This is where it all began.
There’s a special place in my heart for this one, being the
first non-spiderman superhero movie I truly fell in love with, definitely a
contender for my favourite movie with the words ‘iron’ and ‘man’ in the title.
DC has the man of steel, Marvel has the vastly more popular man of iron, no
wonder Sheffield’s steel industry went to shit, why even bother when iron does
the trick? It’s also worth baring in mind that Iron Man isn’t just a telling of
the story of Tony Stark, but in a way, the story of RDJ himself as well. This
film is when he really began to turn his life around, and became a household
name, it’s truly commendable.
As for the character of Tony Stark, this is the one who’s
had the most screentime across the entire of the MCU, we’ve seen him grow,
develop, win and lose far more than any other hero in this universe. There’s a
reason why Stark is everyone’s favourite character, he’s the most human, the
most relatable, which is odd considering he’s a multi-millionaire playboy.
The movie opens with the bangin’ ACDC track ‘Back in Black’
and Stark laughing with some soldiers while on tour in Afghanistan, seemingly
due to the fact that Stark industries is the company that supplies the majority
of the militaries weaponry. Yep, at his core, Stark is an arms dealer,
profiting off war and providing the government with the means of killing all
those terrible horrible middle easterners.
After something interesting happens we flashback to Tony not
receiving an award he won, out gambling and picking up girls. It’s so strange
seeing the character like this after seeing him all the way through to his end.
After the flashback catches up to the desert, Tony is trapped in a cave by
enemy forces and is forced into designing weapons for them. This is where the
Iron Man prototype is first built, and where Tony comes face to face with the
damage Stark industries has caused in the world.
This all perfectly introduces us to Tony’s character. He’s
an arrogant prick, but he’s also a genius and certainly not a bad person by any
means. Just sheltered. Spoilt. It’s a really effective way of showing us just what
Tony is capable of, showing us his vices and highlighting what he’s going to
have to overcome to become a hero. After escaping, Tony announces Stark
industries will no longer continue to manufacture weapons, while he continues
to work on the Iron Man suit. You know. A weapon.
One downside of the movie is the Potts/Stark relationship.
There’s a lot of screentime devoted to the pair up, but I honestly couldn’t
give a piss. The movie has a couple of pacing issues, and these scenes makes
them slightly more obvious, they’re very slow and don’t really advance the
plot.
Seeing Tony perfect the suit is so satisfying, but it drags
on just a little too long. Fleshing out the villain would probably be a better
way of spending our time here. Over halfway into the movie, and we still
haven’t seen the suit in action, no awesome fight sequences or action set
pieces, just Tony recklessly flying it to close to the moon and nearly freezing
to death.
Who are the villains? Well we have some terrorists who want
revenge on Stark for escaping and injuring them, and some old bald guy who
isn’t happy about the new pacifist version of Stark Industries that Tony is
pushing. He’s still selling weapons without Tony’s consent and Tony is not
happy about it. Decent villains, but nothing special.
Iron Man isn’t quite as silly and funny as some of the later
MCU offerings, but it certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously, almost of
all the jokes and funny moments land perfectly, honestly the whole film is
really well written. It sounds stupid now, but this must have been a breath of
fresh air back when it first released. Compare its lighter tone with something
like the Raimi Spider-Man movies, or Superman Returns or something. It really
did set the standard for what a superhero film could be, a standard that DC
have continuously ignored in their own movie universe.
The third act is comprised of a big flashy robot fight as
Stark tries to save Pepper and stop the douchebag who tried to steal his
company and his suit. Tony tragically dies in this fight after saying his
iconic line, “I am Iron Man” which feels a little premature I’m not going to
lie. It’s pretty good. The film ends by teasing the extended universe, which
here just feels like sequel baiting. An extended universe of movies, what a
stupid idea, it’ll never take off.
I really like this one, but on a rewatch, I don’t think it’s
quite as good as I remember. Probably between Captain America and Captain
Marvel. It’s great, succeeds in all the same ways as Captain Marvel really,
pacing, writing, acting, but the effects on this one are so much better than
Captain America and I cannot understand why. Anyway, 8/10, a real solid
beginning for the MCU, and it had to be to get the films off the ground in the
first place.
Next up, we have Iron Man 2. A film I’m sure I’ve seen at
least once but have absolutely no memory of. That doesn’t bode well, the worst
thing these films can be is forgettable. We’re creeping towards The Avengers
and I’ve yet to find a film I don’t like. Bound to happen sooner or later.
The ranking so far reads:
1. 1. Captain Marvel
2. 2. Iron Man
3. 3. Captain America: The First Avenger
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