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Rest assured, Iron Man is an absolutely amazing movie. I won't dare spoil any of this remarkable movie for you but I do recommend it as highly as I possibly can. Marvel needed to get in to the solo movie making business long ago. Instead of leasing out their characters to other studios, they're making movies themselves. Most everyone knows Iron Man is their first effort and what a great lead off film! This movie helps take the comic book genre to the highest level. Just like they did in the books, they reinvent standard epic adventure by "Marvelizing" characters and making them more believable. The Spider-Man and the X-Men movies did this to a degree but only as far as their respective studios wished to stay true to the source material. Anything added or amended was for the benefit of the live action adaptation. Director Sam Raimi pulled this off by talking to the summer crowd, not down to them with the Spider-Man series. Jon Favreau has done the same thing here but I think he's done it even better. Raimi intentionally threw in a little cheese. Favreau adds nice bits of humor but not too much. He also grounds the action and the suit of armor in firm reality. I've said it before but it's brave to reach for the highest common denominator with a big budget film and Favreau delivers a movie with as much feeling as it has action and intensity. Needless to say, Robert Downey Jr. and company deliver the goods. It's a movie that has a wonderful balance that delivers intelligence with its fun. The amazing yet realistic action is paced by the plot and characters that keep you interested from start to finish. What absolutely blew me away were the phenomenal special effects. I know they built a practical, working armor. What I loved is the use of CGI was used to augment the real life armor and not create something from scratch. Most all CGI constructs feel fake somehow but the stuff in Iron Man didn't seem fake even for an instant. As great as everything looked, what really drives the movie is the emotional resonance and down to earth nature of the plot. Sure the concept is wild but it's all presented so that you really believe it could happen. I doubt anyone will find fault with this movie unless they went in trying to dislike it.Read full review
Okay, first off if you own a Web Enabled Blu-ray player like a PS3, you're going to have to wait a long time before you can watch this Blu-ray after you pop it in. Why? Some pinhead executive at the movie studio/blu-ray production house thought it would be cute to require you to download some stupid software you're probably not going to use for "extra features" BEFORE you can even get to the main menu. This means that each time I pop this Blu-ray into a new player, like if I take it to a friend's house, I'm going to have to tell my friend(s): okay let's just wait an hour then we can watch the movie. This is completely and totally absurd. I hope whoever decided this was a good idea gets fired. After about an hour and a half, I was able to watch this movie though. It's a really great movie. It's right up there with WALL*E and The Dark Knight. It has a very fun comic book feel to it, while not being absurdly stupid. If you can suspend your disbelief for 120 some odd minutes, it's a great ride. Robert Downey Jr. is a great Tony Stark. When I first heard he was cast as Iron Man, I thought "yeah right! This movie's gonna suck." But I was very wrong. He pulls off the ladies man/billionaire playboy/hot shot role very well. But this is only half of the movie: The other half: Iron Man action scenes are just flat out cool. The poses/angles they choose and CGI work are all great. This is a first rate production. Also, I didn't know who his assistant was before the credits rolled but she looked familiar (Turns out it was Gwyneth Paltrow) and she made a really interesting character too, for a supporting role. You even have Jeff ("The Dude") Bridges in there doing a great job playing Stark's second in command. Oh, and when the credits roll, don't turn off the movie. There's a little scene after all the credits that fans of the comics and fans of this movie shouldn't miss. Summary: The Blu-Ray gets a 1 star for the incompetence of whomever decided it was a good idea to make people download something before they could even see the main menu. The Movie Gets 5 Stars for great execution - cast/acting, storyline, effects, and action scenes. Dare I say: This is the best Marvel Comics movie to date.Read full review
Let me get it out of the way, first. My favourite super-hero movie is Batman Begins, and a far second is the first Spider-man (2nd was okay, 3rd was mediocre). For me, the key, the ultimate enjoyment in a super-hero tale isn't the spectacle, the marvel, the powers, nor the villains. No, it's the person behind the mask, behind the glasses, the person him/herself. That's what drives the story and grabs my interest. The superhero aspect is an avenue for the expression of the person's desires, morals and willingness to sacrifice under great difficulty. Here, Iron Man reaches a height that all over, and I mean each and every superhero movie, watches in envy. Tony Stark is a multi-layered character. He's an unbelievable genius, a pampered playboy, an extremely likeable character, with great wit and eccentricities, and when things get difficult, yes, Tony Stark has a heart. Unlike most superheroes, where it's merely a rush in the story to get to the part where the hero puts on the suit, Iron Man slowly undergoes this process. It's not concerned with the usual path. Instead, we concentrate on Tony, as he experiences tough circumstances which leads him to look deeply into himself. Iron Man isn't about how a good person gets bit and seeks a way to 'save' people, which is the usual staple in superhero movies. Instead, it's about the change in a man's perspectives and thoughts, as he sees the world is not in reality as simplistic as he's convinced himself for years. Which leads me to the acting, which is by far the strongest part of this movie. The idea to grab Robert Downey Jnr. for this was an amazing stroke of ingenuity. He takes the character completely, and there's no actor who can give witty, quick-thinking dialogue like Downey. I've always, always admired him (thought he was brilliant in Wonder Boys) every time I've seen him, and I was frankly intrigued at them getting Downey as a superhero protagonist. Through Downey's brilliant acting, you understand Tony, and everything he says and does is entirely believeable. Paltrow was another eye-brow raiser, but she also hits this out of the park. She provides a fantastic amount of sweetness to her character, yet she's more than the generic other girl. She displays the unsureness, hurt, desire, confusion remarkably with the slightest movement of her face. Terrence Howard is a very good actor, and does well here. I do wish there was a bit more shown between Rhodes and Stark, so I could see more of how they interacted or how they got to know one another. Bridges is a good one, too. If you like superhero movies, then I wonder why you're reading. Go on, already, watch this movie! If you always liked some special effects, but didn't like the overblown visual effects with thin dialogue, I suggest you give this movie a chance. It's a superhero movie for people with brains. Chances are great you'll like it. I came to the theatre wanting to watch this movie as a good starter for the summer season (with the Dark Knight, Incredible Hulk etc...). I was stunned at my experience. Iron Man is the best superhero movie I've ever seen. Yes, it's better than Spider-man 1. Yes, shockingly, it's better than Batman Begins. It is a superhero movie tailored to my love of knowing who is under the mask and what makes them tick. Downey is wonderful, simply wonderful. I can't wait to see the next one. Hurry up Favreau!Read full review
It is not easy transforming a comic book to the big screen, but the cast and crew have done an excellent job in this motion picture. Robert Downey Jr. makes what could be a childish kid flick, a realistic action story. Tony Stark made millions in producing weapons. Now he is has created a way to counter those that are using those same weapons for evil.
I am reliving my childhood of the 70's with all of these comic book heroe's coming back to life on the silver or in this case LCD screen .Iron Man in my humble opionion is better then Spiderman 3 or the hulk but not quite up to the very lofty standards of either of the last two Batman movies. Robert Downey Jr.is solid along with Kurt Russell and Paltrow. The special effects are great and the flying and Iron man Vs Iron man battles are incrediable. This movie has done a great job in setting up this Stan lee character comic book heroe for an entire series. Stan Lee is set to strike again.
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