If there is one movie to recommend for early summer fun, it would be the new feature Iron Man. As a retelling of a comic serial, you may be discouraged by the premise. I would suggest you swallow all of the disappointment you may have stored from previous experience.
You may consider it a gamble, but Iron Man will never disappoint. I can attest that the movie takes the original Stan Lee comic and produces an amazing big-screen masterpiece.
Full of action, the movie dictates the life of Tony Stark – corporate playboy, experimental inventor, and arms dealer – and his reformation after realizing what destruction is caused by his inventions after he is taken hostage. He designs a suit, his final invention, to set a positive legacy and end the war which he and his company had been supplying. However, his life as a vigilante puts him in great jeopardy. When the secrets of his suit are stolen, he must turn on those he thought closest to him to prevent the proliferation of his powers for evil causes.
Jon Favreau does a wonderful job balancing realism and the supernatural while maintaining humor, story, and most certainly the fantastic action.
The movie flows smoothly from this perfect balance, and clearly surpasses all of the former comic book movies. I would go so far as to call it a tour de force.
Another leading factor determining this film’s quality, the actors’ performances reflect their amazing talent and make this film a lasting mark on entertainment. Robert Downey Jr. portrays a very magnetic Tony Stark. His talents lend well to the morality and lifestyle changes developing in his character through the film.
The other characters also advance their characters profiles. Jeff Bridges renders the vision of an industrial warmonger extraordinarily well in Iron Man, portraying a truly evil being willing to never stop short to achieving his goals.
The production value of the movie is also top rate. The camera captures everything and focuses on the very well managed computer-generated imagery (CGI) that allow the supernatural action blend phenomenally with the real action. Every instance of computer graphics was a superb job of superior technique. Indeed, the actual suit of Iron Man was a produced and tastefully enhanced by CGI to produce a suit that looks incredible and functional.
Overall, I have no complaints about this movie. The film was absolutely astounding; for all of the 126 minutes there were to enjoy of Iron Man, I was glued to the screen with such intensity that I had not felt in a theater for the past 6 months.
Iron Man has set the bar wonderfully high and establishes a new standard for all future comic serial movies that Marvel may produce. I believe even with the amazing features that will soon be coming to theaters, Iron Man has won a seat as one the best movies of summer and will be a landmark for all films of 2008.