Iron Man

The Movie Mob 2/11/2023 3:27:20 AM 8.4

**Iron Man had all the class, quirks, genius, and fun to birth one of the greatest film franchises in cinematic history.** The movie that started it all. That created the personality of a multi-billion dollar entertainment behemoth. That introduced the world to the first of many characters that have become household names and cultural icons. Iron Man stormed on the screen with a lead actor that Hollywood had given up on and a small start-up studio without a single movie under its belt backed by Disney, who had little to no live-action comic experience of their own. But director Jon Favreau’s adlibbed approach leveraged the strengths of his cast and created a world that was simultaneously realistic and magical - where a man could build a flying suit of armor, or a Thunder god could fall in love with a quirky mortal. Many forget that Robert Downey Jr’s personal struggles had left him blacklisted by many in Hollywood, making his casting a risky stroke of brilliance. The result of all this was precisely the lightning in a bottle needed to birth the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

r96sk 6/23/2021 3:58:50 PM 8.4

My first taste of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A great start! I absolutely enjoyed seeing <em>'Iron Man'</em>. Robert Downey Jr. is terrific as the titular character, who is a blast to watch throughout - love the design! The plot is very entertaining, I like how it tells the story; simply, but very effectively. Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, meanwhile, all add to the film with good performances. The special effects are very neat, as are all the action sequences. I will say the score isn't the strongest, at least in terms of what I'd expect from this sorta film. I wouldn't say it's bad per se, just not as spectacular as it could've (should've?) been; especially with someone like Ramin Djawadi composing. I love a film with great music, so hopefully that improves as I watch the MCU expand. I know, I'm extremely late to this particularly party but happy to finally begin watching.

Filipe Manuel Neto 6/22/2022 10:41:17 AM 8.4

**An excellent film, which only loses a little in some details related to the writing of the script and the conception of some characters.** I'm not a fan of superhero movies, but like any movie fan in general, I've seen a good handful of them. This was the first film made by Marvel and financed by the company itself, and it brings us one of its most acclaimed heroes. The film shows how a young playboy millionaire named Tony Stark, with a fortune inherited from his father and largely made from the production and sale of weapons, becomes a vigilante determined not to allow the misuse of the weapons he sells. I don't know much about comics, but I believe that the film was limited to adapting to the cinema a story already written on paper about the origins of the character, giving it, perhaps, a touch of the present. The plot is one of the strongest points of the film, not only for the way it introduces the character in the context of the current geopolitical conflicts (with the Middle East issue very present), but mainly for the way it transforms Tony Stark into a deeper character, who lives a catharsis that opens his conscience to questions that he was not sensitive enough to understand. Put more simply, if initially Stark was a rich and spoiled idiot, he ends the movie with another awareness of what he should do and how his attitudes influence the world around him. However, I also felt that once Stark realizes what he has to do, and it becomes clear who the enemy is to defeat, the script quickly loses quality and becomes much more basic and underdeveloped. With a skillful direction provided by Jon Favreau, the cast gave us a very good performance. Of course, the public's attention is focused on Robert Downey Jr., an actor who started working in the 80s, but only began to emerge at the turn of the millennium, with some productions (*Gothika*, *Good Night and Good Luck*, *Zodiac*) that he entered before accepting Marvel's proposal. He is perfect in character and gives us his life's work as an actor. Beside him, we can still admire Gwynneth Paltrow, in a more discreet but competent role. The villain was secured by Jeff Bridges, but his work is not so well executed and the actor sometimes doesn't seem to know exactly how to behave in the character. What can we say about the production values ​​and technical quality of a movie with a millionaire budget of 140 million dollars? It is a film determined to be a blockbuster, which fully achieved all its objectives, earning high profits, pleasing the fans and achieving high praise from the general public and the specialized critics. And the money invested is in plain sight, with a declared bet on very high quality CGI, wonderfully well-executed sound and image effects and really good sets and costumes (with great emphasis - obviously - on Iron Man's suit and Stark's mansion). The cinematography is excellent, the filming work was really well done, and the editing was detailed, giving the film a pleasant rhythm that doesn't tire us out. Finally, a note of praise for the excellent and epic soundtrack.