Iron Man-2008 1080p, 720p, 480p

Iron Man-2008 1080p, 720p, 480p

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Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum
Stars: Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow< Terrence Howard

Movie Review

When I finally watched “Iron Man,” a broken hip had delayed me, and the movie had already been out for three weeks. During that time, I heard many people loved it, were surprised by how much they loved it, and praised Robert Downey Jr.'s performance. All I knew was that the movie featured a big iron man. I didn’t even realize a human was inside it and half-thought Downey’s character’s brain had been transplanted into a robot or something equally bizarre.



I understood I was looking at sets and special effects, but I’m talking about the reality of the illusion, if that makes sense. Many superhero movies only offer the surface of the illusion. With “Iron Man,” you get a deeper look. You feel like you’re seeing a functioning corporation. Take Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark’s loyal aide, and Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), Stark’s business partner. They don’t seem created just for the movie; they feel like they’ve been working together for a while.



This feeling is largely due to the chemistry between Downey, Paltrow, and Bridges. Their relationships seem fully-formed and strong enough to last the entire movie, even if the plot didn’t push them further. The dynamic between the two men echoes the relationship between Howard Hughes and Noah Dietrich in Scorsese’s “The Aviator” (2004). Obadiah Stane doesn’t appear with obvious villain cues; he seems like the voice of reason at Stark’s press conference. (Why did “Stark” make me think of “staring mad” during that scene?). Between Stark and Pepper, there’s classic tension between “friends” who could become lovers.


Downey’s performance is intriguing and unexpected. He doesn’t act like most superheroes; he lacks the usual gravitas. Tony Stark is shaped by Downey’s familiar persona: irreverent, quirky, self-deprecating, and wise-cracking. The fact that Downey can think and talk as he does while wearing all that hardware is a bold choice by director Jon Favreau. If Favreau didn’t want that, he probably wouldn’t have cast Downey. Downey is so comfortable with Stark’s dialogue that it feels like the screenplay was written for him.


Some things certain actors can say on screen, and others they can’t. Downey’s persona wouldn’t suit weighty, profound statements (in an “entertainment” film, anyway—more serious films like “Zodiac” are different). Some superheroes speak in a heightened, semi-formal prose, as if quoting Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. Not Tony Stark. He could talk that way and be Juno’s uncle. “Iron Man” doesn’t seem to take itself as seriously as most superhero movies. If there’s wit in the dialogue, the superhero is often unaware of it. Broad humor usually belongs to the villain. In “Iron Man,” we sometimes wonder how seriously even Stark takes it. He’s flippant in disaster and casual on the brink of ruin.



It’s wise that Favreau positions the other characters more seriously. The supporting cast doesn’t try to outdo him. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts as someone genuinely worried that this goofball might kill himself. Jeff Bridges makes Obadiah Stane a great superhero villain by seeming genuinely concerned about the stock price. Terrence Howard, as Col. Rhodes, is a conventional straight arrow. It would have been a disaster if they all matched Tony Stark’s sardonic tone. We’d be back in the world of “Swingers” (1996), which was written by Favreau.