The review
We just rewatched Iron Man, almost 18 years after the first time, as film 1 of about 30: Waifu and I are going through most of the Marvel movies in release order on the road to Avengers: Doomsday. Back then we weren't fans. Watching it again, it's wild how much of what came later was already sitting in this one.
The short version: it holds up. The effects are great for a movie that old, nothing too crazy, no overkill, and the suit-building montage and first flight still put a grin on my face. It's very well paced; none of the story is unnecessary, which is really what I like about it. And Robert Downey Jr. carries it all. His performance, his acting, the whole shebang (and he bangs, alright).
What I missed when I was younger is how clean the hero's journey is. A weapons dealer gets a taste of his own product, meets a man in a cave who grounds him, and walks out with a purpose. That turn, from a playboy with nothing to live for to a man with a reason, landed for me because he lives it. If someone had only told him, he could have shelved it and moved on. He's in that cave with Yinsen (Shaun Toub), and the change makes sense. That's what I miss in the recent movies: they try so hard to be complex, all effects and morally grey villains, and the story gets lost.
Great line. Technically not correct, though: he didn't lose his heart, he got shrapnel. (Ava says: way to mansplain, Couch Dad 😉) You're welcome. Anyway. Off mic, Waifu admitted that the first time she watched it, all those years ago, she thought it was literal, and I bet half the audience did too. The line I remember is his, during the flight tests: "Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk." That's Tony in one sentence.
The rewatch also changed my mind on Obadiah Stane, halfway. The first time, I thought he was a terrible villain: boring, the same powers as the hero, a motive that didn't add up. Now I can see Jeff Bridges is actually good in the role. Stane still isn't a compelling villain. A man who built an empire from the ground up doesn't go crazy in public and wreck it, and the movie never sells the hunger that would push him there. Bald, rich and evil only gets you so far.
Fair point. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag that leans good. Rhodey (Terrence Howard) is actually funny: "I'm not gonna drink," then the next party; "it's not that simple," and the morning after it's a "training exercise". And the tiny War Machine tease got me. Happy, the driver, is Jon Favreau, the director himself, and he's great. JARVIS (Paul Bettany) is fine for now (he warms up in the sequels), but the real scene-stealer is the robot arm with the fire extinguisher: the dumb little bot who saves him at the end. The misses are small. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) has the lines and the banter, but her expressions run stiff, even when she's vulnerable (my defense: maybe that's the character, an employee keeping a straight face in front of her boss). Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is just as wooden here. He loosens up down the line as we get to know him more. I guess the increased paycheck helped too.
The final fight is the weakest part: two big suits trade punches until the movie remembers it has an ending to get to. It wraps things up without ruining anything. Stay for the post-credits scene, though. I'd completely forgotten how early they start teasing the bigger picture, and it's one of the reasons we're doing this marathon.
And then there's the finale. That's the legendary ending, and it fits his personality so well. "Back in Black" over the opening was a good choice too. Where does it sit now? Definitely top ten for sure, maybe top five as the first one to be this good. If my memory serves, it goes up and down from this point, and every movie has its flaws. But it makes sense why Marvel and superheroes blew up after this one. They started right.
Iron Man: eighteen years on, the suit still fits.
