Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges. Written by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway. Directed by Jon Favreau. (PG) 125 min.
Robert Downey Jr.’s characteristic blend of affable arrogance, suppressed anger and hipster wise-assery is so novel for a leading role in a superhero movie, you might wish he got to star in all of them. And just think how much better the Fantastic Four flicks might’ve been if he’d gotten to do every part. Hell, I’d like to see him in that Wonder Woman outfit he used to keep around, too.
As playboy industrialist and weapons whiz kid Tony Stark in Iron Man, he’s just about perfect. Though the same cannot be said for Jon Favreau’s sometimes logy Marvel movie, the summer season’s first tentpole picture has most of the pizzazz promised by the trailers and the decision to give such a heroic part to an actor who was once found driving his Porsche down Sunset Boulevard while naked and high. (Not even George Reeves wasn’t into that kind of action.)
Adapting the Iron Man origin story to a modern geopolitical context with somewhat questionable results — if audiences take to this, we might soon see Superman take on insurgents in Fallujah — the script situates Stark’s eureka moment in an Afghan cave. Rather than build his captors a missile, he creates the first version of his suit. After his escape, he tries to give up his arms-dealing ways, citing his newfound contempt for “a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.” While faithful assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) starts to think Tony might have a heart next to the glowing thing now installed in his chest, his right-hand man Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is none too pleased about the impact of this news on Stark Industries’ stock price.
Favouring swift, well-staged battles and crashes over elaborate set pieces, Favreau goes for an action aesthetic that suits his star’s wily, roughhewn charm. Though some clumsy plotting and Downey’s lack of a proper foil – neither the villain nor the love interest supply much friction – drain the endeavour of some of its vigour, Iron Man is otherwise a fun and forceful revitalization of the superhero-movie formula.