Iron Man is a movie about the fabulously wealthy weapons manufacturer and inventor extraordinaire Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), who runs the Stark weapons company that he inherited from his father. While on a sales call in Afghanistan, Tony Stark is injured in a skirmish and kidnapped by terrorists. A sympathetic fellow prisoner devises a magnetic device that Tony must wear on his chest to prevent the fragments of bomb that are lodged in his body from working their way into his heart. (C’mon, suspend that disbelief.)
While in captivity, Tony pretends to build the Jericho missile but covertly he is manufacturing his Iron Man prototype suit that transforms him into the superhero he becomes. This action film focuses on the cool technology that Tony Stark uses to upgrade his Iron Man suit in his very cool house in Malibu. Tony Stark has a Bat Cave of sorts but makes Bruce Wayne look almost shabby by comparison, what with the holograms and robotics.
There are several underlying messages in Iron Man. The first message is that the movie reflects the culture that the United States lives in as a country at war. The terrorists are Middle-Eastern (of course), and at one point in the movie Iron Man flies back to Afghanistan to save some families in a village that has become special to him. The emotional bait here is a dad being separated from his family and about to be shot by the terrorists. Iron Man flies in to save the day and the kids. The other underlying theme is that war is bad and selling weapons is bad. Tony Stark has an epiphany while in Afghanistan that leads him to want to stop his company from manufacturing weapons, an act that leads others to want to murder him. Iron Man also has an underlying theme of independent arms dealers as being evil, but the United States government being on the side of good.
The acting performance of all players in Iron Man is believable and entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. is real, gritty and witty, and back in top acting form. Jeff Bridges, especially, puts in an acting performance that screams Oscar worthiness. Gwyneth Paltrow is to be commended for some excellent running in very high heels, but her role in this movie is really secondary as Tony’s very professional assistant, Pepper Potts. Look for clever cameos from the director Jon Favreau and comic book legend Stan Lee, who appears as Hugh Hefner. A note for non-comic book geeks: No prior reading of Iron Man or Avenger comics is necessary for thorough enjoyment of this first rate action flick.
Another Important Note: You must stay until the end of the credits to catch an intriguing sneak peek at the already in the works sequel to Iron Man.
While in captivity, Tony pretends to build the Jericho missile but covertly he is manufacturing his Iron Man prototype suit that transforms him into the superhero he becomes. This action film focuses on the cool technology that Tony Stark uses to upgrade his Iron Man suit in his very cool house in Malibu. Tony Stark has a Bat Cave of sorts but makes Bruce Wayne look almost shabby by comparison, what with the holograms and robotics.
There are several underlying messages in Iron Man. The first message is that the movie reflects the culture that the United States lives in as a country at war. The terrorists are Middle-Eastern (of course), and at one point in the movie Iron Man flies back to Afghanistan to save some families in a village that has become special to him. The emotional bait here is a dad being separated from his family and about to be shot by the terrorists. Iron Man flies in to save the day and the kids. The other underlying theme is that war is bad and selling weapons is bad. Tony Stark has an epiphany while in Afghanistan that leads him to want to stop his company from manufacturing weapons, an act that leads others to want to murder him. Iron Man also has an underlying theme of independent arms dealers as being evil, but the United States government being on the side of good.
The acting performance of all players in Iron Man is believable and entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. is real, gritty and witty, and back in top acting form. Jeff Bridges, especially, puts in an acting performance that screams Oscar worthiness. Gwyneth Paltrow is to be commended for some excellent running in very high heels, but her role in this movie is really secondary as Tony’s very professional assistant, Pepper Potts. Look for clever cameos from the director Jon Favreau and comic book legend Stan Lee, who appears as Hugh Hefner. A note for non-comic book geeks: No prior reading of Iron Man or Avenger comics is necessary for thorough enjoyment of this first rate action flick.
Another Important Note: You must stay until the end of the credits to catch an intriguing sneak peek at the already in the works sequel to Iron Man.
