IRON MAN (2008)

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"The BEST marvel film ever made."

The summer season has officially begun and IRON MAN starts it off with a glorious and tremendous BANG!!!

for the most part MARVEL comic films have had a lineup of films that weren't neccessarily all that good. daredevil was mediocre at best, punisher was uneven and flat, the fantastic 4 movies had no real emotion or characters you could really like, ghost rider obviously spent its money on effects and not story, sets, costumes, or good actors for that matter (sorry nic cage but you shouldn't have associated yourself with that mess), and Spider-Man 3 was just way too all over the place. the only great MARVEL films have been the sequels: Spider-Man 2, X-Men 2, Blade 2 and, for me, Ang Lee's emotional and beautiful take on Hulk.

i'm a huge MARVEL comics fan i know most of the heroes & villains and their mythologies and i do get excited for all the films before they come out but more often than not i find myself after the movie disappointed that for such great material to work with they just didn't get it right. but then you have to realize something. it wasn't MARVEL's fault, it was the movie studio that bought the MARVEL property that messed up. in dvd supplements on the Marvel films i said weren't all that you have MArvel execs who sound like that they liked the vision of the films but honestly thats not true, especially when they have finally created their own studio: MARVEL STUDIOS and have bought most of their properties back from other movie companies. IRON MAN is their first ever production and INCREDIBLE HULK will be their second. after seeing IRON MAN it only leads me to believe even more that INCREDIBLE HULK will truly be incredible.

IRON MAN is truly a MARVEL comic come to life and quite possibly the best comic film ever made. Robert Downey Jr. creates an iconic character in Tony Stark that it actually worries me... it is so damn good i really hope he doesn't get typecast playing that sort role over and over again (like *cough* Vince Vaughn); its probably a good thing his next film is 'Tropic Thunder'. the supporting cast is the best supporting cast bar-none for a comic film. you got academy award honors in Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges. Terrence Howard brings the right touch as Stark's best friend and the script allows Stark and Howard to drop constant hints to Iron Man's future partner and even more badass hero that Terrence will become: WAR MACHINE. Gwyneth Paltrow gets to do more with her female character than any other female character in a comic film by being sexy, vulberable, tough, and also play a pivotal point in Iron Man's battles. and Jeff Bridges brings a quite complexity to his mentoring and finally enemy to Tony Stark, it is a chilling person he plays.

Thats the acting and director Jon Favreau has assembled a respectable cast that does wonders with the script and adds a touch of class to all proceedings. but the storytelling is just a comic nerds dream. constant nods and references to the mythology of iron man and also hints to future villains, heroes, and storylines that'll leave fans smiling and excited.

but this is an origin story and favreau has fit ALOT into it. so much so that there isn't really a great build-up to an epic battle, and the action scenes are quite short-lived but thats because you can tell he wanted to put in enough that would secure a sequel. he made a picture that needed to please the fans, be entertaining (through the actors personas), have a few cool special effects (which really are and actually are so unique that you can't tell if its real or not), and have a comfortable running time. but thats the case with all origin tales on film and why i always feel the second installments are far more superior. and that is what this film does it gets you excited for a sequel (summer 2010 can't come soon enough) and also for comic fans extremely hopeful that comics films wont just be made for a quick buck but that will be made by someone who loved the comics and wants to pay respects to the comics.

Jon Favreau has done a very commendable job considering this is his first big budget tentpole action film. i mean this is a guy that comes from the indie world (swingers, made) and whose commercial films were childrens films (elf, zathura) but yet was able to churn out an entertaining and fun ride. thank you Jon Favreau for not ruining one of the most iconic and famous heroes of MARVEL lore.

IRON MAN gets a B+ (only because i know Favreau will improve on this film by leaps and bounds in the second)