Iron Man (2008)

Iron Man is a 2008 American science fiction superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his personal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard plays military liaison James Rhodes and Jeff Bridges plays Stark Industries executive Obadiah Stane.

The film was in development since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema, before Marvel Studios reacquired the rights in 2006. Marvel put the project in production as its first self-financed film. Favreau signed on as director, aiming for a naturalistic feel, and he chose to shoot the film primarily in California, rejecting the East Coast setting of the comics to differentiate the film from numerous superhero films set in New York City-esque environments. During filming, the actors were free to create their own dialogue because pre-production was focused on the story and action. Rubber and metal versions of the armors, created by Stan Winston's company, were mixed with computer-generated imagery to create the title character. Hasbro and Sega sold merchandise, and product placement deals were made with Audi, Burger King, LG and 7-Eleven.

Reviews were very positive, particularly praising Downey's performance. The American Film Institute selected the film as one of the ten best of the year. Downey, Favreau and Paltrow returned in the sequel Iron Man 2, released on May 7, 2010. Downey also made a cameo appearance as Stark in The Incredible Hulk and is scheduled to appear in the 2012 crossover film The Avengers. The film is the first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Another sequel, Iron Man 3 is set for a 2013 release, with Downey reprising his role.

The Plot

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is the head of Stark Industries, a major military contracting company he inherited from his father. Even though Stark is an inventive genius and wunderkind, he is also a playboy. One day, while his father's old partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), takes care of day-to-day operations, Stark flies to war-torn Afghanistan with his friend and military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes a.k.a. "Rhodey" (Terrence Howard), for a demonstration of Stark Industries' new weapon, the "Jericho" missile. However, Stark is critically wounded in an assault and finds himself the prisoner of an Afghan terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. An electromagnet built by fellow captive Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub) keeps the shrapnel in his chest from reaching his heart and killing him. The Ten Rings leader, Raza (Faran Tahir), offers Stark his freedom in exchange for building a Jericho missile for the group, but Tony and Yinsen agree Raza will not keep his word.

During his three months of captivity, Stark and Yinsen secretly build a powerful electric generator called an arc reactor, which will power Stark's electromagnet, and then begin to build a suit of armor to escape. The Ten Rings attack the workshop when they discover what Stark is doing, and Yinsen fights back to buy Stark time as the suit powers up. The armored Stark battles his way out of the caves and finds the dying Yinsen, who tells him not to waste his life. Stark burns the terrorists' munitions and flies away to crash in the desert, destroying the suit. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark returns home and announces that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. Stane advises Stark that this may ruin Stark Industries and his father's legacy. In his home workshop, Stark builds an improved version of his suit as well as a more powerful arc reactor for his chest.

When Stark makes his first public appearance after his return, reporter Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb) informs him that Stark Industries' weapons, including the Jericho, were recently delivered to the Ten Rings and are being used to attack Yinsen's home village. He also learns that Stane is trying to succeed him as head of the company. Enraged, Stark decides to intervene using his now finished suit. In a lengthy and elaborate scene, Stark dons his new armor and then flies to Afghanistan where he saves Yinsen's village and turns Raza's subordinate over to the villagers. While flying home, Stark is shot at by two F-22 Raptor fighter jets. He calls Rhodes on his cell phone and reveals his secret identity in an attempt to get the attack called off. Meanwhile, the Ten Rings find the pieces of Stark's prototype suit and meet with Obadiah, who has the group eliminated and has the company's engineers reverse engineer a new suit from the wreck. Seeking to find any other weapons delivered to the Ten Rings, Stark sends his assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to hack into the company computer system from Obadiah's office. She discovers Obadiah has been supplying terrorists with Stark weaponry and hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark, but the group reneged on the deal upon discovering who the target was. Pepper, soon after, meets with agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) of the "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division", a counter-terrorism agency, to inform him of Obadiah's activities.

Stane's scientists cannot duplicate Stark's arc reactor, so Stane ambushes Stark in his home, using a sonic device to paralyze him and take his arc reactor. Left to die, Stark crawls to his lab and retrieves his original reactor. Potts and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempt to arrest Stane, but are attacked by him in his now functional suit. Stark races to the rescue and fights Stane, but is quickly overpowered without his new reactor to run his suit at full capacity. Stark lures him atop the Stark Industries building and instructs Potts to overload the large arc reactor in the building. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that knocks Stane unconscious, causing him and his armor to fall into the exploding reactor. The next day, the press has dubbed Stark in his armor as "Iron Man". Agent Coulson gives him a cover story to explain the events of the night and Stane's death. At a press conference, Stark starts to tell the cover story given to him by S.H.I.E.L.D., but then announces that he is Iron Man.

In a post-credits scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) visits Stark at home, and, noting that Iron Man is not "the only superhero in the world", says he wants to discuss the "Avenger Initiative".

Reviews

Iron Man received critical acclaim. On May 1, 2008, the film was identified as the "best-reviewed film of the year so far" by Jen Yamato of review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with the site reporting at that time the film had received a rating of 95% based on 107 reviews and this rating has held its place as of January 2010. The film currently holds a score of 94% based on 235 reviews, with selected top critics giving it a score of 93% based on 39 reviews. Metacritic gave the film normalized average score of 79%, based on 38 reviews.

Among the major trade journals, Todd McCarthy in Variety called the film an "expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza" with "fresh energy and stylistic polish", while Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film while nonetheless finding "disappointment in a climatic battle between different Iron Man prototypes how did Tony's nemesis learn how to use the suit?" In one of the first major-daily newspaper reviews, Frank Lovece of Newsday lauded the film's "emotional truth pitch-perfect casting and plausibly rendered super-science" that made it "faithful to the source material while updating it – and recognizing what's made that material so enduring isn't just the high-tech cool of a man in a metal suit, but the human condition that got him there". A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "an unusually good superhero picture. Or at least – since it certainly has its problems – a superhero movie that's good in unusual ways."

Among the specialty press, Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons commended the "impressive sets and mechanics that combine smoothly with relatively seamless CG", and said, "Robert Downey Jr., along with director Jon Favreau help this rise above formula. The result is something that, whilst hardly original or groundbreaking, is nevertheless refreshing in its earnestness to avoid dark dramatic stylings in favor of an easy-going, crowd-pleasing action movie with a sprinkle of anti-war and redemption themes". IGN's Todd Gilchrist recognized Downey as "the best thing" in a film that "functions on autopilot, providing requisite story developments and character details to fill in this default 'origin story' while the actors successfully breathe life into their otherwise conventional roles".

Among major metropolitan weeklies, David Edelstein of New York magazine called the film "a shapely piece of mythmaking Favreau doesn't go in for stylized comic-book frames, at least in the first half. He gets real with it – you'd think you were watching a military thriller", while conversely, David Denby of The New Yorker put forth a negative review, claiming "a slightly depressed, going-through-the-motions feel to the entire show Gwyneth Paltrow, widening her eyes and palpitating, can't do much with an antique role as Stark's girl Friday, who loves him but can't say so; Terrence Howard, playing a military man who chases around after Stark, looks dispirited and taken for granted". Looking at the sociocultural aspects of the film, Cristobal Giraldez Catalan at Bright Lights Film Journal argues that, "Iron Man is far more than playboy fantasy; it is American foreign policy realized without context....Iron Man, with narrative and directorial precision, once again provides the high-fidelity misogyny and anti-Muslim rhetoric Hollywood is known for."

Roger Ebert and Richard Corliss named Iron Man as among their favorite films of 2008.

The Cast

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man

Terrence Howard as Rhodey
 Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane
 Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
 Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart
 Shaun Toub as Yinsen
 Faran Tahir as Raza
 Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson
 Bill Smitrovich as General Gabriel
 Sayed Badreya as Abu Bakaar
 Paul Bettany as Jarvis (voice)
 Jon Favreau as Hogan
 Peter Billingsley as William Ginter Riva
 Tim Guinee as Major Allen