Iron Man

I'm a little late on this one, but it was so good I couldn't not address its success. Robert Downey Jr. has and still is one of my underrated favorites. My love was founded in Home for the Holidays, nurtured by Only You and cemented by Zodiac. By the time I heard he was playing Iron Man, I was happy to see he was getting more play than just a small, but fun, role in Good Night and Good Luck.

I should also admit that I usually really enjoy comic book movies. I never really read comic books as a kid, except Archie, but I support the fan boys they create (reminder: I heart all Star Wars and all The Lord of the Rings, so I'm a kind of fan boy myself). I enjoy all the Batman movies,—even the George Clooney one, in that it's so bad, it's good way—Spiderman 2 and The Incredible Hulk (review soon to come).

So Iron Man . . . it's good. Not just good . . . really good.

Downey Jr. is Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who's made his millions mass producing weapons and selling them to the government, and it turns out to terrorists. Stark is kidnapped as he's being moved by the military in Afghanistan and forced to build a weapon of mass destruction for the enemy. Instead he builds himself a suit of armor that allows him to blast his way out of capture. Stark re-enters the world a changed man, determined to stop making weapons for profit, much to the chagrin of his business partner Jeff Bridges (I wonder who'll be the bad guy here?). Stark hunkers down at his Malibu mansion to build and test a better suit for himself, helped along by his plucky assistant Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Suffice to say, not everyone in Stark's life is happy with his direction and one guy in particular tries steal his idea and makes himself a meaner Iron Man and a big fight scene ensues. Probably the best of the movie comes at the end, after Stark has done good, and he's holding a press conference where he's supposed to lie about what's happened. SPOILER This is why it pays to cast Downey Jr. When Stark takes a big breath to start lying his ass off, we believe he's about to, until he says "Fuck it, I am Iron Man." Cue end credits. Brilliant! Ok, he doesn't say "fuck it" but he might as well have. He is so rakishly charming that he totally gets away with being a huge asshole in the beginning and by the end the audience is like, "Yeah tell the world you're Iron Man!" It's the same effect Vince Vaughn has in Swingers, you know he's full of shit but you can't help but fall for it. Is it surprising Iron Man was directed by John Favreau of Swingers fame? I think not.