On a whole, it was a good action and superhero movie. If you're into that sort of thing, it's worth a watch. It's also a worthy-addition to the library of Marvel movies and I think it retains the good parts of The Avengers movie (and the bad parts too) while at the same time, differentiating itself as an Iron Man movie.
The action sequences were excellent - well-done, well-coordinated and well-paced. Every half an hour or so, there'll be a sequence that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. There's this really interesting gimmick where Tony Stark can sort of summon parts of his armor to him using some magnets he implanted on himself which is utilized to full effectiveness and to maximum coolness.
The performances were quite good. Robert Downey Jr pulls off the snarky smug lines with aplomb. The movie also gives him a chance to exhibit a more vulnerable side, I guess, and its interesting to see. His relationship with his former assistant, now-wife/fiancee, Pepper Potts (the most retarded name in the history of history) is strained somewhat, and the movie explores the dynamics of their relationship in a very interesting way. Speaking of Pepper Potts, Gwyneth Paltrow looked really great in the movie. Her acting was okay, I guess.
I think that the direction the movie was going for was great. The movie centres around Tony Stark dealing with his demons - the ones he created in the past when he was (more of an) asshole, and the newly-created ones which come about as a result of the Iron Man suit, and the stark (heh) reality of what is out there, which is a great callback to the climax of The Avengers movie. It's about a man being pushed to the brink, and struggling to hold on to what's important in his life.
It sounds really cool on paper, but the problems with the movie is that it doesn't push this idea far enough. If you're going to go dark, you need to go all the way. While Tony Stark does grow and change in the movie, this all feels superficial. I'm not sure whether it's a result of poor execution, or poor storytelling, but yeah, it all felt quite hollow. Imagine a really nice cake, with great icing and all...but the cake itself tastes bland.
The antagonist of the movie, and the general plot line is quite weak. It makes sense, and has some really good ideas, such as the re-imagination of The Mandarin, but it wasn't pushed enough. Maybe I'm expecting to much from an action flick, but it'd be nice if the bad guys had been developed better.
A big part of making a blockbuster, is that it has to satisfy the expectations of the normal consumer. It can't be too complicated, and it HAS to have really great action scenes. This means that the characters make really really questionable decisions simply because it sets up the action. For example, at the end, Pepper Potts kicks ass...simply to give her an opportunity to do so. The superficial stuff take precedence over the important stuff, at times, and in my mind, I'm thinking..."Why didn't you just do that instead, and finished the bad guy off?" Some of the things that transpire just leave you scratching your head, or in my case, pointing my middle finger at the screen.
On the whole, Iron Man is a good movie. It's smart, well-produced, well-shot, well-executed, but it's hampered by the need to have complicated action sequences and the fear of pushing the characters too far for the comfort of the regular-movie goer. If you see yourself as just a dude who wants to watch a nice blockbuster, then this is perfect. If you're more discerning, then lower your expectations, and enjoy the nice ride.
Here, enjoy some nice Avengers and Iron Man fanart. After the fanart, I'll be talking about more specific points of the movie, and there will be spoilers, so if you intend to watch it, turn back here.
I think a problem with the story is that it scratches the surface of many issues which are relevant today, but it doesn't go any deeper. There's a conspiracy going on, and there's terrorism involved, and there's some evil ex-girlfriend involved...all interesting ideas which doesn't really come together, and doesn't really fit nicely with the overall theme of Iron Man confronting his demons. Maybe it was their idea to not dive into certain details...but the thing is, they did try to elaborate on certain things...but barely.
Tony Stark doesn't really grow in the movie either. In the beginning, it looked really promising - he was having problems with Pepper Potts, he was developing an unhealthy obsession over his Iron Man costumes, and it's revealed that he was experiencing some anxiety-disorder post-Avengers. What he goes through in this movie doesn't really address those issues. He is presented with a problem (terrorist messing with him), and he overcomes it but not in a way which deals with his existing issues (his psychological and relationship).
When Tony Stark decides to destroy all his suits, it feels like a cheap throwaway movie which was not earned. And this move feels even more needless because we know for sure that he'll put on this suits again, somehow, and that will be the plot of the subsequent movie.
Another poor decision was the move to turn the movie into a sort-of therapy session by Tony Stark. The movie begins with him taking us back to 1999, to his past. It feels quite personal and intense. Fast-forward to the end of the movie, where Marvel usually show some post-credit teaser. Instead of showing the usual cool teaser of the upcoming movies, they show Tony talking to a psychiatrist. It's revealed that he's been talking to a psychiatrist the whole time. And the psychiatrist was asleep. What the shit. Maybe they added this post-production to add a whole new layer of "depth" to the movie, but it felt like a cheap method of exposition.
There's also this weird comic-like credit sequence at the end where they go through the stars of the show, reprising the cooler scenes, with cool music in the background. It's nice and well-made...but it's not what the movie is. It's in total conflict with the struggles Tony Stark goes through, and it feels like an easy way of making the audience think that the past 2 hours were cooler than it actually was, when in fact, the movie was darker. Again, I suspect that this is a post-production add on.
On a deeper level, I guess this is what happens when a movie is moulded by the hands of many, with the express purpose of making excellent profit. It was good but it was mired down by the things which make a movie profitable. It's kind of ironic (heh), but as they say in Hollywood, "That's Hollywood".
And that's it for me. If you've read all the way, then thank you. I think I wrote a bit too much. Reading back, I think I went on for too long on certain things, but I did say what I wanted to say. I was thinking of cutting out too much things, but I didn't in the end, because I didn't know what I could cut out. I hope you enjoyed my review and if you have any thoughts, do comment. My writing style is...lacking, but I'm optimistic that if I do this enough, I'll make a breakthrough.
See you tomorrow. Same time. 1145.
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