Eye Candy #105 - "Iron Man"

Iron Man: "Iron Man" finally answers the question of what kind of superhero movie do you get when you cast right, have a solid director, and have a script that is intelligent, exciting, and funny? You get the Marvel movie that I as a Marvel fan have been hoping for since I heard the first "Spider-man" movie was announced. The story of weapons manufacturer Tony Stark who, after a run in with the wrong end of his weapons in Afghanistan, decides to fight back against those who have hurt others with his technology. Robert Downey Jr. is PERFECT here as Tony Stark (he's even more believable and compelling than any portrayal I've ever read in the comics). He hits all the right notes. But his supporting cast is what really makes this movie - when people describe casts having chemistry, they were describing this cast. The relationships seem so effortless. Jeff Bridges is solid as Obadiah Stane and Terrence Howard isn't given a whole lot to do as James Rhodes, but Gwyneth Paltrow easily beats any of the female leads of any comic book movie (with the exception of maybe "V for Vendetta"). I'm not a huge fan of her and frankly, she was terrific. But the script...well, there are two kinds of superhero scripts - those that start at the beginning so that all exposition is a product of the course of the film. You see it as it happen. Others drop you right into the middle of things and spend all their time trying to play catch. Compare the "Iron Man" script to the "X-Men" script, and the former comes out heads-tails better than the latter. And it's a FUNNY script, but not forced, overwhelming, or unnecessary. Extremely pleased with this movie. Woodchuck sez, "Check it out."