FeedsIton reigns
Comic book adaptation is near flawless
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Iron Man is faithful to the long tradition of the comic book seriesTranslating a comic book character to the silver screen has always been a hit or miss proposal.
‘Hits’ include fantastic films like the first two Spider-man movies and Hellboy, whereas misses include bombs like Daredevil and Electra.
Put Iron Man, the first blockbuster of the summer, in the former category. As a film, it is pretty good and as a comic book adaptation, it’s virtually perfect.
The details of Iron Man’s story have changed throughout the decades, but the premise has remained the same: a wealthy industrialist creates a high-tech suit and uses it to fight evil and, occasionally, keep himself alive.
Enter Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, head of Stark Industries, a genius inventor who constructed his first circuit board when he was 4, his first engine in his early teens and who graduated from MIT at the tender age of 17. Downey Jr is a perfect chance to play Stark, who is essentially a fast-talking, sarcastic alcoholic. He strikes the right tone in both his answers to hard-hitting questions from reporter Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibbs) and his banter with his robots in his home-based lab.
Stark has a bit of an awakening on a trip to the Middle East to display his new ‘Jericho’ missile. His convoy is ambushed in Afghanistan and he is gravely wounded (by a Stark Industries bomb, one of several laugh out loud moments in the film). He wakes up attached to a car battery with a sort of electronic magnet installed in his chest to keep the shrapnel away from his heart.
The terrorists who captured him demand that he build them one of his Jericho missiles, but Stark has something else in mind. After replacing the magnet with an arc reactor, he builds a suit out of scrap metal and uses it to escape.
His time in captivity—surrounded by weapons he designed to help Americans, not kill them—changes him, though. He publicly declares that Stark Industries will no longer manufacture weapons and then sets out to perfect the suit that saved his life.
The supporting cast is just as solid. Jeff Bridges is a suitably menacing Obadiah Stane, Stark’s business partner who is not too keen on the new direction of the company. Gwyneth Paltrow is the ever-competent Pepper Potts, Stark’s personal assistant. Terrance Howard brings a subdued competence to Lt. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes.
Director Jon Favreau claims to be a fan of the comic and it shows here. He focuses more on the characters and the motivations leading to the construction of the Iron Man suit than simply provided a special effects laden piece of eye candy. He allows the film to poke a little fun at itself and some of the more outrageous ‘excuses’ Stark came up with to explain away his metal guardian to more than four decades worth of comic book fans.
The result is a film that is more than just a string of explosions and one-liners, more than a collection of faceless robots squaring off. It’s a solid foundation for a new franchise and sets a high bar for summer films.
