Skip to main content

Iron Man Review



“Please, no gang signs. Nah, I'm kidding. Throw it up.” Thus begins Iron Man, the Batman Begins of the Marvel cinematic universe. Tony Stark is, in his own words, a “billionaire genius playboy philanthropist”. While demonstrating his newest weapon, the Jericho Missile, to the U.S. Army in the Middle East, the group is attacked by terrorists and Tony is kidnapped. With the aid of a fellow captive who happens to be brilliant, he successfully builds an iron suit and escapes from the prison. When he gets back to the U.S., he decides to stop selling weapons, as they are being used by terrorists to... well, terrorize. This will cut back dramatically on profits, so his partner decides to take him out, and even goes so far as to join up with the terrorists. Choose your friends wisely, kids. But, on to the review. 

In all reality, I was not too excited about seeing this movie. Let's face it. It's a movie about a billionaire playboy who just so happens to be a genius, gets captured by terrorists, builds currently impossible technology in a cave with a box of junk, makes a suit in a cave with a box of junk, attaches flamethrowers to said suit, and makes an epic escape. Ah, yes. I forgot. The suit also has jetpacks in its feet, enabling him to fly. But hey, it's a superhero movie. If it weren't for such cheesy feats, the movie would have utterly failed. Thankfully, it did not. It succeeded. Amazingly. In ways it should not have. 

The truth is that Iron Man is a brilliant piece of filmmaking. It goes without saying that Robert Downey Jr. nails the role of Iron Man incomprehensibly well. He was born for this role. The supporting characters do well in their roles as well, but it's obviously Iron Man who steals the show here. The music is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Ramin Djawadi has created the definitive interpretation of Iron Man. This is what an Iron Man soundtrack should sound like. The directing, editing, and cinematography were perfect. The ultimate question is: why on earth does this movie work? I don't know, but it does. Maybe it's the fact we get to see Tony Stark journey from spoiled jerk to hero, or maybe it's the fact the movie's just... fun. 

Regardless, this movie was a brilliant start to the legendary Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, I would go so far as to say it still hasn't been surpassed in quality by any Marvel movie, except for possibly Captain America: The Winter Soldier. (Review coming for that one soon, Lord willing.) I'm giving it 4.5 out of 5 arc reactors. Also, shout-out to Tony Stark for inventing arc reactors. Now I know what I need to buy if I ever have heart trouble.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revenge of the Sith Review

I’m sure you’ve probably heard that Revenge of the Sith is just slightly better than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In my opinion, that is completely untrue. Revenge of the Sith is a masterpiece. Let me explain why I think so. First of all, the plot here is just so much better. Even the dialogue is greatly improved. It’s still not perfect, but it’s only cringe-worthy in a few scenes. That in and of itself is a huge improvement. Secondly, George Lucas has the power of his own legendary original trilogy behind him this time. Finally, we get to witness Anakin become Darth Vader. And it’s glorious. We finally get a little bit of believability when it comes to why Anakin turned to the dark side. This time, it’s not just because he was an arrogant brat. We’re finally able to believe that he was pushed over the edge. On a technical level, everything is flawless, and the CGI still looks incredible today. The acting is far better this time around, and Hayden Christensen i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok is the third and final film in the Thor series. The movie finds Thor humbled, hammer-less, and in a desperate race against time to save Asgard. Ragnarok finds Taika Waititi taking over directorial duties, Kenneth Branagh having directed the first in the series and Alan Taylor having directed the second. Both Branagh and Taylor played the first two films dreadfully seriously. While the first had intermittent, light humor, the second film was oppressively dark and grim. Waititi corrects this problem in only five minutes. Ragnarok’s prologue alone contains more lighthearted fun than both of the previous films combined. Waititi has a bit of a reputation for his oddball sense of humor, but it works wonders for Ragnarok . Waititi suggested that much of the film’s dialogue be improvised, and it does a great deal to reinforce the film’s themes of uncertainty and insecurity. The randomness and off-the-wall quality of the jokes makes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Casino Royale Review

Back when this film came out in 2006, there wasn't much hope for the future of Bond. The last few films had been train wrecks when it came to getting a good critical response. With the exception of Goldeneye and two or three Roger Moore films, there hadn't been a truly good Bond movie since Sean Connery gave up the role. That was all about to change. Eon Productions brought back Martin Campbell to direct Casino Royale, his last Bond film having been Goldeneye. What little hope there had been for Casino Royale was completely demolished when it was announced Daniel Craig would be playing Bond. It was a huge gamble. (No pun intended.) The film opens in the classic Bond manner, with Bond on a random mission which leads into a chase. Once we finally get to the actual story, we learn that a gambler named Le Chiffre (I'm still not sure how that's accurately pronounced) is joining a high-stakes poker game, and Bond is sent to join the game and beat him. It's immedia...
Post a Comment
Read more