Iron Man

“Iron Man”

USA. 2008. Directed by Jon Favreau. Screenplay by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Based on comic book characters created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Sayed Badreya, Bill Smitrovich and Clark Gregg.

Rating: ★★★½

It was only a matter of time before Hollywood realized how classic comic books can make such rich, ideal source material for intelligent, full-blooded blockbusters when done right. Richard Donner started it first in Superman back in 1978, Sam Raimi raised the bar in the new millennium in his first two Spider-Man films and Christopher Nolan re-energized the increasingly lifeless Batman franchise in Batman Begins. Now here is actor turned director Jon Favreau as the unlikely man to reinvigorate another superhero thought to be forgotten in Iron Man.

Diehard comic book fans would know that Iron Man was one of the earlier Marvel superheroes from the 1960s but this first cinematic adaptation keenly updates him and his alter ego, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to the current postmodern age of military warfare. In fact, the opening act of the film has that Catch-22 feel reminiscent of Andrew Niccol’s Lord of War as it introduces Stark as a rich, womanizing owner of a large weapons manufacturer. His weapons are only supposed to support the American military fighting in Afghanistan but the chaos of war never provides any means to ensure that it stays in their hands.

Stark finally comprehends that when he is captured after a surprise military attack from the Taliban. He was originally there to give a military demonstration of his latest weapon but while in captivity sees firsthand that the guerillas can have just as easy access to his products, too. Thankfully, he is also a highly resourceful man who, with another fellow captive, Yinsen (Shaun Toub), plans and succeeds at an escape by building a bulletproof metallic suit armed with small missiles and rockets to make him fly. When he comes home, he decides to perfect his body suit while having a change of heart about making destructive weapons.

All of this may sound a little too serious for a summer movie but it is easy to forget that the comic book is really a serious art form, too, with greater emphasis on the human flesh and blood dimensionality behind the mask (as originally enlivened by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby). Favreau and his writers, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway respect that tradition here and are not afraid to sell their superhero as one that battles with his smarts and not his might and not against just a cartoonish adversary but a real world of political hot zones. It is also a great asset for them that Robert Downey Jr. is simply fantastic in perfectly balancing the humorously playful aspects of his hedonistic billionaire persona and his emotional and physical heroic transformation into seeing the errors of his moneymaking ways and becoming Iron Man.

None of this is to say that the film is without its impressive CGI, of course, and Stark’s initial trial and error stages of perfecting his crude Iron Man suit provide the similarly relatable, crowd-pleasing appeal that Bruce Wayne offered in Batman Begins. The visual effects are all seamless though the final climactic battle does slightly pale to Iron Man’s sensational escape sequence and another where he flies in to save a group of Afghan refugees (partly because the real villain of the story is easy to guess). But the effects are all the more memorable because they are so compellingly inhabited by the actors, particularly Downey Jr. when we see his gee-whiz wonder reactions to the computer displays behind the Iron Man helmet. They are also never chaotically overloaded like last summer’s “robotic” film, Transformers.

A top-flight supporting cast is just as crucial to add further dimension to the world of the superhero and a clear standout is Gwyneth Paltrow who does some of her best and most vivacious work in years as Stark’s sassy, long-time personal assistant, Pepper Potts. Of course, we know that Stark as a changed man will come to really fall for the only girl who really sticks by his side and the two generate some electric chemistry in their snappy, witty navigation between the professional and the romantic. The ever dependable Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges also provide able support as Stark’s best friend, Jim Rhodes, and business partner/mentor, Obadiah Stane, respectively (a double-take from Howard in particular in his admiration for Stark’s body suit generates some big laughs).

Favreau previously directed the surprisingly enjoyable Will Ferrell vehicle, Elf and the space adventure, Zathura but Iron Man is a big stride forward for him as a director who can handle spectacle pictures as well. One can sense his boyish ardor for the comic book medium and, unlike Neil Marshall’s recent disappointing homage to post-apocalyptic B-movies Doomsday, his equally palpable love for the cinema trusts the roots of classical storytelling to sweep in non-readers into the comic book feel. His zeal for both mediums translates well to make more fans out of those not familiar with the man of iron, who, for my money, is far more intriguing than anything the man of steel has been up to lately.