Downey Jr. is brilliant in 'Iron Man'
Last Updated on 3/17/2010
Published on 5/8/2008
By Meredith Carter
Listen very, very closely during "Iron Man" and an unusual, little-heard sound emerges. It's the improbable sound of a career being reborn.
Oh yes, that's right: As Marvel icon Tony Stark/Iron Man, famous ex-cokehead/alcoholic/lothario Robert Downey Jr. blasts out of the "E! True Hollywood Story" archives and into a much-deserved, long-overdue spotlight. With seemingly effortless comic timing, he creates a new kind of superhero -- one with a sense of humor as finely tuned as his suit's navigational system.
And that's the key to Downey Jr.'s remarkable performance as Iron Man: He uses humor both to conceal and reveal his character's demons (there are scads of them, so don't bother counting). At every turn, Downey Jr. proves that a well-timed one-liner can be more revealing than 10 minutes of overblown dialogue.
Of course, it helps that he gets a meaty role: Billionaire military weapons creator Tony Stark is the quintessential anti-hero. He slugs scotch on the rocks, beds anything in a skirt and collects sleek vintage cars like stamps. But he gets a massive wake-up call when, during a trip to Afghanistan to show off his latest WMD (dubbed "The Jericho"), terrorists attack his convoy and take him hostage. Held in a cave with Yinsen (Shaun Toub), a doctor who saves Stark's life, Stark pretends to build a replica of Jericho for his captors. Instead, he creates an iron suit -- complete with a magnet attached to his chest to keep shrapnel from reaching his heart -- and blasts his way to freedom.
Back in America, Stark finds new purpose, shuts down Stark Industries and loses himself in a new project: building a bigger, flashier, stronger suit equipped with an arsenal of weapons and jet-propelled boots. The new suit comes in handy when he discovers Obadiah Stane (the newly bald Jeff Bridges), an old friend, has less-than-honest intentions.
As far as plot goes, "Iron Man" doesn't deviate from the industry standard: Hero is lost, then discovers powers, finds renewed purpose and faces off with Villain. (Note: There's a good reason this plotline never gets old. Do the words "epic hero" ring a bell?) It's what director Jon Favreau -- yes, he's Mike Peters from "Swingers" -- does with that plot that makes "Iron Man" such an exhilarating yet whimsical adventure. He employs amazing special effects (the explosions are, ahem, explosive) but doesn't use them to fill in plot holes or cover weak dialogue. The fight scenes are thrilling, the costumes (including suits worn by Iron Man and Iron Monger) are bold and the electronics are impressive.
Still, Stuff Blowing Up does not a great superhero movie make. Favreau must have sensed this, so he allows his strong (if somewhat randomly assembled) cast of characters to serve up heaping doses of intelligent humor. The eminently likable Terrence Howard makes the most of his time onscreen as Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Rhodes, and he finds a willing and capable sparring partner in Downey Jr. Bridges (what? what is The Dude doing here?) makes for a surprisingly ominous Iron Monger. (All four people -- including yours truly -- who saw 1993's "The Vanishing" know Bridges can play menacing very well.) He's creepy, perhaps, precisely because he's low-key, because he doesn't go over the top (à la Phillip Seymour Hoffman in "Mission: Impossible III").
There's just one hitch: Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays Stark's assistant Pepper Potts, gets shafted halfway through "Iron Man" when her character morphs from savvy to Valley Girl. She starts off as a smart, self-assured woman but ends up uttering dialogue like "if I push this button you will die." By the final scene she regains some footing; however, the bimbo character switch is rather insulting.
Still, if all of these actors were terrible, "Iron Man" might succeed based solely on Downey Jr.'s riveting performance. Looking fitter, sharper and wiser, he nevertheless brings a world-weary quality to Tony Stark/Iron Man. He's glib and sarcastic, catty and immature, more than a little arrogant, but we root for him. Downey Jr. is simply that magnetic. You love him because you hate him ... or is that you hate him because you love him?
Whatever the reason, he was born to play Iron Man. Bring on the sequel, Favreau.
Grade: A-
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Seems like you were more in to RDJ than the movie. I've been reading your reviews for a while. You're becoming predictable. I can tell what kinds of movies you like and can pretty much predict how you're going to review a movie before your article comes out. You could have made that A- a little more believable if you would have mentioned the good job that Terrance Howard did in the movie instead of making him an afterthought in your RDJ lust fest. Even Ms. Paltrow being type casted as a footstool wasn't insulting enough. Become more "open" and less biased and predictable, and you won't be stuck doing movie reviews in a city that don't even have a movie theater. Posted by ClemsonNeil on 7/7/2008 |
