Written by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman
Rating: [3.5/5]
Profiting off war has made many men rich, where conflicts have nations and governments running towards private companies that can supply them with the necessary tools to make their points. It’s not as often that these individuals face the consequences of this profiteering and then try to do something about it. This ultimately sums up the story of Iron Man, where a man learns from his ways and tries to do good despite the profit that comes with keeping the status quo.
Billionaire CEO of Stark Industries, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) makes a tidy living by selling high-end weapons to the U.S. Department of Defense. On a trip to Afghanistan to show off his new Jericho missiles, his convoy gets hit and a terrorist group captures Stark. By devising a wearable robotic armor, he manages to find a way out of his predicament and attempts to correct the damage he has done through his company.
Watching a cocky rich guy gallivant around comes as nothing new to those who have watched comic book films as we see that aplenty with Bruce Wayne. Marvel then in 2008 sought the opportunity to bring their own Bruce Wayne to the big screen with Tony Stark. As snarky as it comes, seeing where this cinematic universe goes from this film really demonstrates an incredible feat. It all started here, with a very enjoyable and entertaining film about a character caught in the crossroads.
As with any superhero origin film, we get the basics of where they started in addition to how they end up with what makes them extraordinarily mighty. Much like Bruce Wayne, Stark does not get his abilities from falling in a pit of radioactive waste, getting bit by a spider, or being a god, but rather through sheer innovation in building out this suit. As the trailer of the film indicated, heroes do not get born, they are made and we see this with Stark not only in his ability to make this suit but the change of heart that came with owning up to what his company has done and trying to rectify it. As you can imagine, stakeholders who have long enjoyed the profits of what Stark Industries has produced have a problem with this idea, thus creating the central problem of the film.
Taking this C-list comic book character to the forefront we have Robert Downey Jr. who probably takes the cake of an actor who has taken a recurring role and embodied them so well we cannot picture anyone else taking it over. The only other person that comes close for me is Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Downey, through his portrayal, becomes Tony Stark with all the witty replies, extreme arrogance, but a heart of steel that makes this character immediately captivating to watch. He has this spiky exterior but also something much more malleable on the inside as seen through his interactions with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) that creates these layers only further deepened by the duty he takes on in donning this suit and trying to do some good.
Through this suit, Stark becomes his own weapon of mass destruction where instead of selling it off to the government for his own use, he sees this opportunity for him to make the direct decisions of what gets done with weaponry. Admittedly a terrifying idea when thinking of today’s tech billionaires suddenly taking over in this manner, but the action this film captures really digs into the destruction involved. From when his convoy gets attacked and when Stark goes back to blow some stuff up in Afghanistan, this feature keeps a razor-sharp focus on destruction and who sits behind it all. Everything with this suit feels incredibly tactile, which gets lost in the later films where practicality escapes the work it takes on putting on and taking off the suit. It adds something to this particular film as Stark still sits in the early stages of what he can do with this armor.
The beginning of something bigger than can ever be imagined, Iron Man gives us a great start to the arc of Tony Stark. Though it does not touch upon its more thought-provoking elements, the film works as both entertaining and introducing something larger than itself. We get the first instance of Robert Downey Jr. taking on his career-defining role and he got off to a great start at that. Still holding up incredibly well, this feature can be put up with most Marvel Cinematic Universe films even if the studio tried to find its footing.
Films with Josh 
