IMDB Top 250: Iron Man (2008)

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a playboy. He is also the owner of Stark Industries, a company that he inherited from his father. He is also a genius engineer when it comes to making weapons. This is good because Stark Industries is the primary provider of weapons to the U.S. military. On a trip to Afghanistan to show off his new weapons system, Starks convey is attacked and Stark is captured by rebel insurgents. During the attack he is hit by shrapnel and is in danger of dying if the pieces left in his body reach his heart. To counter act this he builds a device that magnetically protects his heart. Meanwhile the insurgents want him to build them a missile system just like the one he was showing off. Hilarity ensues when he decides to build himself a suit, a suit of iron.

Trivia: Rachel McAdams was Jon Favreau's first choice to play Pepper Potts, but she turned the role down. The role eventually went to Gweneth Paltrow. Jon Favreau describes the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman, with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, RoboCop, and Batman Begins." In the comics, Tony Stark participated (and became Iron Man) in the Vietnam War; later this was retconned to the Gulf War. In this film, the character's origin was retconned to Afghanistan, as Jon Favreau did not wish to make the film a period piece but instead give it a realistic contemporary look. Stan Lee, the creator of Iron Man, had originally based Tony Stark on Howard Hughes, whom he felt was "one of the most colourful men of our time: an inventor, an adventurer, a multimillionaire, a ladies man and finally a nutcase." Robert Downey Jr. further described his portrayal of Stark as "a challenge of making a wealthy, establishmentarian, weapons-manufacturing, hard-drinking, womanizing prick into a character who is likable and a hero." To prepare for his role as Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape. In the scene where Pepper discovers Tony removing the damaged Iron Man armor, you can clearly see Captain America's shield partially constructed on a workbench. This same scene was shown in many trailers, but the image of the shield was edited out. To prepare for his role as Obadiah Stane, Jeff Bridges read some of the "Iron Man" comic books that featured Stane, and grew a goatee and shaved his head (which he said was something he always wanted to do). Gwyneth Paltrow only needed to travel 15 minutes to get to the studio. She claimed that this is a part of the reason she took the role, as she could be home with her two children during the entire shoot. The comic book version of Jarvis is a human, Jeeves-like butler, serving Tony Stark and the Avengers, the superhero team Iron Man helped to found. In the film, Jarvis has been re-imagined as an artificial intelligence. According to Peter David's novelization, "JARVIS" is an acronym that stands for "Just A Really Very Intelligent System."

As I said a few time I think, Marvel Comic adaptations need to be judged on their own merit, compared to other Marvel Comics adaptations. In that context Iron Man is a great film. We aren't talking Oscar worthy or anything but that is not what they were going for. On the other hand, this also fits into the Summer Blockbuster category. It fits well there too. This is just a very fun film to watch. It is amazing what a good actor can do for a film and Robert Downey, Jr. is, among other things, a very good actor. He really makes this film. It just wouldn't be the same without him. Gweneth Paltrow is very cute in her role as Stark's secretary/assistant Pepper Potts (what a great name).

Here are some things to look for: Stan Lee's cameo, he said it was his most fun cameo. Be on the look out for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Engagement and Logistics Division. The characters have fun making fun of it. And by all means, stay till the end after the credits for one last scene, you won't be disappointed.

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