Firstly Iron Man is a not simply your run of the mill,next in line, superpowered cash in. What may have started as the next “which superhero fanbase will we analy rape for their monthly comic book allowance next?” film, slowly became a defining break in genre.
We may turn our noses up at the yet another genre cash but we forget that the genre system is the very foundation that cinema is built on. For every unique and completely original film there are hundreds of film-makers that do not have the liberty (or cash) to stay from the Hollwood designtaed Money Genre. In the 1930’s it was Ganster films, 1950’s it was melodrama’s and until the end of the century it was just a shitload of thrillers.
But great movies can be found in these genre’s, sometimes even the best. They reflect society, their sadness, hope and desires. King Vidor and Hitchcock were genre directors and so was, to a lesser, Tony Richardson. Today we’ve simply traded in the “American Dream” for the “American Laser-Beams-Shooting-From-My-Eyes-And-Being-Able-To-Fly Fantasy.
So what makes Iron Man different from its counterparts? Firstly this is the first Marvel film produced by Marvel’s own production company. This means Marvel get to hold the massive Baseball Bat that has “Whatever The Fuck We Want” engraved on the handle. No longer do the films have to be sugar coated and dummed down. No longer will someone from Nip/Tuck play the “supposed to horribly disfigured because of a lab accident guy but lets make him SUPER-handsome because he’s the guy from nip/tuck” Villian.
Furthermore because all marvel films from now on will be under one production company each film will be representaive of a single New and evolved Marvel Universe with a unified timeline. Long story short, the actions and consequences of one film will be felt in all future films. As a brief nod to their newfound power, Tony Stark will make a briefappearence in the new Hulk film(the new hulk film with a completely different cast including John Hurt and Edward Norton. Check out those casting chops.)
The true hidden gem of this film is director John Favreau. Favreau was principally a comedy actor and ejoyed brief directorial success with Elf(which I recommend with a warm fuzzy heart). Favreau Really comes into his own in this film. His action shots are magnificent, almost flawless, and his characters display true depth, emotion and intelligence. Except for Gwenyth Palthrow but she’s really a dead weight anyway. Who the fuck cast her by the way?
This film owes itself to hard work and strong personal involvement. Favreau and Robert Downey Jr’s revised script was devised daily before each scene. They took what was essentially a weak script and elevated it to truly Dark, snappy wit. The gloriously dry dialogue was akin to Bogart in The Big Sleep. They put alot of themselves into this flim and shows.
While special effects are slowly becoming a mute point as technology progresses CGI so near to apoint of absolut realism (with a faint white outline around it) Iron Man’s deserves a special mention. For one the airplane scene is notable. The convention is to do everything by computer. “Iron Man” films the real sky for for the cgi iron man to be placed against. Because of this the sky is pefect. The clouds are incredibly real(because they are) and the sun is flawless.
And like a true action epic Iron man dares to cut out as much cgi as it can and just Blow up a load of shit. You can’t beat real fire and you can’t beat John Favreau himself sitting shotgun with a camera in a humvee, going fifty miles per hour, behind a humvee going fifty miles an hour which explodes and flips over!
Theres alot to be said about brainless action films but this film was shot with careful dexterity and a beautiful intelligece. Everything was done so it facilitated our adrenaline gland pumping out maximum awesome and presented itself as one of the most dynamic, feasible and relateable Tony Stark’s ,or indeed any super hero, yet. I have plenty more to say but its 2:45 and I have two tests tomorrow.
Oh and Jeff Bridges, powerful, deep, believably friendly and believably phycotic. Give that man some sort of acting award.
Iron Man 4/5
