Movie Review: Iron Man 2008

Before I start the movie review proper, here's an epilogue. I thought of it all by myself, using some literature skills leftover from way back when.

"ironman ironman... does whatever an iron can.. ease a crease, all the time... keeps shirts straight... anytime... look out! here comes an ironman...."

Stay tuned for the movie review proper...

Quote from Crustation: "Tony Stark is female. Fe-Male." Fe on the periodic table is iron, duh.

Ok, enough of the fun stuff, let's get down to business. Rest assured, this is a spoiler free movie review.

Iron Man is based upon a Marvel comic character who uses his technology to create an exoskeletal suit to fight against evil. Thank you, Mr Stan "The Man" Lee.

I was in high anticipation when I first saw the trailers of this movie. Explosions, bullets, planes, tanks, moving robotic parts... Sounds like transformers all over again. But no. Thankfully, after seeing the finished product, I was not disappointed at the least. After seeing X-men and Spider-man, Iron Man surely promises and gives us a solid initiation of what could be a great trilogy, or more.

There isn't a long and draggy backstory. Instead, the information of what happened in the past was clearly and swiftly orchestrated, from the time he was a stuck-up industrialist to the time he realised that he had a greater calling, after his close brush with death. The story buildup and character background has been clearly structured in a way that even if you do not know who Iron Man is, you will empathise with him about a quarter through the movie.

It is unclear who the bad people are at first, but by the end of the movie, all the questions that you had from the beginning of the movie will unfold. Realising that his own weapons that were supposed to protect and defend the world, fell to the hands of the very people who wanna destroy the peace of the world. That's irony for you. Humbled and awoken to his senses, he then creates a state of the art suit, with air and land destruction capabilities. Ready for atonement, and feeling remorseful, he fights and destroys the bad guys. Typical superhero movie eh?

Well, all I can say is that Robert Downey Jr plays Tony Stark, a sarcastic industrialist with the technical knowhow of a technology genius. He is best suited for the role as he delivered each scene with professionalism. To top it off, there was a great balance of comic delivery and seriousness which shows his masterful acting ability.

Supporting characters also do as well. Jeff Bridges plays the almighty villain, great build up of character too. Terrence Howard is Tony's best friend and military liason, that's where "a friend in need is a friend in deed" comes into play. You'll find out in due course of the movie. A good future character build up too, Marvel fans would know what I mean. And there's the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow, who's Tony's assistant, at times neglected and is referred to as a female prop on the set. Don't worry too much, she's there for a reason. We also have Shaun Toub, who appears in the early stages of the movie and is deemed as Tony's savior for reasons that you will find out later in the movie. Finally, there's Clark Gregg, as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Not to mention a Stan Lee cameo. Look out for that too.

It is not easy to forget this is action-packed film above all else, it is not all acting. It's the computer graphics and all the special effects which leaves you yearning for more. As you may have seen in the trailers, Iron Man was flying with F-22 Raptors (Stealth planes), that was one of the best flight scenes I must say. Everything is just amazing, the suits, the cars, the planes, the weapons, the scenery, the computers he uses, just amazing. Even holograms! Just too bad, apart from the planes and cars and scenery, the rest of the above mentioned are not available to us in this lifetime, yet.

On some moments rather crabby than witty, but otherwise this movie is a top notch summer release and is a definite must watch on the big screen. Trust me, stay till the end of the credits to see how this story will progress in the number of years to come.

Rating: 8.5/10