High Flying Fun

Watching Iron Man, it's almost as if the movie's not based on a comic book. Sure, it's about a guy in a suit who fights evil, but Iron Man deals with contemporary issues — like terrorism — in such a serious way that it's not as hokey as most other films in the genre typically are. Not that a film like Batman Begins is hokey, per se, but given that the villains in those movies are all disfigured or "special" in some kind of way, having a bad guy who's simply a businessman and arms dealer is sort of, ahem, disarming.

Which is not to say that Iron Man is a completely serious movie. Oh no, it's plenty fun. As Tony Stark, the man behind the mask, Robert Downey Jr. is smooth and wisecracking and, basically, his typical self that we've come to know and love. He's so good that it's like he's not even acting. Another refreshing thing about the movie is that Stark is not a young character who's going through some heavy-handed identity crisis, like Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne. Nor is he a guy with any special power, other than his own intelligence and ingenuity. Stark is an adult, a successful businessman, who decides (albeit rather simply and easily) to change course, and becomes a superhero — not because he's into fighting evil, per se, but because he likes technology and wants to right a personal wrong. Sure, most superhero origin movies begin with personal revenge, but here, it's not like Stark's out to avenge his father or exorcise any demons or anything. He's just a selfish guy who develops a conscience.

Blah blah blah, summer action film based on a comic book, blah blah blah ... And the suit and the effects are all very real looking (as opposed to the effects in, say, The Incredible Hulk) and very cool too. In short, Iron Man is great fun. It starts off a little slow, but it really, ahem, takes off when Stark puts on the red and gold suit, and then there's no looking back. I'm giving this one a B+.