Patrick and I went to see this yesterday, and I have to say I was REALLY pleasantly surprised. It was a great movie!
Robert Downey Jr. was superb as Tony Stark, and it was really cool to see a guy using just his own ingenuity and know-how to BUILD his super-powers. Downey is spot-on and is clearly a pompous, wisecracking ass in the beginning of the movie; what happens to him then allows him to really grow and shine as a character and actor. In fact, I think the casting was uniformly excellent and Marvel has really done it right. If they can handle all their franchises like this then us longtime comic fans are in for a heck of a ride.
Jeff Bridges is great as friend and mentor Obadiah Stane; it's interesting how over the course of the film he is slowly revealed to be something else. He looks completely different than he has in the past with a shaved head and full beard, and it works great for his character. Gwyneth Paltrow is great and vulnerable and lovely as Pepper Potts, Tony's secretary. She brings a much-needed warmth to pompous jerk Tony, and lets him know that he may not be entirely as shallow as he lets on. She's excellent in the part and they even hint at a future for them. Look out for a bit part by director Jon Favreau as Tony's driver; he gets one funny line. Terrence Howard is also on board as his friend James "Rhodey" Rhodes, and there is a great nod to Rhodey's possible future as someone who might also wear the suit.
Overall just a great comic book movie, a perfect start to the summer blockbuster season and one I highly recommend for everyone. One word of warning - it has a PG-13 rating for a good reason. Little kids might be scared by the violence (and there is a lot of killing) plus there are some sexual innuendos that might not be appropriate.
MAKE SURE YOU STAY UNTIL THE END CREDITS ARE OVER.
About Me
- Cliff Shelton
- I used to think I was a cynic, but I was probably wrong about that. My friend Simon says I’m really grumpy but what the f@#! does he know. The photo in the header of this blog is copyright ©2009 Cliff Shelton. I took it at the Georgia Aquarium in 2006 in case you were wondering.
2 comments:
Nice review, I'm hoping to get to see this within the next week or so.
Out of interest, do you agree or disagree with Mark Kermode's review here?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=THDz2KUMZt0&
Well, to be honest, I don't really like or listen to Mark Kermode at all; I think he's just one of those people who is far too harsh on everything and just ends up irritating me because he never seems to like anything at all.
So to really answer your question…no, I don't agree with him. You have to go into this type of movie understanding the source material. He doesn't seem to realize that yes, the story is about Tony Stark but it's also about IRON MAN who is a superhero that fights things and has lots of stuff blow up! In the beginning there are enough human elements in this film to make it good but it's a comic book for goodness sake, not War and Peace. Yes, the bar was set very high by Batman Begins but that comic is by its very nature darker and more serious than Iron Man is, so they don't compare in that sense. At least, not to me at any rate.
I'd like to hear your thoughts once you do see it, if you don't mind!
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