I'll say it. I hated all three Spider-Man films. A combination of terrible writing and the twelve-year-oldification of the story ruined for me a trilogy of films that should have been classic. Yeah it made tons of money, but that will all be in vain when you look back in 20 years and shake your head in disbelief at how bad those movies were/are. Batman Begins proved that it's possible to make a comic movie that is faithful to the tone of the original yet still able to appeal to wide audiences. Iron Man takes everything learned from Batman Begins in regards to storytelling and inserts a dose of "kick ass", kicking the summer movie season off with one of the best superhero/comic book movies of all time. Forgive the hyperbole, but it's true. After the un-watchable disasters that were the Fantastic Four films, Marvel Comics had enough. Starting with Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk later this summer, Marvel has begun to produce their own films. This gives them complete control over casting, writing and the final cuts of the films, and if Iron Man is an example of things to come, thencomic book fanboys have a lot to look forward too.
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First off, the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is right up there with Chrisitian Bale as one of the best castings of a superhero in film history. Downey Jr. owns the role, as he is Tony Stark in every way. Mad props to Jon Favreau for not backing down and fighting to get his man for the role. Once the credits role, I dare you to think of someone who would have been better suited (no pun intended) for the role. The rest of the supporting cast is equally superb, as none of them are a slouch when it comes to their acting chops. Terrence Howard, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges help make sure Iron Man will be taken seriously.
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For those not familiar with the entire Iron Man mythos (me), the origins of Iron Man and life of Tony Stark are told in a such a way that it draws you in right away. I especially liked the mini-montage of Tony's life during the awards ceremony, it was creative and grounded Tony Stark in the real world. The story takes its time which allows time for the audience to get to know Stark, and by the time he builds the first suit, you feel as if he really could.
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Aside from the excellent writing and pacing of the script, the action sequences were pure summer movie gold. The movie opens with an intense scene that I shall not ruin, and once Downey Jr. dons his suit, it's balls to the wall from there. The only slight quibble that I had was with the final battle between Iron Man and the Iron Monger, not that it was bad, it's just very sudden and doesn't last very long. The true ending however, is money, continuing the theme of this movie that Robert Downey Jr. is in fact awesome.
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It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed a movie this much. From a pure "fun at the movies" standpoint, Iron Man trumps everything that I saw last year. The new comic book movie standard has been set.
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What.....there's a new Dark Knight trailer...... OK, the standard has been set until July. Regardless, Iron Man is awesome, don't miss out on seeing it on the big screen.
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9/10
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