iRONMAN v1.0

"Talk to the hand."
Iron Man is a hi-tech, shiny gadget of a movie, which is convenient because it’s about a guy who’s into hi-tech, shiny gadgets. Like any good gadget it does its job so efficiently that it’s difficult to find a fault in it of any consequence. Each component plays a role and each output is a result of previous input. While this doesn’t make for compelling movie-making, you have to appreciate the finely-tuned product of R&D that is Iron Man.

Now, hold the iPhone!

While Iron Man is not a daring movie by any stretch, there is a component in its schematic that keeps it from being a strictly 1’s and 0’s affair. The “unconventional” casting of Robert Downey Jr. as the billionaire playboy Tony Stark is a stroke of genius. Downey's career and personal arcs are the stuff of Hollywood legend, and his roles in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Zodiac, A Scanner Darkly, and Good Night and Good Luck are evidence that his most recent comeback is for real. His turn in Iron Man puts him in the club for actors with interesting and unorthodox resumes who finally got their shot at blockbuster fame with Johnny Depp, and Downey doesn't waste the opportunity. From his first appearance on screen, every piece of bad boy baggage is right there with him. He's not the guy you love to hate. He's the guy you hate to love.

Downey might even be too good to play this role. Once Stark suits up as Iron Man, you miss the little cad immediately, but director Jon Favreau (in what is probably the wisest decision he's ever made or will ever make as a filmmaker) gives us an under the helmet point of view so we don't lose Downey's performance during the CG mayhem. After all, we've seen super heroes fly around before, but has there ever been a comic book-based movie when the penultimate moment of the hero suiting up for the first time to kick some ass would have been a letdown?

The rest of the cast cruises in Downey's wake. Even Jeff Bridges' bald head and Santa Claus beard can't steal the spotlight when Downey's on screen. Gwyneth Paltrow (as much as I hate to admit it) is serviceable in her role as a Stark's gal Friday, and I have to say it was more than a little refreshing to have a female character not screaming her lungs out when confronted by a dangerous and overpowering villain. Paltrow's Pepper Potts acts like she has other places to be and this guy is screwing up her itinerary. She's no nonsense... like this movie.