Iron Man is a thoughtful, character-driven film

By Dan Hudak

Talk to the bionics, not to the face: Robert Downey Jr. stars in Iron Man

It takes about three minutes for the first explosion in Iron Man, and with it comes a loud, prophetic bang indicating the start of the summer movie season. Considering that the next few months will be filled with visual effects and mindless entertainment, director Jon Favreau’s (Zathura) film is surprisingly character-driven and thoughtful, two things some studio execs consider the death toll for any summer fare.

Although the story takes a while to get going, playful playboy billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a welcome relief from the brooding superhero alter egos (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) that lurk in the Marvel Comics pantheon. Stark is a middle-aged, irresponsible womanizer who doesn’t think twice about the dangers of the weapons he manufactures falling into the wrong hands. That is, until he’s kidnapped by Middle Eastern terrorists and wakes up in a cave with an electromagnet attached to his chest.

Stark is told to build a missile, but he has a better idea: Use the energy of the electromagnet to create an iron suit that will allow him to escape. He does, and Iron Man is born. Then, realizing the harm his artillery has done, Stark announces that his company will no longer manufacture weapons, which comes as a great shock to business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) and the military liaison who relied on his handiwork, Colonel Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard). 

It’s a good 45 minutes into the 126-minute movie before there’s any semblance of an Iron Man suit, and those hoping to see the sleek red-and-yellow outfit of the action figure will have to wait until much later. There isn’t a lack of action per se — an impressive mid-air battle between Iron Man and two F-22 fighter planes, and various skyscraping excursions make sure of that — but, similar to the “origins” story of Batman Begins, the movie is really about Tony Stark creating Iron Man, and with that comes a lot of Downey’s charm.

In fact, Downey is the reason Iron Man is a success. We need to like Stark in order to root for Iron Man, and Downey’s charisma and quick quips (“Remember me?” a pretty woman asks him; “Sure don’t,” he replies without missing a beat) make Stark believable as a genius and likeable as a man. He’s also adorable enough for his loyal assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), to put up with him, and as he creates the second version of the suit and pledges to fight evil, we’re with him every step of the way.

Downey has said he’d like to play Stark again, and given that this is the first film Marvel Comics has financed on its own, there’s little doubt the studio would like the same. This helps explain why the flash and wow factors herein, while impressive, are also somewhat scarce: There’s no sense in revealing all your tricks in part one when there’s money to be made with parts two and three. Thankfully, in this case, we’ll be happy for more.