Summer Review #1 -- Iron Man

My excitement for this movie has been growing over the past six months. Besides the fact that I love comic book adaptations, it is well known that a good screenplay, director and cast can make any of these stories human and witty, and all of these elements seemed to gel from the get-go with Iron Man. And the movie is... GREAT. Yes, in all capitals.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a billionaire industrialist who inherited an arms manufacturing conglomerate from his father. On a trip to Afghanistan, where he demonstrates his company's newest missile, he gets caught up in an attack. He is subsequently captured by a terrorist group, his heart seriously damaged, and ordered to build the ultra-missile. Instead, Stark builds an invincible armor suit that helps him get away. The experience changes his playboy, money-guzzling ways, and he decides to use the new technology to fight evil. His sprightly assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his best friend Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) welcome the change, but things do not bode so well with Tony's closest associate, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), who does not see the point in losing millions due to questions of ethics.

Right off the bat, I will say that, after seeing the movie, Downey Jr. is the only actor I can imagine in the role of Stark. His portrayal is playful, exciting, zany, occasionally dark and always dynamic. I remember seeing a message board discussion about the previous series of Batman movies, during which a viewer divided the actors' performances into three categories -- Bruce Wayne, Batman and Wayne/Batman. Downey Jr. is not only utterly convincing as Stark, he is also impressive as his alter ego, Iron Man, showing a balanced measure of awkwardness and confidence in the suit.

The rest of the cast is also well chosen. Paltrow charms as Potts, while Bridges projects megalomaniac madness as Stane and Howard injects the role of Rhodes with nobility and loyalty. Jon Favreau's direction is lively and precise. He knows when to emphasize human emotion, when to emphasize the action and when to blend the two perfectly. The screenplay etches out the characters well, particularly Stark and Potts, and brings humor and a human dimension to the proceedings.

Iron Man is an intelligent comic book adaptation, but it is also an excellent movie in its own right. It is a well-crafted movie, with a brain and a heart, and it marks the perfect start to this year's summer movie season.

9/10