Hit my second viewing of Iron Man over the weekend and am still left bewildered by the hype that this movie gets from my popcorn loving friends. In the modern world of Superhero summers, it just feels like more of the same. It follows the same establishing line of all the origin movies and because of that it might as well BE the same movie.
There seems little you can do with a Marvel movie, it's eternally trapped in a set of rules like Disney. You can rarely break enough of these rules without falling into a trap. Namely turn into a camp kids movie like Fantastic Four or alienate those that don't want to think like Batman Begins or Hulk. I suppose Iron Man sits nicely in the middle like Spider-man or X-men. Visual enough and clever enough and adult enough to appeal to everyone. But that said, it's still a franchise setting movie that has to drop in an obligatory appearance for Stan Lee (A flawed genius who knows what he likes and it ain't a lot of variety) and so never challenges the grey matter or comes close to surprising you.
Iron Man has a great soundtrack, some great set pieces and is better acted than most, but give me Blade or Hellboy any day of the week.
IMDb
Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
IMDb
Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
2 comments:
Yep, this is as safe and predictable as they come. What makes it so entertaining is that within the set, comfortable parameters of the superhero origin formula is damn well made movie.
The only risky move...that pays off...is the casting of Downey.
I think you're right that Marvel movies are gonna play it safe. Thor and Captain America have a better time of it as the majority of their new movies take place in the past or other dimensions. But you can be sure Stan Lee will turn up in there somewhere...
Iron Man is, quite simply, a very well constructed machine of fun. It is slick enough and smart enough to work for adults while full of enough wizz bang to work for the kids.
It may not be game changing or revolutionary or something that transcends the genre like - say - The Dark Knight, but it is still a whole lotta fun. The Downey Jr factor is a BIG plus here. RDjr simply owns this film.
Yes, Iron Man IS a safe family friendly Marvel movie. But there's nought wrong with that when it was done as well as it was here.
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