Movie Review: Iron Man

As a kid Iron Man was my favorite comic book (or the Avengers for whom of course Iron Man was a founding member). I liked Iron Man because Tony Stark was just this guy with no super powers or anything. In fact he was very human. He had a bad heart and was kept alive by a pacemaker, and he had a drinking problem. Of course he was also a billionaire, playboy, mechanical engineering genius. And as we all know, he builds this incredible suit of armor that allows him to go toe to toe with the toughest bad guys in the Marvel universe and hold his own with guys like Thor and Hercules. I liked that he was always tinkering with his armor and creating improvements and refinements.

Sometimes because of his human failings he needed his friends to prop him up, even to the point of his pal Jim Rhodes putting on the armor and assuming the role for a couple of times. Also, the artists hit a homer with the crimson and gold avenger design. His armor just looked so cool.

So to the film. I took the two best critics I know, my wife and daughter. The daughter knew the storyline a little, and the wife not at all.

Bottom line, we were all three blown away and loved the movie. Visually and effects-wise it is amazing. Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic as Tony Stark. His chemistry with his secretary Pepper Potts (Paltrow) is smoking hot. There are lots of funny bits along the way as he designs his armor and works the bugs out of it. My daughter said it was by far the best superhero movie she has seen (and she has seen them all). My wife thought it was great and actually wooo-hooo’d out loud a couple of times. And it is pretty hard to make her go wooo-hoooo.

But by far the best part of the movie, and something that I hope indicates that learning has finally occurred, is the movie stays true to the original story. OK, they modernized it a bit, but they recognized that the original story is great and they told it. Unlike the last X-men movie (what the hell was that) and don’t even get me started on the Hulk. These old Marvel plotlines are so good just tell them and you will have a hit.

So Ragnar says enjoy, two thumbs way freakin’ up, 5 stars, two snaps and a shaboom, whatever you want. What they do to the Shelby Cobra is wrong, but funny. And if you haven’t heard it a thousand times by now, stick around for the spoiler after the credits.