Iron Man Has the Mettle to Be a Great Comic Book Movie Franchise

You can never be too sure what you are going to end up with when you have one of those comic book superhero movies. For every "Superman" or "Spider-Man 2" there is a "Ghost Rider" or "Fantastic Four." When you get into the some of the lesser known comic book superheroes like Daredevil, Ghost Rider or the Punisher, you really end up in the land of hit and miss. One of those lesser known heroes has always been Iron Man and his movie has been in development for years, attached to many actors and directors. Now, however, Iron Man finally comes to the big screen, directed by John Favreau and starring Robert Downey, Jr. I am very happy to say, the movie is excellent.

Iron Man has always been a hero admired and popular among those of us who consider ouselves comic book geeks with pride. Not only has he had his own comic for a long time, he is also a founding member of the Avengers. He has also been really the most human of the Marvel superheroes. That's because beneath the armor that makes him one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, he is all-too-human inventor and multi-billionaire Tony Stark. Stark has always been a deeply flawed individual and was even one of the first superheroes to deal with a drinking problem. Yes, Iron Man is a recovering alcoholic.

The movie takes the origin story and really follows the story of Iron Man more closely than just about any other superhero movie yet made. Even Spider-Man changed things (such as making those web-shooters part of Peter Parker's body) from the comic book. The only thing the movie "Iron Man" does is update things a bit. You see, when Iron Man came into the comics world it was in the middle of the 60s and his origin too place in Viet Nam and the thing that was all fancy and new and Tony Stark was on the cutting edge of was transistor technology. Needless to say, transistors seem rather quaint today and having Tony Stark in Viet Nam would make him a little too old to be relatable in a modern film. So, the origin takes place in Afghanistan and the technology is much more futuristic.

Tony Stark is the brilliant child of Howard Stark, one of the inventors of the atom bomb and a man who made a small fortune building weapons for the government. Stark is a child prodigy and he took over the business at an early age, developing amazing new weapons for the government, believing he was protecting freedom and the United States, while also taking the time to party with every good-looking woman he could find and never passing up a drink that was waved in front of his face. All of this changes when he tests a new missile in Afghanistan. The convoy he is in is attacked and he is captured. His captors insist he is to make them weapons that they can use against their enemies. Instead, Stark teams up with a fellow captive and builds his first Iron Man armor, a big clunky thing that doesn't last to long.

At the same time, shrapnel from one of his own missiles, used against him in the raid, is in his heart. An electro-magnet implanted into his chest keeps the shrapnel from moving into his heart further and killing him. So, that glowing thing you see in the center of Iron Man's chest is not only his power, but it keeps him alive.

Once he gets back to the states, Tony Stark has a crisis of conscience. He no longer wants to build weapons. Forces work against him. He ends up building a sleeker, faster, more powerful version of the armor and the Golden Avenger is born.

All of this is told in a style and fashion that keeps the movie moving along nicely. Iron Man himself does not make his appearance into well into the movie and yet it was never boring. Robert Downey, Jr. is excellent. He seems made for this role. Given the experiences he has had in his life, you can bet he taps into some of that to play the hard-drinking, cocky celebrity genius who finds himelf humbled and his life changed.

However, it is not Downey alone that makes this movie. In supporting roles are Gwyneth Paltrow as his assistant Pepper Potts. Some of the best scenes of the movie are the interplay and dialogue betwee Stark and Potts. It's a bit like a throwback to movies like "His Girl Friday" with each of them talking over each other's lines and coming up with witty and smart things to say with each other. Potts is not just another woman meant to be thrown into danger. She is more than capable on her own.

Terence Howard playses James Rhodes, Stark's pilot and friend. Fans of the comics know that Rhodes dons the Iron Man armor when Stark descends into a haze of alcoholism. That is hinted at in this movie when Rhodes looks longingly at an older version of the Iron Man armor during the movies climax.

If the film has one flaw it would be in its choice of villain. While Jeff Bridges chews up the scenery and does well as villain Obadiah Stane, in the comics Stane was a character that took a long time to build. All of that gets rushed in this one so we can quickly get to the battle between Iron Man and Stane's version of the armo, the Iron Monger. The battle is exciting and compelling and manages to not look like a cartoon (unlike the "Matrix" movies), but it somehow does't seem to match up quite as nicely as the stuff that came before it. The scenes that lead up to the battle are so good, when the battle comes it almost seems anti-climactic.

Iron Man has some interesting villains in the comic books. There's the Mandarin or Spymaster or Ghost or the Melter and all of them were seemingly passed over so we can have Iron Man smashing a much larger version of himself. I can see why it was the decision made, but I sort of hope they make a better villain choice for the sequel.

And there will be a sequel, it seems. This is the best movie of the relatively new movie season and I hope this means the other movies will be just as good. There is an Indiana Jones movie coming up and another Batman flick and I am looking forward to both. If they are half as good as "Iron Man" manages to be, this will be a helluva fun summer.