Motion Picture Magic: Iron Man

Since this is JK's blog, I figured I would use his title for movies. This is my review for Iron Man.

Iron Man is based on the comic book of the same name published by Marvel comics. Its about a weapons manufacturer and dealer named Tony Stark. His company, Stark Enterprises builds weapons for the U.S. military. The basic plot (I won't go into details, because that is called spoiling) is that Stark goes into the middle east to demonstrate his latest weapon to the military. After his demonstration, he leaves with the military back to the base. The vehicle he is in is attacked and he is the only survivor, although he is badly wounded. The terrorist group that attacks kidnaps, and then puts an electromagnetic device in his chest to keep him from dying, because shrapnel is slowly moving into his heart. He needs a device for the rest of the movie to keep himself alive. But in the meantime the terrorist force him to make weapons for them. Instead he builds a crude suit of armor (crude but still high tech given the materials he had to work with) and escapes killing most of his captors along the way. When he returns home, he changes his ways and stops building weapons. He then makes a more advanced armor and becomes the hero Iron Man.

Of course theres a little more to it then that, but I try not to spoil movies. Anyway, I must say that Iron Man is the best Marvel movie I have seen to date. Better than X-Men 2, better than the Spider-Man series, it just blew me away. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect in the role of Tony Stark. I don't think anyone else could have pulled that off. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Tony's love interest, and Terrence Howard plays Colonel Jim Rhodes his best friend. They both play their parts very well, although surprisingly Howard's character isn't featured that much. (Though you'll probably see him a lot more in the sequel.) Jeff Bridges is excellent as the villain Obediah Stane, who becomes the villian Iron Monger. There is not weak link in the cast.

The battle scenes were amazing. They really got the feel of Iron Man down. When he flies he is like a human jet. The effects are just off the hook. (yeah I said it.)

My one pet peeve, and only because I am a comic nerd, is that they made Stark's butler Jarvis into a computer program. I would have rather seen a guy play Jarvis like in the comic. Its not a big deal, and the general audience won't care.

One more thing. You may have heard about the special scene after the credits. Well depending on your knowledge of comic books will determine whether or not its worthwhile to see it. I am a comic nerd, so the scene made me crap my pants. But it might not mean much to the general public.

Anyway this movie rocks. If you can see it on the big screen, it is completely worth it. I'll leave you with the trailer to get hype. Peace!

5 out of 5