Iron Man: Review
May. 10th, 2008 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bofoddityBuffy Tarot-cards = WANT.
So, I saw Iron Man yesterday. It was very neat. Iron Man is a pretty unfamiliar character to me in the end, so I was surprised how this movie managed to sell him completely to me. Robert Downey Jr. was a terrific choice for the role, but although I think he would have made this work even with weaker writing, I thought the character of Iron Man also worked.
So in the beginning of the movie, Tony Stark is shallow and irresponsible, and obviously doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about the possible consequences of his actions. But although it doesn't become apparent until later in the movie, he has daddy Stark's legacy looming over him, and although he has human friends, it's machines he really feels comfortable with. He's isolated, he's just not aware of it. Then, Afghanistan happens. Tony gets to become friends with mortality. Tony gets to see the consequences of his actions. Yinsen, the man who saves his life and becomes his friend, sacrifices his life for Tony. He decides to make up for his past actions, only to be prevented from doing so. So he decides to do it in private. Tony doesn't quite grow out of his old ways (as we see in the end of the movie, he still likes the attention), but he becomes a better person. When he flies back to Afghanistan to rescue innocents who suffer because of his inventions, he also becomes heroic.
However, despite the moment of heroism, the movie focuses mostly in the man behind the mask, the man who tries to become more than he was. Man who is vulnerable, who gets damaged both physically and mentally (Obadiah might have aimed for sympathy points when he commented that a part of Tony remained behind in the cave he was imprisoned in, but there was truth in what he said) and who's more lonely than he can admit (his friendships with Pepper and Rhodes were both strong, but he was more at ease with the robots at his lab than with them). I loved that. If the movie gets sequels, we'll probably see how the better man becomes a hero in all senses of the word, but in this movie I thought it was enough that we saw Tony himself grow up.
What comes to others, Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark pretty much overshadowed the rest of the cast, but I enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, and liked the Stark/Pepper-relationship a lot (and was pleased that it didn't become the obligatory romance.. yet), and I loved Terrence Howard's Rhodes. I also liked Jeff Bridges asthe evil step-dad Obadiah Stane, although the character of Stane could have used better writing. And of course I loved Samuel L. Jackson's appearance as Nick Fury. Made sitting through the credits worth it. (Thanks for the heads-up, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kimouski!)
And as a shallow wrap-comment: The final version of the armor was absolutely beautiful. All I could think was pretty pretty pretty. What there was somebody inside it? Yeah, whatever.
So, I saw Iron Man yesterday. It was very neat. Iron Man is a pretty unfamiliar character to me in the end, so I was surprised how this movie managed to sell him completely to me. Robert Downey Jr. was a terrific choice for the role, but although I think he would have made this work even with weaker writing, I thought the character of Iron Man also worked.
So in the beginning of the movie, Tony Stark is shallow and irresponsible, and obviously doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about the possible consequences of his actions. But although it doesn't become apparent until later in the movie, he has daddy Stark's legacy looming over him, and although he has human friends, it's machines he really feels comfortable with. He's isolated, he's just not aware of it. Then, Afghanistan happens. Tony gets to become friends with mortality. Tony gets to see the consequences of his actions. Yinsen, the man who saves his life and becomes his friend, sacrifices his life for Tony. He decides to make up for his past actions, only to be prevented from doing so. So he decides to do it in private. Tony doesn't quite grow out of his old ways (as we see in the end of the movie, he still likes the attention), but he becomes a better person. When he flies back to Afghanistan to rescue innocents who suffer because of his inventions, he also becomes heroic.
However, despite the moment of heroism, the movie focuses mostly in the man behind the mask, the man who tries to become more than he was. Man who is vulnerable, who gets damaged both physically and mentally (Obadiah might have aimed for sympathy points when he commented that a part of Tony remained behind in the cave he was imprisoned in, but there was truth in what he said) and who's more lonely than he can admit (his friendships with Pepper and Rhodes were both strong, but he was more at ease with the robots at his lab than with them). I loved that. If the movie gets sequels, we'll probably see how the better man becomes a hero in all senses of the word, but in this movie I thought it was enough that we saw Tony himself grow up.
What comes to others, Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark pretty much overshadowed the rest of the cast, but I enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, and liked the Stark/Pepper-relationship a lot (and was pleased that it didn't become the obligatory romance.. yet), and I loved Terrence Howard's Rhodes. I also liked Jeff Bridges as
kimouski!)And as a shallow wrap-comment: The final version of the armor was absolutely beautiful. All I could think was pretty pretty pretty. What there was somebody inside it? Yeah, whatever.
