MCU Reviews #1: Iron Man (2008)

2008 saw the release of two significant superhero movies. One was Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which is self-explanatory. The other is Jon Favreau's Iron Man. What made this one significant was not only being a great film based on a B-list superhero, but it also started what is now the highest-grossing film franchise of all time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Making a whole cinematic universe was no easy task, but thanks to people like producer Kevin Feige, what was a major risk ended up paying off over the next few years.

Back in 2008, I heard of it but never watched it and its sequel until after I saw The Avengers. Before then, I never would have imagined getting interested in several of the other Marvel heroes that aren't Spider-Man. Today, I'm into a lot of these heroes thanks to their solo movies and crossovers that showcased how great these characters would be. I think it's also because Marvel Studios didn't have the rights to some of their more popular heroes like Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, leading to some B-list and even C-list superheroes becoming household names. It all started right here.


Now, I can't do this movie justice without talking about several parts of the story. Due to the serialized nature of the MCU, I'm going to have to talk about the progression of the series when I cover every entry, so SPOILER ALERT.

What better way to start an Iron Man review than to talk about the story. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is an industrialist and scientist who makes a living selling weapons. At the beginning, he gets ambushed and captured by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings. With assistance of another captor, Yinsen (Shaun Toub), he creates a weaponized suit of armor to escape. His capture opened his eyes on the matter, inspiring him to make another model of the suit as a means of putting an end to what he started. With that, we have the central theme of the movie: starting anew.

Robert Downey, Jr. absolutely nails it as Tony Stark. In the very first scene in the movie, he comes off as a wisecracking guy with a powerful presence. He's a bit of a self-centered jerk who does what he wants, but is charming enough to avoid being unlikable. He also sells the scientific part of the character whenever he is building new tech. Think of all the times that he has to pretend to interact with holograms and having those being added in during post-production.

In the second third of the movie, we see Tony constructing and testing the suit, which you think might have been boring to watch, but RDJ just sells it. That's not to mention that there's some funny moments, especially his interactions with the A.I., Jarvis (Paul Bettany) and the robot nicknamed "Dummy," who is much too ready to douse Tony with a fire extinguisher.

I think it also bears saying that the theme of starting anew also applied for RDJ, too. Before he was cast, he had a history of drug problems until he decided to clean himself up. As I was doing a bit of research, I learned that the moment where Tony gets himself a burger was there because Burger King played a role in him ditching drugs. With that, he applied some of this real-life experiences into the character and made it his own. It's pretty clear that he was perfectly cast in the role and it's hard to imagine anyone else playing him now.

One thing I liked in the film was a small detail that nonetheless shows more of Tony's character growth. It's the scene where he holds a press conference and announces his shutting down of the weapons division. Aside from eating the aforementioned burger, there's the moment where he sits against the podium and asks the reporters to sit down so they could see him. Maybe it's just me, but I see it as Tony wanting to be on the same level as the ones beneath him because he's going through a major change.

I think the film does a good job in making us care about Tony. For starters, he does have a disadvantage at the beginning of the movie. After an explosion, some shrapnel was threatening to make his heart stop. He builds an arc reactor to prevent that. This is tested in the climax of the movie when the main antagonist, Obadiah Stane, steals it from him and he's close to dying as a result. This becomes a tense moment as he heads to his basement to get the prototype that Pepper put in a display case.

Just remember, Iron Man is just guy wearing a suit of armor full of weapons and accessories. That's not to say he has powers. Nay, his greatest superpower is his ingenuity. He built a miniature arc reactor and a giant metal suit in a cave... WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS! Eat your heart out, MacGuyver.

The action scenes are a reflection of his vulnerability. Yes, it's cool to see him walking away from an explosion without flinching. However, you might think that a metal suit of armor would protect Tony the whole time, but not exactly. In the scene where he escapes with the Mk. I armor, his left arm briefly gets stuck on a wall in the cave. When being shot at, the suits do take damage, probably even shutting down whatever features he has. The climax where he fights Stane's Iron Monger also has him wearing his prototype arc reactor (because Stane took his upgraded one), which is not as compatible, thus the suit is losing power as it goes on.

As I think about recent MCU entries and then watching this, I'm surprised to see how grounded this movie feels in comparison. There's no gods or aliens or Infinity Stones to deal with. Instead, Tony deals with terrorists gaining a hold of his weapons. Another reason why it feels so grounded is the dialogue. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about the dialogue that feels naturalistic. Maybe it's because a lot of the dialogue was improvised.

Some of the other supporting characters are great, too. We have Yinsen (Shaun Toub), another person captured by the Ten Rings who helps Tony build his arc reactor and Mk. I armor to escape. He's not in the movie for very long due to getting axed off during the escape scene. His death, however, impacted Tony, as Yinsen tells him to not waste his life as he succumbs to his wounds. This inspired Tony to change his ways and make the world better.

Then there's James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Terrence Howard), a military liason and friend of Tony. Despite the snarking between them and Rhodey openly expressing his disapproval of Tony's actions, you can tell that they care for each other. He's even among the first people who Tony reveals his Iron Man suit to.

There's also Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is Tony's assistant and love interest. Like I mentioned with Rhodey, it's clear that Tony and Pepper care for one another. There's also a good level of trust between them. One scene that I think backs this up is when he asks her to help replace his arc reactor early on, which itself is a funny moment. Her "There's pus!" reaction gets me every time.

I wasn't sure at first about how the romance between Tony and Pepper was handled. The ballroom scene just happened to have Tony flirting and dancing with her, but I think it works. There's a bit of awkwardness thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow's delivery of her lines and there's a good level of chemistry between them.

Finally, we have Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who serves as the main antagonist of the movie. We all know Jeff Bridges from some of his famous roles like Tron and The Big Lebowski. Having him play a villain was pretty cool and he was nearly unrecognizable probably because he shaved his head for the role. He managed to give a sinister and creepy vibe underneath that friendly exterior. Some viewers aren't fond his hamminess when he wears the Iron Monger suit at the end, but I think it works because the movie built up that he's gone off the deep end.

A lot of the visual effects in the movie hold up pretty well. While it's clear that seeing the Iron Man suits flying are clearly CGI, they're rendered pretty well as we see light reflecting on them as a way to look like they're there. In some shots the suits look real because they actually are. The Mk. I suit was built entirely, and the rest were built from the waist up and fixed in post later on. It's too bad that in subsequent entries, some of the CGI sticks out a little too much, but I'll get to that in some of the later films down the line.

Over the years, the MCU has gotten criticism over the lack of memorable music or identifiable themes, with some exceptions, of course. Think about John Williams's Superman theme or Danny Elfman's Batman theme and how great and memorable they are, then think about any MCU score. If you want a good idea as to why this is, Tony Zhou of "Every Frame a Painting" did a whole video on it called "The Marvel Symphonic Universe." I don't think it's as simple as that, but it's a start.

With that said, though, I think Iron Man actually has a decent score, composed by Ramin Djawadi, who would later go on to compose Game of Thrones. There's a huge emphasis on electric guitars, and it is glorious to listen to. Djawadi even provided a theme for Iron Man, with those repeated four notes that I couldn't stop humming afterwards. I can't say it's one of the best scores ever written, but I think there's something great underneath all that. Also, here's a fun fact: Rhodey's cell phone ringtone when Tony calls him is the 1966 Iron Man theme, which is a nice little Easter egg.

Before I end this review, I can't go without mentioning the ending scene where Tony reveals to the press that he is Iron Man. This was such a surprise because we're so used to superheroes having secret identities that this marked a welcome change. Granted, I think other superheroes have done this, but it was hardly used in movies. It opens up new story possibilities. But you know what was the most surprising thing about this scene? Robert Downey, Jr. actually came up with it, so you have him to thank for the twist ending.

Lastly, the whole "cinematic universe" thing was barely touched upon. All the movie did was become a great film in its own right that didn't rely on foreshadowing of future events or a scene that introduces an Infinity Stone or something like that. That is, until the post-credits scene, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) appearing before Tony and bringing up something called the "Avenger Initiative." It's just a tease for audience members on what might come next. Well, you know the rest.

If this review doesn't show it, then you should know that Iron Man is a great film and I love it. Thanks to Robert Downey, Jr. and the rest of the cast, the characters shine. Everything else from the story, action scenes, humor, visual effects, and music made this one of the best superhero movies of all time. What better way to rate this than a good old...

WORTH CHECKING OUT

I will be reviewing every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie throughout the year, with my plan to cover two movies a month. It's going to be a long journey, but I've had a good enough hiatus to think things over. Like Tony Stark, I'm trying to start anew and breathe new life to this site. I like to talk about movies and this is my way of expressing myself, so I will keep at it.

Tune in next time as I review The Incredible Hulk later this month.