
Publishing
All movie titles, pictures, etc... are
registered trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective
holders
Copyright ©2007
The Entertainment Report Group
|