Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terence Howard
Director: Jon Favreau
In the beginning, there was nothing.
Well, that’s not true. Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, the original X-Men trilogy, the Blade trilogy, two Fantastic Four and two Ghost Rider movies and then some. Movies based on Marvel characters had come out before. But none of them were part of something bigger. Also, I wanted a biblical intro.
My history of reading comics began with Asterix and Tintin and flowered with Indrajal Comics. I was aware of Superman and his ilk, but I probably read them well after I was grown up. I definitely hadn’t heard of Iron Man before the movie came out. Just as well. There is something to going to a movie with zero expectations and being pleasantly surprised that has become extinct in the Internet age.
Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Together with his father figure Obadiah Stane (Bridges) he has made a million fortunes making weapons. All of it changes when he is kidnapped by a group of Afghan terrorists. Thankfully, Tony didn’t just inherit the money, but also his father’s brains. He hatches a plan to get away from his captors. What we didn’t know was the Marvel honchos were hatching a bigger plan to take our money for years to come.
A lot of the Marvel characteristics were there in this movie. Or, maybe, the success of Iron Man prompted them to repurpose these quirks in all their other films. We see a villain that is just a reflection of the hero. True, that is an action movie trope, but these are extra-ordinary characters. You can go wild with your villain characterisation. Instead, if your hero has a power, you give the villain the same power. In this case, that is an iron suit. No wonder that Jeff Bridger, with all the cigar-chomping swagger he brings to the role, just doesn’t stay in your memory.
Gwyneth Paltrow brings a surprising complexity to the role. One that stands out on re-viewing. She is an able foil. Paul Bettany turns the British stiff upper lip on its head to voice artificial intelligence Jarvis. (Did you know the name stood for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System? No wonder the English think Americans can’t speak the language!) This turned out to be a surprising fan-favourite. Terrence Howard might have been the victim of Marvel’s parsimoniousness, but I would loved to have seen him become the Iron Patriot down the line. He has the physique for it. We also get to see Clark Gregg’s iconic Phil Coulson for the first time.
The special effects still haven’t dated much. The money shots of the suit locking in may have lost its sheen due to its repeated appearance in Iron Man and Avengers movies, but seeing it for the first time made me whistle out loud. The story, while it has its flaws, is not weak. The pacing is quite breezy and Jon Favreau, the director, proves up to the task despite having very little experience other than the Christmas favourite Elf under his belt.
But then in an alternate universe there would an Iron Man movie made that didn’t star Robert Downey Jr. I wonder how that would have turned out. Downey is the heart and soul of this movie. We are introduced to a very different character. I can only think of Jack Sparrow as someone with this confidence. Downey shows how thin the line is between histrionics and showboating is, and how adept he is at remaining there. With pitch perfect dialogue delivery, a swagger that is somewhere between a ballerina and a drunk, and charisma that he was born into, Robert Downey Jr. proves to be the single reason Iron Man soars and Marvel hasn’t looked back ever since. When he declares “I am Iron Man”, he actually means “Iron Man is me!”
Stan Lee cameo: This is something very dear to me as I immediately caught the joke. Probably my most favourite cameo.
Post-credits scene: To think I missed this the first time around in the theatre! I had no idea what Avengers meant and had to Google it. You have to admire Marvel’s guts.
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