Iron Man: First UK review

If you’re impatient and don’t have the time to read my whole review, here are the bullet points:

 

It’s great.

 

It’s the ultimate geek movie: Extraordinary computer aided design skills trump brute strength, and there's (almost) no romantic sub-plot.

 

There are two bona-fide ‘Indiana Jones vs Cocky Swordsman’ moments.

 

There is NO Nick Fury cameo*.

 

There isn’t QUITE ENOUGH Black Sabbath.

 

It’s notable that the name Iron Man is only used once in the movie, right at the very end and the name of his rival, Ironmonger, is only mentioned once in a throwaway comment. There’s also the subtlest of hints that we might see the ‘other’ Iron Man, War Machine, in the inevitable sequel.

 

'That guy that sneaked onto the set' didn't make the final cut.

Continue reading for the full Iron Man review, which will inevitably contain some plot spoilers.

There are two opposing schools of thought about superhero movies. Some favour the bright primary coloured ‘live cartoons’ like Fantastic 4 that hew close to the Silver Age stories that moviemakers (and older movie goers) grew up with. Others lean more toward the ‘darker’ gritty aesthetic popularised by Frank Miller in the 1980s.

 

Despite the impression one might get from the thrilling, exuberant trailers, which play up the movie’s rich seam of humour, Iron Man is of a decidedly darker hue. In Jon Favreau’s movie quite significant characters die, and stay dead. Huge amount of heavy ordinance blows up and there are definite, if not entirely graphic, consequences. As cinematic catharsis for American moviegoers frustrated with the slow progress in the real war against the Taliban, several dozen bad guys fall foul of the rockets, guns, and flamethrowers build into the Iron Man armour.

 

As a balance to the body count there are pratfalls aplenty when Main character Tony Stark is developing his super-suit, and the script positively crackles with in jokes for the comic book faithful.

 

If you’re not a long-time comic book fan, here’s what you need to know: Gifted engineer and amoral (is there any other kind?) arms dealer Tony Stark is captured by terrorists while visiting his best customers, the US military, in a lawless area of the near east. Wounded by an ostentatiously branded 'Stark Industries' fragmentation bomb, his life is saved by a fellow captive (in a short but powerful role played by Shaun Toub) and then forced to recreate his latest and most potent weapon by his captors.

 

Hitherto a brilliant but dissipated playboy, Stark finds purpose in creating a powered suit of armour with which to wreak revenge on his captors.  There’s the first of three major action set pieces for the suit which I predict will raise a cheer from every cinema audience that sees it.

 

After the dramatic escape there’s a protracted sequence which in any other movie would almost certainly be relegated to a montage where Stark uses the extraordinary technology built into his clifftop Malibu home to develop and test a new and more powerful version of his armour. Playing the development out as a longer series of scenes works though as a reminder of how intimately involved Stark is with his armour, which is not only his 'super power' but is also incorporates the cutting edge medical technology that's keeping him alive. There's one scene with Gwyneth Paltrow which contains a great illustration of this which will strike a chord with everyone who has ever played Operation.

 

Having learned that Stark Industries are involved in supplying weapons to the terror group that was responsible for his capture Tony shuts down the Skark Industries' entire weapons development, precipitating an eventual showdown with evil company executive Obidiah Stane.  Jeff Bridges is wonderful as the oleaginous Stane, and Gwyneth Paltrow shines too as Stark’s Miss Moneypenny – ‘Pepper’ Potts. The A-list casting is one of the things that makes this a comic book movie to take seriously, no washed up sports stars or campy British villains here.

 

There’s also, despite reports, no* cameo from Samuel L Jackson as the head of Marvel Comics’ home-grown intelligence organisation S.H.I.E.L.D, although some more minor S.H.I.E.L.D operatives appear and have some fun with the genesis of the acronym.

 

Jackson's hardly missed though. This is Robert Downey Jnr's film. As the Tin Man who finds a heart he’s a hero that’s likeable, flawed, and very easy to root for. The kind of men who spend too much time on the Internet and buy those improbably expensive hardback comic books will love this movie. I should know, I’m one of them

*EDIT: A couple of commenters, not least Dave Campbell of the authoritative comic books resource Dave's Long Box, have pointed out that there is a tiny Nick Fury cameo at the very end of the credit sequence. Either the early cut of the film I saw was missing this crucial detail or I was too keen to beat the rush for a taxi.

Comments

[Rich Johnston]

You're wrong about Nick Fury. He is in Iron Man. Just not in the print you saw. Check http://litg.comicbookresources.com for details...

[Alex]

Above poster is correct, Nick Fury WAS cameoed in the print I saw (US viewer here).

[patrick]

Iron Man was practically flawless as a super hero flick; it drops pretty obvious hints that would indicate a sequel as well... i'm thinking the next one should be equally great

[Arthur Webster]

I got a big kick outof the movie. Really well done.
Who own that increadble home on the hill?