Not anyone's first choice for a hero, Tony Stark is materialistic, conceited, and carefree, until he's ripped out of his perfect life, critically wounded, and snatched away by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. While in captivity, he forges a friendship with a second prisoner, Yinsen, and the two proceed to conspire an escape under the guise of constructing one of Stark Industries newest weapons, the Jericho. Stark uses his injury to his advantage, creating a makeshift suit of armor, powered by a miniature arc reactor that acts as a heart regulator, powering the electromagnet that's keeping his heart going. Once the armor is completed, the two attempt their escape. This suit of armor is upgraded once Stark returns to his home in Malibu, and becomes the famous armor worn by Iron Man. Inspired by Yinsen, Stark chooses to turn his life around and help people for the good of mankind. However, he soon finds out that such an immediate and socially-shocking switch isn't as easy as he'd anticipated.
As a film, Iron Man has the assets of an epic without the length and unneeded detail. The stretch of time when Stark and Yinsen are in captivity has a completely different sensation than the rest of the movie, making for an intense change, almost a similar feeling of captivity. Performances by Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges are outstanding, breathing life into the hero and villain like no Marvel comic book movie has before. The armor's design is simple and sleek, and the scenes of Tony suiting up produce a jaw-dropping quickness and efficiency. Superhero movies have a reputation for being plot-lacking, and sometimes feel like one big inside joke for fans of the comics, but this film breaks that reputation -- with style.
No matter how brilliant, no film is without its faults. Gwyneth Paltrow's performance as Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, is significantly dull compared to the film's other characters and elements. Whether the fault is the writer's or the actor's, the bright and individual characters of Tony Stark, Yinsen, Obadiah Stane, and James "Rhodey" Rhodes all soar high compared to the stationary, unnoticeable character of Potts. In fact, it seems as if the filmmakers were merely searching for an excuse to insert romance into the film in order to attract a broader audience. Although Potts did play a significant role in the comics, her role in the movie was so underplayed and stereotyped that it may have been better to leave her out altogether. If not, more attention should have been payed to the role, for leaving it as it is simply appears that her inclusion was an afterthought.
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I really enjoyed your review, but I'd have to say that Pepper Potts was a good character to have in the film. I think that Gweneth Paltrow underplayed her role, and that is possibly the hardest thing to do. Gweneth played the role to perfection, she was beautiful, elegant, as well as reseved. I did think that the rest of your review was wonderful. I really think you pointed out all it's perfections.
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