Iron Man

When I saw the first trailer for “Iron Man”, I didn’t know anything about this character. Growing up, the only Marvel superhero that I knew about was Spider Man because of the 1960’s cartoon show that was on Saturday mornings. The aforementioned trailer impressed me. Most of my friends in university were excited about the film and so I went to see the movie. I loved it and it is cool how the director, Jon Favreau, also made “Elf”. The films are so different and this shows Favreau’s talent. "Iron Man" was the first movie that I took notice of him as an actor and director. I also began to see the story similarities between all the movies based on Marvel heroes because of “Iron Man”. This movie works because of the classic superhero story archetype that is followed and the performance of Oscar nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. You can root for this hero because of the change that he undergoes. The success of this movie might have been overshadowed later that summer with "The Dark Knight" but the newly formed Marvel Studios had the long game in mind. I don't think any moviegoer in May of 2008 could foresee how "Iron Man" and the subsequent films that the studio would later make would affect Hollywood.

Ever since “Superman”, superhero movies have followed a certain story pattern when dealing with the origins of a main character. Marvel has used this but they have also made it their own. This can be seen in “Spider-Man” and “The Fantastic Four” where the main characters are for the most part ordinary until a crisis happens that changes their lives. Half way through the story, they are facing conflicts from their new life and from the enemy. This culminates into a climatic battle. The end of the film has our main character become the hero that we are familiar with from the comic books. Many times, the hero at the start of the movie knew the villain personally. “Iron Man” follows this familiar archetype but the acting and characters make the story seem original. Marvel is good at creating this originality and as a result, we have had fun watching “Iron Man” and the other stories that followed. Sometimes when a main character in a movie changes from being selfish to being selfless throughout the course of the film, they don’t completely change. Upon seeing the film multiple times, I saw similarities between Tony Stark and Kuzco from “The Emperor’s New Groove”. We like both characters at the start of both movies because they are funny. At the end, we still like them because they are still funny. So, what changed? In both cases, their hearts and motives change but their personalities remain mostly unaltered. With Tony Stark, he is egotistical, charming and witty from the start. He believes he can get away with anything. His experience of being kidnapped opens his eyes to the evil that he has unknowingly caused. Upon escaping, his image is still very important for him but now he will make it an image of good despite what it might mean to his company. At the end of the film, he now believes he really can do anything. He is still egotistical and witty but now he wants to undo his wrongs. It is a good use of character when telling this kind of story. The audience must like the hero from the start but not hate him for his selfishness. At the end of the film, the hero must still have similar, appealing qualities. Tony Stark is a great hero because of the flaws in his personality. There are some great moments in this film like the "Operation" joke. The sound that is made with the wire does touch the sides even sounds like it's from "Operation". The ending scene is very important. The filmmakers throughout the show with Agent Coulson were hinting at something bigger than just this one movie. With Tony Stark announcing that he is Iron Man, it symbolizes not only a noteworthy departure from the source material but it is also another hint of a bigger universe.

I like the performances of the actors in this film such as future Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard and Shaun Toub but Robert Downey Jr. is a major reason why this movie is fun. I first saw him on "Heart and Souls" but for a long time, I thought that this movie was my introduction to him. I also saw that he is like Tony Stark in real life: funny and witty. The serious scenes are also well done though. Downey effectively shows that Tony Stark has a new direction in life and it helps that this story is symbolic of Downey's career. In the late 90's, Robert Downey Jr. had drug problems and this can be likened unto his character being kidnapped. At the start of the next decade, his career was rebounding but he was looking for a blockbuster with which to truly put his past behind him. Because the story of Tony Stark has comparisons to Downey's own life, the role was perfect for him. Downey by the way also performed in "Tropic Thunder", which was released the same year as "Iron Man" and it earned him a second Oscar nomination. Director Jon Favreau had to fight for Downey to play his role and we are all so happy he stuck to his guns. Speaking of happy, I like how the director Jon Favreau cast himself as Happy Hogan, Stark’s chauffer, and even did motion capture for Tony's first suit. Hands-on directors have my respect. Stan Lee gets a fun cameo by the way. Not until I watched the film in preparation for the sequel did I wonder whether there was a scene after the credits. Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance was affectively unexpected and having him as Nick Fury is cool. Apparently, there was major secrecy for the shooting of that scene. It was even added to the film without the knowledge of most of those involved in "Iron Man". The line "you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet" was more important for the world to hear than it was for Tony. This post-credit sequence, along with "The Incredible Hulk" released a month later, kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There have been post-credits scenes in movies for a while previous to "Iron Man" but the MCU popularized them.

Marvel Studios was created with Kevin Feige as studio chief with the goal of making individual movies for their main comic book heroes and then do a big crossover film. The head of Marvel's film division resigned over this decision and that shows how few people believed that this kind of franchise filmmaking could work. Today however, "shared film universes" are the norm and it all started thanks to the success of "Iron Man". I also like how Stan Winston’s studio and Industrial Light and Magic have combined forces once again for this film. The special effects are very good. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether a shot is a Stan Winston suit or a GG shot. Because of many elements such as this, Robert Downey Jr. and the story, “Iron Man” is just as memorable as the original “Spider Man”. You root for the hero and experience a familiar story in an original way. It is one of my top five favorite comic book films.

4.5 Stars out of 5