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Movie Review - Iron Man
Movie Review - Iron Man
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard, and Jeff Bridges.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and brief suggestive content. Run time of 126 minutes.
"IT WAS INTENSE!" was the first words uttered by Brady Dame after watching Iron Man. I had a chance to watch Iron Man with my wife, Brady, and Paul Douglas. After the show, I asked what they thought and all of them enjoyed it with Brady exclaiming the 'intense' line. We all had a good laugh and took off. After a day, the movie has still stuck in my mind and that is a good thing.
Iron Man was certifiably good. Everything about it was top-notch and well worth the admission. I must start with a b it of history for those who do not know. Iron Man was originally a comic book, which through Marvel Studios has found the light of day in movie form thanks to the success of other comic book franchises like Spiderman, X-men, and more. I am not a huge reader of comic books but as a young one, I picked up my fair share of comics and was always bored with any Iron Man one that I came across and as such, was not particularly knocking down the door to see Iron Man. But, the trailer made it look interesting and I do enjoy watching Robert Downey Jr. on the screen, so I pulled myself to the theater to check it out.
As stated before, this movie really clicks with all the themes it is trying to weave together while still making an action movie. It goes without saying that the movie has a lot of special effects and they are all done extremely well, especially the suit. I was amazed at how well the actual costume suit that Downey Jr. wears looks just like the CG one. Other than the special effects, the acting is amazingly good with great actors cast in all the main roles. Robert Downey Jr. has been making some terrible movies lately but he was once amazing and looks to be coming back as he completely commands the screen in this great flick as Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his assistant/love interest and also brings a very real touch to the superhero genre. Jeff Bridges plays a villain extremely well and shows dynamic range. Terrance Howard has very little to do in this flick, but keeps the plot moving forward with what he does do. My only slight complain is the directing that tends to stick to the formula, but is really not bad enough to take away anything from this terrific flick.
I would detail out the main story of Iron Man, but its relatively useless, as it is a superhero movie. Man becomes superhero by some extraordinary means, man encounters problems with being superhero, man comes into his own, and man beats villain. Iron Man is basically the same story and even though the story follows the general rules of movie making, it is still great to watch the path.
I highly recommend this engaging movie. After all, it made $104 million dollars over the weekend to be the second highest non-sequel release ever and managed to take in about another $100 million overseas for a giant haul of over $200 million for its first weekend. It's getting amazing reviews from critics and general moviegoers with a 94% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com. This is the highest rated superhero movie ever and the best-reviewed movie of the year so far. All signs point to 'INTENSE' so go and watch the first truly excellent film of the year and let us know what you think!
Iron Man is playing at Cinema 3 in McCook. Check out www.fridleytheatres.com for showtimes.
First off, I did watch A Scanner Darkly and found it rather jagged. Downey did indeed seem like he was doing an excellent job acting, but it wasn't anything revolutionary or even average in my mind. I found it rather strained as though he was trying too hard to be amazing.
No arguments with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Downey was great and the movie was outstanding.
Good Night and Good Luck was another good Downey role and great movie.
Terrible movies I was refering to: (and yes, I know he didn't have a huge role in some of these, but still terrible movies he was in to get a paycheck and not amazing acting!)
Lucky You - absolute garbage.
The Shaggy Dog - need I say more.
Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Great movie, Downey was not the reason. Downey played a smaller role, but still was not impressed with what he did do.
Gothika - Movie was decent - Downey was collecting a paycheck.
The Singing Detective - Just terrible flick with misfires on acting from everyone involved.
Two Girls & A Guy - Some people like it, most don't. Downey was not good.
There's more, but I'm going back quite a ways with Two Girls & A Guy, so I'll stop there. Needless to say, yeah, he's had some great roles, but in general, he would be relatively forgotten about if it weren't for his outstanding role in Chaplin and now Iron Man. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang was a great flick and role but not something he's going to be remembered for. It's like Harrison Ford. He's Han Solo and Indiana Jones. He's made some great flicks inbetween the blockbusters and critical darlings, but ultimately those are the ones he's remembered for. Thus, Downey would only have been remembered for Chaplin, but with Iron Man, he'll at least be remembered as Iron Man as well. Let's just hope that he can continue to pick great roles that let him stretch his acting muscles. Also, my wife would probably add that she only remembers him in Heart and Souls, another decent movie with decent acting by Downey.