Movie review: Iron Man
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 02, 2008 
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Day game in Minneapolis, night game tomorrow. Good time for a movie, especially when there’s a theater across the street from the hotel.
The choice was Iron Man. The Carl Pavano story? Alas, no. Turns out it was even better than that. I loved it.
Robert Downey Jr. is the best movie superhero in recent times. It was brilliant casting because he’s not what you expect. The guy who played Charlie Chaplin as Iron Man? He plays off his own character flaws in a way that makes you want to root for him.
The supporting cast is note perfect. Terrence Howard is the cool sidekick. Gwyneth Paltrow, hot as ever, is the supportive girlfriend. Jeff Bridges is the evil villain and Leslie Bibb is top-notch as the eye candy who drops in from time to time. They’re all gleefully committed to it. You get the idea that director Jon Favreau made it fun.
There’s some actual acting in this comic book movie, not just a bunch of explosions and CGI. The end came together a little quick. Like a lot of movies, the writers have a good idea but can’t quite figure out how to put a bow on it. And of course they kicked a door to the sequel wide, wide open. Stay around after the credits, by the way.
You’ll walk away entertained and less furious than usual that you paid $4.50 for a soda. Iron Man will continue to get primo word-of-mouth and will bury the tedious Indiana Jones this summer. Downey is twice as cool as Harrison Ford.
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Meanwhile, the trailer for The Dark Knight makes you want to see if they’re selling tickets now.
I agree; Iron Man was awesome. Indiana Jones was LAME.
“Downey is twice as cool as Harrison Ford”
how would that have sounded 15 years ago?
Haven’t watched Indiana Jones, but I didn’t like Iron Man the same reason I didn’t like Spiderman: the story.
I could tell what’s coming, and the fight in the end…ver weak.
Batman Begins is the real good superhero movie in recent years, so I’m really looking forward to The Dark Knight.
Hope it doesn’t disappoint me.
Iron Man is going to get word of mouth?
Great prediction, the movie has been out for 3 weeks now and has made over 200M.
I predict Titanic will make a billion dollars.
lol agree with the first comment
indy tied up the loose ends and was total crap while iron man was predictable but still very good
The story line behind the new Indy Jones movie was really really bad. It was like Indy Jones meets star wars it sucked!
Did anyone see how funny Downey was on the MTV Movie Awards…the skit with him Jack Black and Ben Stiller was really funny.
patrick bateman, everyone! he’ll be here all week! tip your waitress.
spot-on review, pete. enjoyed it immensely.
“Gwyneth Paltrow, hot as ever…” – ill, she’s nasty and pasty….I can think of about a billion other girls that are hotter than her. She’s almost as ugly as Sarah Jessica Parker.
There was nothing sexy about Gwyneth and I hope she doesn’t get cast for another superhero movie, EVER!!!!!
There was some stuff about Iron Man i really liked probably no one noticed. It was a VERY bleak movie, however. Some of the product placement was genius. I wonder if anyone besides me noticed, though.
Indy was the better movie, by far. There were some ILM “Star Wars: Episode 1″ cheeseball touches, like those stupid groundhogs, but the story was classic Indy all the way. I’ll take your Gwyneth and raise you an awesome villanous Cate Blanchett. Also, any movie with a chase scene filmed on the New Haven green will always be cooler than any other.
“Robert Downey Jr. is the best movie superhero in recent times.”
Pete,
You are crazy. No one can sniff Bale’s Batman. And you even mention the Dark Knight as if to say, “I did think of Bale, but I still think Downey Jr. is better.”
You should write a brief column apologizing to your readers.
Downey, Jr. was good, Bale is better. Batman Begins is by far the best comic book movie in recent times, ahead of Spiderman 1 and 2 and Iron Man. Iron Man was a very good film though. I’ll definately be seeing the sequel when it comes out in ’10.
The problem with Indy was the ending, what a mess of an ending. The beginning was great though, true Indiana Jones style. By the middle of the film it just started rolling down-hill and couldn’t recover.
Pete,
Gus G and the rest of your readers with a pulse require a retraction. The claim that Downey Jr. is better than Bale is nonsense.
Harrison Ford is still the coolest. But Iron Man was better, although a little bit scattered without enough character development.
I haven’t seen Iron Man yet, but I watched the entire Indiana Jones movie with a goofy smile on my face, and that’s the point.
Indiana Jones and aliens just didnt mix. I remember maybe 10 years ago when they first started talking about a 4th Indy movie that he was going to be looking for Atlantis. That would have made a much better movie than weird alien crystal skulls.
Thanks for the movie review, Pete.
I have always been a fan of Robert Downey, Jr. and I am glad he was able to turn his life around. He has way too much talent. Glad to hear he makes a good superhero too.
I probably won’t see this one until it is on DVD. Once a movie is past the opening weekend, I usually start to lose interest.
I will, however, go see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening when it opens on Friday the 13th. I know a lot of people think he is overrated and his movies are not all that great, but I like his storytelling and the suspense. He also chooses a good composer (unlike the dreadful movie I just watched last night: There Will Be Blood).
Jay
The only thing I would say is that once you go extraterrestrial with your plot line, it sets a pretty high bar for anything else you might want to do. If they do an Indiana Jones 5 (like they were planning on doing,) it will be interesting to see where they go with it. Hopefully not into outer space.
Iron man was great! Of course I didn’t stick around after the credits. A link to what happened? Or can anyone tell me. Oh yea, Dark Knight looks like the greatest movie this year. Heath Ledger will chill your bones.
Please tell me that everyone who saw Iron Man stayed all the way through the credits and saw the scene with Samuel L. Jackson? Excellent set-up. BTW, Iron Man, IMHO, was excellent.
The first batman movie sucked guys be real. If you compare that to this movie or any of the other batman movies especially Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns.
I liked Indy. I hadn’t heard they were committed to a fifth film, that’s cool. I think it’s funny to hear people say they can’t believe there were aliens in an Indiana Jones movie, and in the next breath praise a movie about a guy who can get to mach speeds with jet engines set in the palms of his hands and soles of his feet. Relaxe and enjoy the story folks. Iron Man was good too. It was the best movie I’ve seen Downey Jr. in.
“The guy who played Charlie Chaplin as Iron Man?”
I think you need to learn a little bit about Charlie Chaplin.
Im sill mad that favreau cut out the Ghostface Killah cameo.
Oh, and Indy–not great, but not a total debacle. It wins extra points for a running time that was under two hours (I think it’s 117 minutes). I’ll give Spielberg credit for knowing how to find his way to the editing suite, unlike too many other directors today.
indy was garbage. iron man great. dark knight looks amazing.
i’m not really a fan of these super hero movies, but after reading Pete’s review, I may make it a point to see ironman. I won’t see batman 12 (or whatever number they’re up to now)
Gus, Ill have to disagree with you.
Bale makes a great BATMAN. But his Bruce Wayne was not as good as Michael Keaton’s. Downey Jr set the standard again for Superhero roles. He carried the film. Tony Stark is a bit more complex of a character than Batman. Stark does more than being Iron Man, Batmnan plays being Bruce Wayne..
Indy was quite bad.. Those gophers reminded me of Caddyshack.
# Gus G. June 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 am
Downey, Jr. was good, Bale is better. Batman Begins is by far the best comic book movie in recent times, ahead of Spiderman 1 and 2 and Iron Man. Iron Man was a very good film though. I’ll definately be seeing the sequel when it comes out in ‘10.
The problem with Indy was the ending, what a mess of an ending. The beginning was great though, true Indiana Jones style. By the middle of the film it just started rolling down-hill and couldn’t recover.
I’ve been in captivity for three months; there’s two things I want:
An American Cheeseburger, and…call a press conference immediately.
Let’s go, cheeseburger first.
“Gwyneth Paltrow, hot as ever”
Meaning she isn’t hot, right.
Cause she sure ain’t pretty.
If Gwyneth Paltrow is “hot” (thin and insipid) and Leslie Bibb (scrawny, built like a runner — you know what I’m getting at but this is a G-rated blog) is the eye candy, then there’s not a lot of lovely feminine visual for the boys to ogle in this one — sounds like the CSI:NY of the superhero genre.
Give me Kirsten Dunst in the rain any day!
And that superb trailer for The Dark Knight makes me wonder why in the heck Chris Nolan and the studio wanted such a random opening date (July 18) when it could make a mint on July 4 weekend.
Bale has played the best Batman ever, and Batman Begins is the best Batman and superhero movie ever made.
I enjoyed Iron Man, but I don’t think it deserved the great reviews it got. It was good, and entertaining; but it was also very predictable. Not to mention all the one liners were kind of cliche and lame. It was an entertaining movie, and it was worth going to see, but I don’t think it was nearly deservant of all the rave reviews at all. Downey was good, but not excellent.
I havent seen Indy yet but im a HUGE fan, so i’ve been told not to see this one lol. People are complaining about aliens being in the new movie… so what? You don’t think all the other movies had some outrageous features in it? The temple of doom? Cups that make you younger? c’mon now… but again i haven’t seen the new one.
Personally, I can’t wait for the new batman
b_perlow,
Thats ok to disagree. I’m not saying I disliked Downey as Stark. He was made for the role, it fit him perfectly. I just feel Bale as Batman and Bruce Wayne was better. Both movies were cut from a different cloth though. Iron Man was much more popcorn fun(but not overly cheesy like Spiderman) whereas Batman Begins (and apparently Dark Knight) are much much darker. I’m a bigger fan of the darker movies, but I did love Iron Man.
On a sidenote I am one day hoping for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that is as dark and graphically oriented to the original comics. You know, the comics where Splinter essentially trained the turtles to be hired assassins to seek his own revenge, and the turtles actually killed numerous people… And Michaelangelo WASN’T a surfer dude, he was a poet. Ah, the good ole’ days (1984). Haha.
iron man wasnt all i had expected, could have been better
and i think indy jones and aliens mixed perfectly.