Iron Man: The Movie Review

WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

On the surface, this movie gets top scoring for getting Tony Stark's personality and lifestyle correct.
More points for taking the back story from an accident with shrapnel in vietnam, to an accident with shrapnel in the middle east. It was a smooth transition, it worked well, and it made more sense. They were able to transition everything over to the terrorist setting quite well. (Right down to the power hungry warlord.)
Special Effect= FREAKING AWESOME! Well done flying, fighting, and jumping. The suits were spectacular.
This movie was amazing partly due to the fact that they were able to take quite a bit of creative license, as was done with spider man, and STILL adhere to all the tiny little things that only diehard, freakfans would notice. (like me.)
ie: Rhodes, Stark's military consultant and erstwhile bodyguard, checks out an unpainted (grey) Iron Man suit. Can anyone say "War Machine?"
ie: Pepper Pot's freckles.
ie: His revealing of his identity. This only happened in the comic books like three years ago, so don't feel bad.

Now, to dig into it.

Even as you watch the movie, you can FEEL the pull the directors are having. They are trying to remain true to the comics, but their pacifist, anti-corporate, anti-army beliefs have been LASER-etched into their brains, so they can barely fight it. As a result, all throughout the movie, Tony struggles with making weapons (after seeing what they do) and he his having trouble coming to terms with his company. At first, it appears to dampen the affect of the film.

However, the directors managed to find an outlet for their anti-corporate rage in Obadiah, the vice-chair of Stark Enterprises. He is everything hollywood thinks a business man should be. He is a two-timing, double-dealing, back-stabbing, greedy, power-hungry, twisted old man. They were even trying to show the evil through subtle animation hints. ie: When the air chase begins, Tony's suit emits almost nothing, while Obadiah's gives off a huge, thick cloud of black smoke.

Now, before you assume that the evil Hollywood has made Tony a pacifist, you have to pay close attention. He stops making weapons, until he can find out who is selling him out. He doesn't want weapons to fall into the wrong hands and make matters worse. He realizes that his life prior to the accident was pointless, and his dying cellmate gives a reason to live again: To protect those who cannot protect themselves. In fact, he kills several terrorists in the process of freeing hostages. (If getting slammed into a brick wall wont kill ya, getting shot by retracting, shoulder-mounted miniture guns will.)

All in all, a spectacular movie. I liked it, but then again, i AM slightly biased.


GO IRONMAN!!!