Film Review: Iron Man

The first Marvel Studios film is in and it’s a knockout. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not perfect, but its flaws are easily outweighed by its strengths. And as hoped, its principal strength comes in the form of Robert Downey Jr. The question was always whether a rich alcoholic was going to be able to play a rich alcoholic convincingly, and Tony Stark in particular, a character who bounces between consistent but conflicting incarnations more than most comics characters. He doesn’t just play Stark, he is Stark, and far more convincingly than I’ve seen him in the comics - more than Millar’s Ultimate Stark, more than Michelinie & Layton’s classic incarnation, more even than Lee in his heyday. He’s not just an arms dealer with a change of heart, or an alcoholic with an unwanted sense of nobility, but as in his current incarnation in the comics his sober decision-making is determined by his intense, alcoholic nature. He always finds ways to do what he wanted to do while justifying those ways to himself. This attention to character detail outdoes anything every superhero film has ever managed before. Downey even looks like Stark - it’s a bravura performance.

He’s hardly alone - Gwyneth Paltrow shines despite Pepper Potts’ under-written role, Terrence Howard pulls off Stark’s friend Rhodey again more credibly than the book, and Jeff Bridges delivers a genuinely masterful performance as Stark’s mentor turned enemy Obadiah Stane. His corporate manipulation is an effective approach for a character who was such a one-note figure in the book, and it’s almost a pity to see him as the genuine enemy, driven by ambition and jealousy, as the film goes on. And it really does go on, which is the main problem it has. At over two hours the film is far too heavy and unfocused, particularly in the origin segment in the first third, where it takes too long to get into the body of the film. But this flaw is easily outweighed by what follows - Stark’s development of the modern suit is both fun and enjoyable and the CGI is far better than anything I’ve seen in any other superhero film. And the film’s ultimate focus on corporate responsibility and humanitarian intervention is a revelation, one which director Jon Favreau might have been better advised to focus the film more on.

There isn’t much doubt though that a franchise has been born, one as with the renewed Batman franchise, is helmed by an acting heavyweight with charisma and good looks to spare. I really look forward to Iron Man 2 in 2010, particularly with the rise of the Mandarin and entrance of War Machine foreshadowed. 8/10

By the way you must wait till the end of the final credits. A SHIELD-related delight finally awaits, which no self-respecting comics fan should miss out on…

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