Sleek, stylish, suave, and sarcastic, Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark, the man inside the suit. Iron Man, the film, catapulted through the summer box office, annihilating expectations and pushing standards, living up to the norm of the modern day Marvel Comics adaptation. The plot has been seen before. An underestimated man becomes a hero through his noble quest to quell evil and avenge his own personal slight; but Iron Man stands out by creating a charismatic hero who not only attacks evil abroad, but also defies the very government and agencies with which he was previously allied.
America loves a rebel. From James Bond to Han Solo, there are few characters on the silver screen more desirable than those who can strut through life with swagger, deliver a killer punch line, and most importantly, kick some serious ass. The protagonist in this film, Stark, is of the same breed. Arrogant and silver-tongued, this billionare, weapon-designing expert seems to spend as much time wooing women as he does putting his genius to good work.
Stark's conceit and his indifference toward the destruction his work yields is curbed when he is captured by rebels (the bad ones) during a visit to the Middle East to promote a new product, one of deadliest ever created. During his capture, he injures his heart and must rely on a self-made device to keep him alive. He also learns that these rebels have attained some of his weapons; they try to force him to create this new, blood-smearing weapon for them. The crafty Stark instead conceives and creates the notion for his impenetrable suit, and uses it to escape, yet fails to kill the antagonist in the process.
Stark's epiphany at the chaos his hands have caused and his new suit, which was destroyed soon after his escape, push Stark to break from his weapon creation and instead focus on creating a new, unfathomably durable and destructive suit. Using this newer, noble weapon, Stark begins his self-motivated and righteous tour of revenge and philanthropy that movie watchers have become so accustomed to.
Where Iron Man breaks the mold is in its relevance to the contemporary world. The foe of the original Iron Man comics was Russia, the common adversaries of the Cold War period. In this adaptation, the enemies are in the Middle East, a place that is home to much of the world's contention. Also, in an acclaimed roll, Downey is a perfect actor for this vigilante, as this movie is a practical vengeance for him against society - a society that so easily sloughed him off as just another star-struck Hollywood actor who couldn't resist the temptations of fame. Downey, however, overcame addictions to both drugs and alcohol and whipped himself into shape to play a man who is slowly becoming a new idol in the eyes of those enamored with the superhuman.
The DVD itself is loaded with exciting special features including "the making of Iron Man." This film is as good as the great action of superhero films out there today. A-
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