Iron Man delivers

(Spoiler-free review by guest blogger Daniel Halloran)

There have been a lot of reviews of this movie. And most of them have been positive. General fan and viewer reaction has been overwhelming positive as well. So what is so great about this movie?

First and probably the most important reason, Robert Downey Jr. He gives a stellar performance as a hard drinking womanizer who is literally shown what it means to be human. In true superhero fashion, he constructs the ultimate human weapon: a perfect blend of man and machine.

The premise of Iron Man is similar to that of Batman, but with a significant difference. Downey's character Tony Stark is not a tortured soul seeking to define his life after unspeakable tragedy. He is someone who suffers tragedy because of who he is and what he does. Although the journey is familiar, the beats are different. This is a more personal journey than even Spider-man's. Sure, there's a lot of spectacle, but there is also a tremendous amount of heart.

Although Downey is the major attraction, the entire cast is excellent. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Stark’s faithful and dutiful assistant who has devoted her entire life to Tony. What makes her character work is that the relationship between the two feels very genuine. There is a lot of chemistry between the actors, which makes up for the fact that Pepper doesn’t do a lot in the story itself. Also Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes delivers a good performance as the straight man to Downey’s more flamboyant Stark. Howard makes Rhodes likable and memorable despite a lack of real character development. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), Tony Stark’s mentor and business associate, could have been a very two-dimensional character, but Bridges manages to bring believability and a sense of history with Stark that makes the character work.

A great majority of this film was improved, or written, on the set. How did they make this work so well? The answer is Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man works. This is a good movie. Perhaps even a great movie. Yeah, it's not in the same league as, say, Atonement or Schindler’s List, but they can't really be compared; they're different genres with very different rules. With Iron Man, they pulled off an effective origin story that felt new and not like a retread of old story elements and ideas. The cast, writing, and direction were all top notch. They even pulled off that moment where the hero is presented for the first time that had me on the edge of my seat. The last time I remember feeling like that in a movie was when Yoda became a ping-pong ball in Episode II.

I highly recommend this movie. It's suitable for pretty much all ages, although there are a few references to sex and more than a few instances of alcohol consumption. If I had to rate it on a scale, I think I would break it down like this: it's better than the first Spider-man but not as good as the original Superman, Batman Begins, or Spider-man 2. Which I believe makes it number four on my all time favorite comic book movies list.