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Iron Man
Iron Man

A 2008 movie starring Robert Downey Jr.

< read all 25 reviews

Still among the better Marvel live action releases.

  • Nov 5, 2011
Rating:
+5
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a genius in the technology field. He's also an arms manufacturer dealing with the military providing them with very powerful weapons. During an ambush in Afghanistan, he is injured when taking shrapnel to the chest and taken hostage. His life is saved by another prisoner Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub). While imprisoned he creates an iron suit to escape. He returns to the states to perfect his suit with intentions on repairing the damage his weapons have created. summary

Up until this day, Iron Man which was released back in 2008 and directed by Jon Favreau remains one of the best comic book to live action movies I seen. The movie gets better every time I watch it. It captures all the elements that makes a superhero movie; it has a charismatic main character, the action scenes are cool, most of the comedy works, but most importantly it never forgets to be fun and leaves all the melodrama at the door. Even the supposed love interest in the form of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) was not limited to the annoying damsel in distress. Iron Man is the definition of a fun superhero movie and I was never bored at any time.

The plot follows Tony Stark as he decides to change the intentions of his company and leave the arms trade. Due to his imprisonment and watching young soldiers killed by weapons that carried his name, he becomes plagued by the guilt. His long time friend and associate Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) isn't the least bit happy about this, and he tries to change Tony's mind. While this is going on, Tony is developing his suit and taking it on test runs.

One of the gripes I remember hearing about this film was that there's too much focus on the alter-ego, and not enough Iron Man action. I can agree to a certain extent here, however, as a fan of the comic I can understand this approach. Unlike Bruce Wayne, who a majority of his fighting was as Batman while trying to destroy the criminal element. Tony Stark, in and out of costume, was always fighting and that part of the character was indeed remembered for the movie. It helped provide the necessary character development, and since most of these segments as Tony Stark were interesting and funny at the same time, I really can't complain about it. I also enjoyed how closely the source material was followed.

The supporting characters were used and developed well enough. The main villain Stane, really doesn't come off as that bad of a villain to me. In fact, he was completely realistic to me as that man consumed by greed, and who refused to give up the wealthy life only because some spoiled playboy had a change of heart. Even though I didn't feel a very strong connection between the two, there was still something there, and I commend Favreau for taking one of the more interesting characters in Iron Man's mediocre rogue's gallery and not messing him up.

The special effects live up to the talk here. There really isn't a whole lot of Iron Man, but when it finally gets there, the action fans will find themselves thoroughly entertained. Iron Man gets to show off a few weapons and things are blown up. The final battle against the Iron Monger was pretty short, yet entertaining in that amount of time. Still, I would have preferred it to be a bit longer.

Overall, Iron Man still ranks very high even now; it does everything right and it never forgets its true aim which is to entertain. This movie could have easily fell a few notches for the unnecessary use of psycho babble. When looking at the strong acting performances, special effects and wonderful pacing. This is a movie that can entertain almost anyone and I recommend to those who understand that superhero movies can be good without being overly intellectual.
.

Pros:
-Acting, special effects, plot, strong in all areas

Cons:
-Final battle could have been better

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May 12, 2012
Yeah, I'm late coming into this review, but with the Avengers out now, I'm now interested in seeing this one. I'll probably stroll by the local Family Video over the summer to give Iron Man a shot.
May 12, 2012
I would like to see your take on all of those movies.
 
November 06, 2011
"it has a charismatic main character, the action scenes are cool, most of the comedy works, but most importantly it never forgets to be fun and leaves all the melodrama at the door. " - yeah man this is one of the best for sure.
November 06, 2011
Yeah, I can watch this again one day.
 
November 05, 2011
Great review and awesome that you included the comments about Stark getting more screen time than shellhead. I did like the effort, I just had issues with him being portrayed as a little too comedic and cocky. The Stark I remember was a playboy, but he was insecure and definitely was a lot darker. I just wish they developed the basis of being "Iron Man" wasn't because of the high-tech suit, but rather the man who cannot be broken inside. It is still a great movie! Thanks!
November 06, 2011
I hear you there, but I think they went that cocky route to eliminate the similarities to another dark millionaire who wears a cape. Mainstream audiences who are not fans of the comic would have seen it as copying.
November 06, 2011
that's a good point, but they could've used it to flesh out his obsession with gadgets and how Howard Stark made him competitive almost to the point of abuse.
 
1
More Iron Man reviews
review by . February 11, 2011
posted in Movie Hype
***1/2 out of ****     I admittedly state that I'm no comic junkie. While I often times will read something that's going to be or has been adapted into film, seldom do I actually read such forms of literature. Nevertheless, I like it when a director rises up to the challenge of making a huge, epic superhero movie and succeeds. And by "succeeds", I of course mean that they successfully make it for both audiences; the comic book fans and the non-associated. What makes John Favreau's …
review by . May 02, 2011
Tony Stark: Millionaire, Genius, Playboy, and star of the 2008 summer blockbuster Iron Man, one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. To be honest, I was never really interested in Iron Man until news of The Avengers came out and I wanted to finish off the franchises I haven't seen. I was expecting this movie to be just some nice dumb fun, which I have no problem with, but it ended up being much more than that. I was also worried that I may have to have some prior knowledge (of which …
review by . August 28, 2010
My daughter is almost 12 and is clamoring to watch PG-13 movies "like all her friends do."  We recently watched this as a family.  I had read detailed reviews that said that there were a few swear words, and a scene of a couple in bed (she was still wearing a shirt but was on top of him).  I covered her eyes on that part, and I thought the rest was pretty appropriate.      The beginning was a bit long (and boring?), but in general this is a fast-paced …
review by . May 13, 2010
posted in Movie Hype
RDJ is back and better than ever......
Comic Book adaptations back in the late 70's, late 80's and early to late 90’s were very rare and if one by chance was made well enough. it was one of the biggest films of that year  in 1978 acclaimed director Richard Donner(Director of the "Lethal Weapon" series) directed the first ever critical and commercial successful  big screen adaptation of the beloved and ever looked up to superhero. Super-Man. "Superman" was one of the biggest films of the 70's …
Quick Tip by . October 06, 2010
Wonderful adaptation of the original graphic novels, great action adventure for most ages, good fantasy with always relevant topics of self-discovery, morals and ethics
Quick Tip by . August 30, 2010
Fantasitic movie that moved Iron man to the forefront of Marvel's list of heroes that are household names.
Quick Tip by . September 02, 2010
This movie def changed the way super hero movies are watched. The humor in it made it much more enjoyable and it def opened it up to a much larger more commercial audience!
Quick Tip by . July 20, 2010
I was never really into the comic book, but I thought the movie did a great job telling the story while keeping the action constant.
Quick Tip by . August 09, 2010
I'm more enthusiastic about films (or maybe I have lower standards) - the only false note, to me, was the slut-shaming Pepper directs at Christine: I'm gonna blame bad writing, but the rest of the movie was above that. Good and actiony.
review by . December 23, 2009
Tony Stark's Iron Man MK III armor
Iron Man for all intents and purposes remembers the sole, number 1 rule of comic books and it's the rule that the X Men and Spiderman movies forgot about - to be fun.      Spiderman may have been high flying adventure and X Men may have had it's colorful cast of heroes but all the movies in the series are so racked with melodrama and long stretches that as great as they are they could sometimes be a trial to get through.  Iron Man has drama sans the melo and is …
see all Iron Man reviews (25)
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About this movie

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Iron Man tells the story about a wealthy man who becomes involved in building an armored suit after a life- changing experience, and then begins to use his new suit to fight evil.

Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man was released on May 2, 2008, and won two awards at the Golden Trailer (Summer 2008 blockbuster), MTV Awards (Best summer movie) and was nominated for 3 other wards.  The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Terrance Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

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Movies, Action Movies, Science Fiction Movies, Science Fiction, Comics, Scifi, Hype, Comic Book Movies, Superhero Movies, Robert Downey Jr Movies
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Details

Director: Jon Favreau
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Release Date: May 2, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hrs 6min
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