May 4, 2008

• Iron Man: A Review

  Just got back from watching "Iron Man."  I was very impressed.  This is one of the better comic book based movies I have seen.  More to come later.

  
  

  *EDIT*

  
  

  Now that I am somewhat rested and had time to digest the movie, I will be going into more of a commentary and review.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, you can ignore this post since I will most likely have spoilers.

  
  

  I was a little skeptical when I heard that Robert Downey, Jr. had been cast as Tony Stark.  If you are old enough to remember, you would know that in the 90's he had a very prominent drug problem.  he was convicted and ordered to rehab several times.  Apparently he became clean and sober in 2001, and began a slow comeback.  However, I believe that Downey's redemption in real life allowed him to portray Tony Stark in the original light.  If you were a fan of the comic books or followed the comic books to any extent you would know that Stark goes through a process of introspection and redemption.  There is depth to the character of Tony Stark, that is difficult grasp.  He is that genius that knows he's smarter than everybody else, and goes out of his way to make sure everybody knows it.  In other words, the genius asshole.  However, through a life changing event and the interaction with another scientist, Yinsen, Stark is sobered to the reality of his life's work as a weapons developer.  Needless to say I really like the development of the character in this movie.  It almost falls in line with the original comic, much more so that the over comic book based movies. 

  
  

  The design of the suit was incredible.  I liked the fact that Jon Favreau, the director, went into the detail that he did.  The comic book depicts the suit as being smooth and easy to slip on.  However, in the movie a lot of thought went into how it looked and how the suit was worn.  The suit was made to have control surfaces much like an aircraft.  This would make sense since the suit was meant to fly.  Multivariable-control surfaces is a technology that is currently being explored and developed for maned and unmanned aerial vehicles.  The way the suit was put on using a machine just seemed more plausible then slipping into it like a set of clothes.  The weapons systems that were portrayed are all realistic.  They have either been developed or based on designs in development.  For example the Jericho missile is based on a design for a tactical short range anti-armor/antipersonnel missile.  The targeting AI that is portrayed in the suit is also something that is in development.  Much of the technology that was portrayed in the film is realistic and feasible.  I really appreciated that.  Another fun thing to do is pay attention to the communication screens and look for the company logos.

  
  

  The story line was great.  It was a good introduction to the characters of Tony Stark/Iron Man.  The introduction of the other principle characters was subtle, but done well enough that even the uninitiated could see and understand the relationships.  I relly like the story development.  I just hope they don't muck it up in the sequels like they did with multiple other comic book movies.  One note, wait untill after the credits, and you will see a really neat teaser. 

  
  

  Bottom line, a good movie, well worth going to see again.

  • 1:05 am
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