- Before seeing Iron Man, I knew only four things about Tony Stark: he was rich, he was alcoholic, he was in the Avengers, and he had a metal suit. Given these facts, I never really felt compelled to learn anything further. After all, how could a character like that ever be more interesting than, say, Spider-Man, Hulk, or the Fantastic Four? As it happens, the answer is simple. Iron Man could become more interesting than any of the other Marvel superheroes by appearing in a great movie.
- As the film opens, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is drinking and clowning around in a troop transport on tour through Afghanistan. One imagines this to be a typical afternoon in the life of a weapons manufacturer until, in a rapid sequence of events, the caravan is bombed and Stark is badly injured. When he awakens, he's attached to a life-saving electromagnet designed by the noble scientist Yinsen (Shaun Toub). Like Stark, Yinsen is being held captive by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings, whose leader (Faran Tahir) is interested in getting his hands on even more of that famous Stark Industries weaponry. Tony builds a weapon alright, but it's not the one his captors are expecting. Yinsen's dying words to Stark? "Don't waste your life."
- Perhaps needless to say, Tony returns home a changed man. His loyal and lovelorn secretary Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and good friend Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes (Terrence Howard) are just happy to have him back. His business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is all smiles too, but he really wishes Tony would cut out that talk about mothballing the weapons division. Finally, a story breaks reporting that Stark weapons were used in the destruction of Yinsen's hometown. Tony's father once told him that "peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy," and Tony has just the stick in mind. But first, a new paint job. What good's being a billionaire if you can't enjoy yourself?
- While the gradual evolution and deployment of the Iron Man suit provide some very impressive visuals, the action sequences and special effects thankfully never attempt to trump the film's outstanding writing and acting. Robert Downey Jr. proves to be a completely inspired choice for a man whose restlessness and misbehavior are more than outbalanced by his immense talents, drive, and charm. Bridges, too, is invaluable as a villain whose mix of corporate smarminess and actual violence could easily have crossed over into parody in the wrong hands. Finally, there's the relationship between Tony and Pepper, which feels more like a screwball comedy than the typical damsel-in-distress comic book trope. Iron Man is probably the only superhero film you'll ever see in which the hero never kisses the love interest. It also happens to be one of the best and most fun comic book movies ever made.
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I didn't even mention supporting roles by Clark Gregg, Leslie Bibb, Bill Smitrovich, director Jon Favreau, Peter Billingsley(!), Samuel L. Jackson, Stan Lee, and the voice of Paul Bettany.
- Wow, this was back when the SHIELD references in pre-Avengers movies were funny and clever.
- The Ten Rings is an obvious reference to the Mandarin, who is rumored to be appearing in the third movie. Yikes.
