Iron Man (2008)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: It's strange to think now, but back in 2008, 'Iron Man' saw a brand-new Marvel Studios put all of its eggs into one very fragile basket with an unknown superhero origin story fronted by the risky Robert Downey Jr and unknown director Jon Favreau behind the camera. As we all know well enough now though, the results were hugely successful, and the reason for that is that first and foremost, Iron Man is a great character-study.
  Yes this isn't a film all about action or heavy plotting - it's instead about the journey of a man from ignorant weapons-dealing playboy to avenging hero, and the fact that this risky project devotes so much time to that arc is hugely admirable. Of course since then Marvel have used that intelligent character-focused approach to build a whole universe where the reason we're invested is because they build their heroes so well, but it only works here because the execution is largely so great.
  
  Now on the one hand that's down to Robert Downey Jr - the guy who really is the perfect choice for this role - but it's also thanks to Jon Favreau who brings a grounded sense of reality to the majority with action that's more weighty and tangible than anything we've seen from this universe since, and a witty sense of humour that buoys the whole thing along. In the end that all amounts to a properly fun and genuinely engaging character-study that proved the perfect film to kick-start the most successful franchise that the world has ever seen, and I for one think it deserves all of the praise it gets.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The overlong, crashy-bashy third act sadly does let the side down, as we lose all of that grounded character stuff and even much of the snappiness that made the rest of the film so great. That's not to say that it's not a part of Tony's story in some degree, but it does increasingly feel as though his main arc is complete and a less meaningful revenge plot is taking over.
  
  VERDICT: The perfect hero origin because of its grounding in genuine character-development, Marvel and Jon Favreau's 'Iron Man' gamble paid off. It's just a shame about that third act.

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