23 Marvelous Movies: Iron Man

As I said in the prelude to this review series, the 2000s were the decade that superhero movies were becoming the next big Hollywood genre, after being deemed the kiss of death in the 90s. They were becoming more adult and complex and had their creative voices as shown by the success of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and the failure of Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, which to many filmgoers and critics, relied too much on nostalgia for the original Christopher Reeve films. But an even more unique take on the comic-book flick came in the form of Jon Favreau’s Iron Man.

While the dialogue in superhero films could be very cheesy in that decade, the words in Iron-Man were more grounded and improvisational and based more on the interplay between Robert Downey Jr and either Gwyneth Paltrow or Terrence Howard. While the imagery was more fantastic and over-the-top (Gotham City’s dark color palette and Ang Lee’s bizarre use of split-screen in Hulk), Jon Favreau’s direction was more about just selling the intensity and emotion of the scene. While its heroes were flawed in affable or dark ways (Tobey Maguire’s mild-mannered geek or Christian Bale’s brooding avenger), Tony Stark was marred by ego, complacency, and snark, showcased by the perfect star to play him.

Favreau specifically cast Robert Downey Jr. (as opposed to the much sought-after Tom Cruise) because Downey famously had many demons he was recovering from, namely his drug addiction and past arrests. You can tell this is a very cathartic role for him as he’s given the right character to reflect his rocky road to self-respect and starting a new chapter in his life.

Above all else, Iron Man is a human story about redemption. It focuses on a man trying to escape a shadow that he has been in throughout his entire life and creates what he does so he can do that. Tony’s father Howard, the founder of Stark Industries, helped with The Manhattan Project and made his entire legacy out of bloodshed and destruction. Tony, however, is using the intelligence, confidence, and tenacity he inherited to correct that, after seeing what his weapons are capable of when placed in the wrong hands.

But an interesting aspect of Tony’s arc is that it doesn’t end when the movie does. He still reveals to the world that he is Iron Man because he just can’t resist taking the credit for his creation. It’s an example of the fact that certain flaws are not overcome so easily.

And these more human and relatable themes are carried out in Favreau's relaxed direction.

I love the quieter and more subdued scenes like when Tony is having Pepper replace his arc reactor, and when he’s testing out the new versions of his suit. The movie is confident that its audience is interested in these characters and lets us breathe with them. Even the action scenes are less bombastic and frenetic than those of other movies at the time, and even the more recent Marvel flicks for that matter. They are all well-paced and exciting in their ways, with the one where Tony saves a village from terrorists and almost being blown out of the sky by his friend, Rhodey being a great example of character-driven action.

This truly is a movie that cares about its characters. At least the ones we’re supposed to root for.

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now, Obediah Stane is easily one of the weakest villains in the entire Infinity Saga, his motivations are purely personal and not even remotely understandable or sympathetic. But in a way, I don’t think he’s the main antagonist of the story, that would be Howard Stark’s legacy. Obediah is just a representation of that and how dangerous it can be when someone tries to keep it going for the sake of power. In that way, he is Tony if he was never captured by the terrorists. And at least Jeff Bridges gives it his all, like that intense bit when he catches Pepper in his office finding out his dirty little secrets and when he belts out that iconic “box of scraps” line that would play a part in the tail end of the entire saga.  

And it honestly is amazing to see how far the franchise has come since then, both in terms of villains and stakes. Tony’s struggle in this film feels so quaint compared to a lumbering madman who wishes to get rid of half the universe. But in all honesty, that’s what makes it such a great first step. 

This film came out in the summer of 2008 when everyone thought The Dark Knight would be the big gamechanger for comic book movies. Since then, audiences have by-and-large forsaken the “dark and edgy” approach to superhero flicks (unless it’s something like Joker which isn’t even a superhero movie at all). While everyone was showering that film with praise, Iron Man seems like the one that people still gravitate towards to this day, because it introduced us to one of the most relatable and fascinating heroes to ever grace the screen.

This truly is the perfect way to start an entire franchise: with its fascinatingly flawed lead that would be expanded upon even further, in ways Favreau and the crew most likely had no idea and a character-driven story with great action scenes in its own right. But just like what Nick Fury famously promised after the end credits, the best was yet to come.