Ink Blotting - Iron Man

Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Iron Man

Iron Man is a movie with heart, about a man who doesn't have one.

The two hour and six minute movie, Iron Man, is about the moralization of a weapons manufacturer without a heart. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) is a billionaire playboy with a taste for liquor and women in libidinous and indulgent amounts. At least that is until shrapnel from a bomb of his own designing nearly kills him and he's forced to have an electromagnet inserted into his chest to remain alive.

And it is that very process of metaphorically giving Tony Stark a heart that brings about a radical change in his cavalier and carefree attitude. I've read over 50 reviews on Iron Man at this point and I'm glad (yet inwardly disappointed) to note that no one else has made the comparison between Iron Man and Regarding Henry (starring Harrison Ford).

There are so few negative reviews for Iron Man, that it seems as though Jon Favreau, director and co-writer, hit his mark by making the movie interesting not only to fan boys the world over, but also to the general movie-going populace. Even the negative reviews have not been overly condemnatory, citing as their principle criticism that "too much is going on" – which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your disposition. I wonder if these same reviewers complained about The English Patient, that not enough was going on – which is to suggest that they have a tight balance beam upon which "enough is going on" to balance the quality of the film upon, but I digress.

Let's talk about what went well in this movie. The cinematography was great, giving the stylistic impression that everything was happening in a tomorrow completely realizable in our lifetime, if not Tuesday. The main structure of the plot was not hammered down the audience's throat, but brought about gradually and logically. And because this movie is classified as "action," "adventure," "eye candy," and the newest classification "superhero" we were treated to not only sugar for ogling but interspersed throughout was a smattering of comedy and generous dollops of drama. In this oh-so-humble reviewer's estimation – the only type of movie worth seeing in the cinema in this day and age is the type of movie wherein you benefit from the reaction of the crowd, the size of the screen and the glory of the man-sized speakers. In Iron Man, you benefit in so many ways from the movie-going experience. From the pre-movie fan boy chatter, to the post-movie fan boy gushing the reaction of the crowd is one of alka-seltzer style effervescence. The detail on the big screen is such that some of the drawn back action scenes demonstrate just how destructive the weaponry of Tuesday can be. When Iron Man flies through the sky you get a feel for just how fast he's going. And those flying scenes are seriously a reason all on their own for the $12.50 it'll cost for a ticket. Jon Favreau's desire was to use as little CG as possible, and when it was used for it to be as believable as possible. Compared with Stealth at another review, you can see how Favreau achieves aerial dog fighting when Stealth does not.

Let's talk about what went awesome in this movie. Sarah Finn. No, she's not one of the incredibly gorgeous women Tony Stark flirts with and eventually beds. She's the individual responsible for the bulk of the ravings about Iron Man. I'm not stating that as my opinion. I am simply referencing the 49 reviews I scratched at who all said that the casting in this movie is what makes it so successful. Sarah Finn is the Casting Director and was responsible for netting Bridges, Paltrow and Downey, Jr. You can applaud her for Howard and Bibb as well. By finding the right actor for the character the lines of dialogue become that much more believable despite the over-the-top quality of some of the chatter.

Everyone liked Iron Man. No one despised it. Hundreds of actual movie reviewers loved it, and if there is one thing you should take away from this review is that you should sit through the credits. No, not so that you can applaud Sarah Finn's name as it scrolls up the screen, but because there are 40 seconds at the end of the movie starring a major A class actor who wasn't in the film's running time, giving strong cause for rumors of sequels not only for Iron Man, but for the entire Marvel Universe.

5 shellheads out of 5

Kyle Gould is a University of Calgary Graduate in English devoutly trying to make the 25,000 dollar piece of parchment not just a glorified ink blot. Currently it would serve better as a Rorschach test. Feel free to throw some ink his way at wkkgould@hotmail.com.