Wednesday 29 October 2008

Iron Man

Superhero movies and I have something of a gentleman's agreement in place. They don't bother me and in turn I don't point out how they are nothing but a pathetic cash in on the popularity of an established franchise (with the obvious exception of the latest Batman movies).

Whether it be Bryan Singer deciding that Superman should lift islands of kryponite to save the world or Blade suddenly having to face off against Dracula, or the Fantastic Four having to face off against a giant cloud of death in an effort to disguise how shite the movie is. Superhero movies always seem to follow a pattern of "we need something really big to show how great these guys are". A superhero is only as great as his spectacle.

Fuck that shit.

Superheroes should be allowed to face the same problems as the rest of us. For example, Blade struggles to pay for the seemingly infinite amount of silver that he has available because of the credit crunch. Bruce Banner can't become the Incredible Hulk because he is depressed and has had to go on Prozac. Superman can't save the world because he is left looking after Bryan Singer's bastard child whilst Lois goes to knock out a living at the Daily Planet.

Then we come to Iron Man.

How do you rate a superhero when his alter ego, Tony Stark, is the kind of guy who relishes in the hero thing and openly admits to his identity. You can't apply the same laws of normality to such a character as normal for him is attracting the ire of every would-be Dr Doom out there.

I went into Iron Man (seen in the States before all you fuckers back home) with incredibly low expectations (you really have no idea, I watched the trailers for Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk one after the other and said, "Hmm, I see a strikingly unimaginative pattern here".).

I was drawn in as soon as I heard the first riff of "Back In Black" and it all got better from there. The dialogue is sharp, the humour is black as my Doc Martens, and the acting is flawless.

Robert Downey Jr (as I'm sure you've heard by now since I've left it to the DVD release to review this) is superbly suited to the arrogant, self-assured, egotistical Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow is frankly divine as the sagacious Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges makes an excellent ally turned villain (I hope I didn't spoil that obvious plot point for anyone).

Yeah, it may have been a plot point that you could see coming from roughly the same distance as you can see the sun in the morning but you do appreciate it because the story is fell executed. As I've said before, a well executed tale can even make the most cliched story seem good (watch 3:10 To Yuma if you don't believe me).

The effects are good and the soundtrack is top notch. Frankly if you don't enjoy Iron Man then you are strange and different. All your friends think that Iron Man is great.

Rating: A