IRON MAN
Rating: ** ½ (out of ****)
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Stan Lee
Writers: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Director: Jon Favreau
Now playing at every single movie theatre in the known universe.

Robert Downey Jr. has often been called one of the greatest actors of his generation for his quirky, off-the-wall performances. I’m not sure I agree. He showed astonishing promise by disappearing in the title role of Chaplin, but since then he seems to always play a variation on the same character. My appreciation for him hit rock bottom in Zodiac, a performance I found so distracting and aggressively mannered that it seriously hindered my appreciation for the film.

Now, Downey is back in Iron Man, playing yet another mannered, quirky smart-ass, and yet he’s the film’s biggest asset. His certainly doesn’t break any new ground, but in the middle of a conventional $180 million blockbuster, it’s a breath of fresh air much in the same way that Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow was in the first Pirates of the Caribbean. He has an anarchic spirit, making Groucho-esque wisecracks about the action set pieces and technology around him. I wasn’t surprised to learn that he re-wrote much of his own dialogue.

Iron Man currently holds a 94% approval rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. No other comic book character has ever scored higher: not Batman, not Superman, not Spiderman. Some critics have charitably described this as one of the “smarter” summer blockbusters of late. I think this is attributable to the fact that the film’s first act is set in the Middle East. Following nearly a year of high-profile flops, how fascinating that the last two weeks have seen the release of back-to-back commercially viable post-9/11 films. (The fact that the only two commercially viable post-9/11 films to date have been Iron Man and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay says less about the films and more about filmgoers).

Anyway, in the Middle East, millionaire playboy arms manufacturer Tony Stark is being held captive by evil, evil terrorists. The terrorists want him to build a missile that they can use for their various evil terrorist activities, but when they’re not looking, Tony makes a prototype iron man suit instead. The suit, which is extraordinarily technologically advanced for something that was cobbled together from some spare parts in a cave, is then used to blast dozens of terrorists to their (slightly sadistic) deaths. But while in the Middle East, Tony makes an alarming discovery: his arms company has been making under-the-table deals with terrorist groups. Disgusted, Tony announces plans to cease all weapons production at Stark Industries. Evil terrorists, under-the-table deals, and a noble corporate executive; if this is what passes for intelligence and social consciousness in the summer movie season, the movie industry is in worse shape than I thought.

Tony spends time making and perfecting his Iron Man suit in a story structure not a million miles away from Batman Begins. Meanwhile, his business partner Obadiah (Jeff Bridges) turns out to be really evil, revolting on Tony’s no-weapons policy by researching the secrets of the Iron Man suit, with the intention of creating a new, powerful weapon to profit from. I thought he lost control of his evil plan around that time that he started terrorizing the city in the suit, tossing cars and killing police officers. No plot synopsis would be complete without mention of the unfortunately named ‘Pepper’ Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), Tony’s butler and love interest; she’s like a younger, more female version of Batman’s Alfred. Terrence Howard gets second billing as Tony’s best friend. Good god, I hope he gets something to do in the sequel.

What Iron Man does, it does with an admirable level of competence. The special effects are uniformly excellent, and the action scenes are well done (although I question the moral justification behind the rather enthusiastic terrorist-slaughter). The script, while not exactly “smart” and containing some fairly gaping holes, moves along at an admirable clip. Perhaps I didn’t respond enthusiastically to Iron Man because of the unreasonable expectations its overwhelming critical praise set. I also suspect the inevitable Iron Man II will be more enjoyable; the problem with origin stories is that before the audience can get what it paid for, they have to sit through a lot of set-up. Yet in the midst of this fairly routine film is Downey, who seems indifferent and at most mildly amused by the action spectacle around him. What an interesting choice.

NOTE: Be sure to stay after the credits.