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May 08
I’ve been unreasonably excited about Iron Man for weeks. This is weird, since I’ve never been a huge fan of the books. My imagination was, from my earliest comics-collecting days until now, been captured by different heroes, from the purely relatable (Spider-Man) to the dark and brooding, mysterious type (Batman, Wolverine) to the sexy imitable (Gambit, Nick Fury) to the simply alien and fascinating (Hulk, Beast, Mystique). Iron Man was never on my list of cool superheroes. He is, after all, just a rich dude in a mechanical suit.
He’s also been such a goddamn good guy. Every time there’s a crossover throwdown between books, it’s Iron Man on the side the government, of The Man, while heroes I love are fighting against him. He did, after all, found the Avengers, the most whitebread superhero group of all time outside of Superfriends, whose duty has been for the past 30 years, more or less, to follow around the Hulk and make sure he doesn’t fuck up too many civilians. Iron Man has, at times, toed the good-guy line in the face of such dissenting upstart rebels as Captain America. Let me reiterate: Captain America has been Iron Man’s bad boy.
But Iron Man is awesome, for the simple reason that his alter-ego Tony Stark is awesome. I would read a book or watch a movie about Tony Stark even if you removed Iron Man completely from the equation. He’s that interesting.
To wit: Tony Stark is a brilliant, insanely rich, incredibly talented man whose life, livelihood and hero aspirations are inextricably bound to a company founded by his father, Howard Stark, whose legacy pervades and informs the company’s current status—even though Tony is clearly more moral, more intelligent and more driven than his dad. Tony will forever live under his shadow.
There’s also the issue of very serious alcoholism, which the movie didn’t fully address. In the comics, Tony is a full-fledged functional alcoholic, to the point of suiting up as Iron Man and causing unintentional destruction because he’s so sozzled. He’s deeply, deeply flawed, and his flaws are almost entirely because of his ties to the bottle. For instance:
And:
Like I said, the movie doesn’t fully address this, and although the first time we see Stark, he’s guzzling Scotch in a Humvee, he later graduates to what looks like wheatgrass, his booze disappearing as he embraces heroics. But if they’re going to continue making movies, and they are, it’s something they’re going to have to tackle to remain true to character. It’s also something Robert Downey, Jr. is fully equipped to play.
And Downey makes this movie. If there was ever a role that a career full of imbibing, wisecracking bastards prepared him for, this is it. I’m totally serious when I say that no actor has ever lived up to big-screen comic book expectations in the way that Downey has. Sure, Christian Bale is a good Batman, and Tobey McGuire a decent Spider-Man—and from what I’ve seen, Heath Ledger is going to break the mold for the Joker—but Downey is Stark. He’s hilarious and fully believable as a brilliant, disconnected rich genius, because that’s who Downey is, down to the substance abuse and famous father.
There are flaws in the movie, sure, and they’re numerous. It’s too long, for one thing, and the climactic fight, although awesome and somewhat necessary, feels a bit corollary to the origin story. The politics are well-meaning but sloppy, and the writers passed up a real chance to make some relevant commentary about American involvement in the Middle East. But there hasn’t yet been a superhero movie that I’ve enjoyed more. The writing is tighter, the casting is better and the story is unspooled more capably than even my favorite comics-cum-films. (A lot of this may have to do with the fact that Iron Man is the first film Marvel produced independently, without the aegis of another studio. This means less studio wanks giving lousy input, and more nods to pure comics dorks, such as the wicked reveal in the last ten minutes, which I’ll not spoil but that had me elbowing my wife with glee.) Jeff Bridges is delightful to watch and listen to, The Dude turned Machiavellian, and for the first time ever, I didn’t want to pull Gwyneth Paltrow down from the screen and beat her to death. That’s saying a lot.
Finally, this is one comic book movie that actually interested my wife, who puts up with my nerdiness but only occasionally indulges me with lengthy backstory explanation. Even rarer is genuine interest on her part, and Iron Man sparked it by a lot. She even, when I mentioned the Avengers, wanted to know who Ant-Man was. She grabbed my hand during the penultimate scene where Stark is finally suited up in the red and gold armor, and I thought, This might be the first time ever that Iron Man has gotten somebody laid. And that’s a miracle.
Posted by: Aaron Retka in Film | Permalink
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2 Responses to “Dear haters, here’s why Iron Man is the best comic-book movie ever.”
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i hear ya man, and i fully agree. although a have to say i love me some dark night, but i have always loved the batman! iron man is a truly awesome representation of the comic, and the fantastic character that is stark. i mean Robert Downy Jr? who else? seen it twice already. comic book movies seem to be big business these days. there is a new Hulk movie with Edward Norton, AND there is another great frank miller movie coming out soon. i wait with baited breath. but the batman rules all!
I was never a Marvel guy. I was always way more into DC and only followed the Marvel heroes by way of the shows that would air on FOX in the afternoon. Anyway, I took my son to see this and we both freaked out. When it comes to superhero movies, this was second only to Batman Begins for me (nudging out The Incredibles). We immediately went and bought some action figures and reenacted scenes at home.
I hear that Edgar Wright is making Ant-Man after he’s done with Scott Pilgrim.
Also, did you stay for the scene after the credits?