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May 5, 2008

Fletch's Film Review: Iron Man

If there's one thing I've learned about myself as it pertains to writing film reviews in the year and a half history of this site, it's that I don't like writing reviews for big blockbusters like Iron Man nearly as much as I enjoy writing about mid-range to small movies. It really has nothing to do with the films themselves or their potential to be critiqued, but rather due to a feeling I get as I mosey around to any number of other reviews for the film on blogs or newspapers or magazines.

When something like the first big summer movie is released, there's a very good chance that a number of other bloggers are going to see the movie on its first day out. They are also going to review it, most likely within hours of seeing it (which I rarely can or do). I am also going to read it, though I don't like reading reviews before I write my own. It's entirely of my own doing, and is completely irrational, but there's something about reading so many opinions about a film and my thinking to myself "what's left to say?"

I understand that every site doesn't have the same readership and that just because I read a review on X blog doesn't mean that you are going to read it, too. But that connection in my brain is malfunctioning, I suppose. On the other hand, when I see a movie like The Visitor (which I did earlier this week; review coming soon), I can be assured that I won't see another review hardly anywhere, and that my perspective will have to be fresh to anyone, since they aren't finding one anywhere else. I suppose I can chalk it up to my own insecurities, as when placed in this situation (writing a review for a film that's been reviewed to death), all I think about is ways to do my review differently, to make it stand out from everyone else's. In other words, I think it's just that I prefer acting to reacting. Which is probably why you're reading this diatribe right now. That said, on to the review...

Things I Liked About Iron Man:

* The top notch cast.
Following the trend set by Batman Begins and the Spider-Man series, the cast of Iron Man is made up not by the hunks and/or starlets of the day, but rather with celebrated, award-winning actors. Robert Downey, Jr., perfectly matched as he may be to the character, and his "troubled" past notwithstanding, remains a forty-something actor with little-to-no box office success behind him, but rather a resume filled with praised performances. Gwyneth Paltrow hasn't been in a big-budget feature since 2004's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and Terrence Howard is still known for Hustle & Flow and Crash more than anything else in his career (Jeff Bridges remains somewhat of an enigma to Hollywood. In the 80s, he was the hunky leading man through the 80s; he went through a down period in the 90s, only to see his career take off again after 1999's The Big Lebowski. Since then, he's settled into a nice groove, mixing it up between leading man roles and supporting turns.).

* The first 2/3.
It's a mystery that we as moviegoers all love superhero origin tales so much, since they're all essentially the same. Director Jon Favreau manages to keep the story fresh despite its predictability, by starting us off with a bang (literally), only to scale back and let us see into the character of Tony Stark a bit before unleashing Iron Man (and the mayhem he brings). Though some may clamor that there's a lack of action to be had (considering the genre) it's refreshing to see that cast put to good use, rather than spouting off inane lines and being little more than objects placed in front of a blue screen (I'm looking at you, Lucas).

* "Vegas, baby, Vegas"
Favreau throws a not-so-inside joke to the audience as he places himself in the film in a minor role as one of Stark's entourage. The kicker comes when he's subtly introduced - standing behind Stark as the future Iron Man plays craps at a Vegas casino. If only Vince Vaughan had shown up in the background as well. It was also nice to see that Favreau has dropped quite a few pounds, though that's neither here nor there.

Things I Didn't Like About Iron Man:

* The last 1/3
It's not as if the movie falls apart or somehow gets dumb over the final 40 minutes, but the final showdown is somewhat lackluster, complete with a too-predictable fight (Nick from R2D2 makes a great point about the usage or weapons, or lack thereof).

* The usage of Terrence Howard
From what I hear, many of Howard's scenes were cut from the film, and it's pretty obvious when watching. His de-facto buddy role is all but useless, a "fighter pilot" that never fights. Also, why is an Air Force colonel acting as the presenter at a press conference being held at Stark's company? Doesn't he have better things to do?

* Bond. James Bond.
I'm more than willing to suspend disbelief for movies, even more so for superhero ones. And despite the fact that I am not in fact a billionaire, nor do I have any clue what arc reactor technology is, the speed and intelligence of Stark's home computing workshop goes beyond the limits of belief. Though it's never specifically mentioned how long it took him to concept/build the Iron Man suit, it seems as though Stark could build aircraft carriers in his basement in a week, what with his endless resources (money and scrap materials). All this from a suspended beachfront house in Malibu. A minor quibble, but still, I have my limits.

* The fact that I missed the scene that played after the credits
But that's my own fault, I suppose. Anyway, it ought to be on YouTube soon enough.

Fletch's Film Rating:

"It's in the darn tootin hole!" (another viewing needed to properly decide)


12 people have chosen wisely: on "Fletch's Film Review: Iron Man"

Nick said...

w00t! Thanks for the mention.

Also, did you like Paltrow in this movie? I saw she wasn't in your negatives (but rather in your positives).

Fletch said...

I didn't have a problem with her here; I generally like her. The weird thing for me was to see her playing a pretty weak character; normally, she's the "strong woman" type, not taking shit, that kind of thing.

I also got to thinking when watching her that she and Lisa Kudrow need to be in a movie and play sisters. I think they have the same sense of humor and look enough alike to play siblings.

Nick said...

ha, funny you should say that. During the movie, Lisa Kudrow popped into my head at least once or twice when watching Paltrow (Hey, maybe they can do some fancy thing like they did with Jet Li/Jackie Chan for The Forbidden Kingdom and have their names meet at the 'w' :P ).

Anonymous said...

The only reason I went to see Ironman was to humor Mr Fletch... and fully expecting to dislike (or possibly even hate) the movie. Surprisingly, I actually liked it more than he did.

Anonymous said...

What I found most in need of belief-suspending was the notion that to get out of the cave, of COURSE the logical thing to do was build a robot suit with flame-thrower arms and rocket-boots ... why not just build a big f__king gun, it would look more like the rocket they wanted him to build, anyway.

joen05 said...

Great review, Fletch. I just saw this myself today, so my review will be forthcoming. One of my favorite parts of the movie was Paltrow!

The effects were beter than I thought they were going to be... I guess I really enjoyed it.

Ahhh... just realized I forgot about the LAMB thing.. am I too late?!?

Fletch said...

Joe, as of right now, you have 1 hour (maybe a bit more).

Rick, that was hilarious. I could practically hear you saying that. A great idea, but then, the comic and movie probably just wouldn't have the same cache being called "Really Big F*cking Gun Man."

Daniel said...

Haha, Rick. Good point.

Funny, I just reviewed The Visitor.

I like reading your reviews in this way Fletch - it's familiar. :-)

The dissection review has its advantages, but you can see we actually switched places with Iron Man with our review format. Interesting, no?

Fletch said...

That is funny, Daniel. I try to come up with cohesive, structured reviews mostly, but from time to time, a list fits the bill.

Daniel said...

Right. Yeah at some point in the last few months I realized I didn't have any rules to follow. However we can most effectively explain our thoughts seems to be the ticket.

And since I didn't mention it before, I agree with everything you "didn't like" about IM.

Rachel said...

I think I am one of two people who did not watch Ironman this past weekend. The other person would be my husband and he's the reason I didn't get to go, since he was on-call all weekend. Not that I can't go to a movie by myself (or with a group of friends sans the hubby) but I try not to when I know it's something he has an interest in seeing. Maybe one night this week we'll get to catch it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the Terrence Howard thing. In fact, I had forgotten he was even in it until I read your review.