Iron Man

Friends and avid lovers/fans of Robert Downey Jr, have been after me for a while to see this film. I've always been incredibly interested of the Marvel world (X-men, Spiderman, Elektra, DareDevil, to name a few.) Even though I knew less about Iron Man the superhero and have been disappointed with most superhero movies since X3 (Batman Begins/Dark Knight excluded) I willingly place this on netflix.

The premise was extremely fascinating and the acting "so so" but I wasn't particularly blow away like most people had been boasting. Maybe they're reasons behind it are strictly for Downey Jr, or possibly because of the lack of good superhero flicks these days but I wasn't that into it. Sure I found the mythology of Tony Stark and his suite interesting and the world can identify and hoot n holla for his destruction against terrorists, but I found it slowly turning into Transformers. I'll admit, it wasn't as hokey and fake looking as Transformers and the acting was much better, but the story of Iron Man seemed a little generic. Maybe I'm biased because I've seen the obnoxious playboy/womanizer turn good in the past through other identities but I'll stand by my statement that Downey Jr, isn't as "brilliant" as everyone claims.

On the flip side, I can't go on dogging Downey, because out of all the actors used in the film I'd say hands down he was the best. I've always been a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, but for some reason she seemed oddly out of place. Kind of like placing a strong, independent woman in the meek damsel role. Maybe it was poor casting choice or she was trying too hard, but she missed completely and didn't ooze sex appeal like I believe the director wanted. She was hotter in Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke.

Terrance Howard, what can I say? I can't stand his voice and thought he was awfully winy so I'm not surprised they pulled a "Batman" by cutting him out of the film (like Katie Holmes.) Everyone else including Jeff Bridges were decent. I was so used to seeing Bridges as the bad guy that the twist didn't really surprise me.

Overall, I'd give the film a pat on the back and an honorable mention for taking back superhero films that don't commit comic book suicide like X3 but it wasn't my cup of tea. I could stand watching it and wouldn't turn away from it if I saw it on television, but I'll say this...if you watch the trailer and aren't impressed, don't bother. There's nothing that really stands out that great, unless you're an action fan boy of transformer like fights and random explosions with guns.