Saturday, July 19, 2008

Iron Man

Ok, now that I've reviewed Mamma Mia!, I can go back to Iron Man, which I saw what seems like a really long time ago. Is it even still in theaters? Oh well. I liked it enough where I still remember some of the details.

I'm not much of a comic-book person, so I can't really tell you about Iron Man from that perspective. However, I can tell you that it was a great movie from many aspects: good story, good character development and interaction, and good casting. And it was just plain fun. And Robert Downey, Jr. is in it, so how can you go wrong? Who cares if he had a drug problem.

I have to say that the beginning of the movie is not what I expected, I guess because I'm not familiar with comics and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). But I don't think I'd be giving too much away by saying that the story begins with Tony Stark, the very rich head of a company that develops weapons, in the Middle East, confronted in a situation involving a weapon made by his company, Stark Industries. What happens to him because of this weapon is what leads him to become Iron Man. Iron Man's mission then becomes, ironically, to get rid of all such weapons, including the ones produced by his own company. This creates some problems with other people in the company.

I love that Terrence Howard is in this movie as Tony Stark's best friend, Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes. His friendship with Tony is an interesting one, almost strange in its closeness, and he adds levity to the story. I also love that Gwyneth Paltrow is in this movie as Tony's assistant, Pepper Potts. I haven't seen her in a movie in a long time. And it took me quite a while to even realize it was her in this movie, with her red hair! Something about her demeanor in this film is much more alluring than I remember her being in other films.

I'll leave it at that since I don't want to say too much. Suffice it to say that there is something for everyone in this movie. You want action? You want romance? You want to see hot guys? Hot girls? A good storyline, especially for a super hero, comic book flick? You got it.

Oh, and one more thing. Stay until the VERY end of the credits. If you have to pee, go when the credits start rolling, but go back to the theater.

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