Iron Man The Movie

I have to admit, I never was a fan of Iron Man. That changed last Sunday. I went to the movies after a long break to watch another Marvel superhero comes alive in theaters. The last movie was Jumper, a few months back. Well for me, a movie freak, a few months of absence from the movie theater is a long time.

So there I was with my girlfriend, after our 2^nd attempt to watch the said movie (I drove to the wrong mall 10 minutes before the show during the 1st attempt!) Got our booked tickets and had our stomachs filled, strolled to our seats with ease. Strange to see not many movie-goers during the weekends, the scenario was very much different if it was at the One Utama GSC. To buy the tickets alone, one has to ‘camp’ at the queuing line for hours at OU GSC! Maybe coz it’s at Sunway Pyramid, I don’t know. Not so happening as OU kot...

Anyways, approximately 2-3 weeks before that, I was exposed with the trailers, behind the scene program and the write-ups of Iron Man (aren't we all!) And, as usual, I got psyched up! But the fear of another superhero movie let down lurks behind my excitement. Therefore, I didn’t put much expectations or hopes that it will be a hit for me. But the one that really surprised me for this particular movie were 2 things; Robert Downey Jr. and the Iron Man suit.

“Robert Downey Jr. plays a superhero? More like a drunken superhero! Who did the casting ah?”

“Cool superhero outfit, though”

Fast forward: So my girlfriend and I was looking for our seats at the theater, right smack when the movie was about to start. The opening was ok. Straight forward, nothing fancy or whatsoever. Character description for our superhero for the first 5 minutes .

Tony Stark = super rich, good looking, super smooth with the ladies, super hardworking, brilliant and funny.

"Gosh! He could be my idol!"

The story flow was smooth. Each main cast was introduced accordingly. And I like the way the cinematography was done. Nothing too fancy but just nice... secukup rasa laa.. The story of how he became Iron Man also makes sense, logical and it reminds me a lot of Batman Begins (2005). Come to think of it, Anthony 'Tony' Edward Stark & Bruce Wayne are pretty similar:

1) Both fathers were very successful in business.
2) Both inherit the fortune
3) Both parents died at the early age
4) Bruce has Alfred, Tony has Ms Potts
5) Both have countless of super cars
6) Bruce has Commissioner Gordon, Tony has Lt. James Rhodey Rhodes
7) Both are normal human being

"Damn! are these guys related or something?"

Anyways, action wise was impressive too. My favorite action scene would be the fighter jets dogfight. Did I mention how cool the Iron Man outfit was? Superb soundtrack by Black Sabbath! And what is also good about this movie is that, it made me feel like a kid again! That would be the benchmark for any superhero movie for me. My salute to Jon Favreau, the director. I think he did a very good job in making the movie an enjoyable one to watch. And for Robert Downey Jr, what can I say? He made Tony Stark, he nailed it right on the d-o-t. Very, very impressive performance.

“Robert Downey Jr. plays a superhero? Damn! brilliant casting...still looked like he's drunk, though”

“And cool superhero outfit too!”

Having said that, 2 things didn't really hit the mark for me. First; I didn't particularly impress with Gwyneth Paltrow's acting. I don't know but I didn't really like her playing Ms. Potts. For me, I felt she was just being too conscious of herself (control jadi minah baik), too goody-two-shoes la, you know what I mean? Somehow, I guess, she is not suitable to be in a superhero type of movies. Yes, maybe Ms. Potts character is such but I would still rate Gwyneth's performance was below par. Would have been better it the character given to a newcomer like Amy Adams (Junebug & Enchanted) At least she's hot and younger. Second; The villain aka Iron Monger. What a boring , old fart, nemesis? Come on la. In one scene, he just got to wear the Iron Monger suit in like 2 minutes and suddenly he could learn how to shoot and fly sharply even better than Iron Man?? Puh-leeeze...

"Jon, please look into this for Iron Man 2, will ya?"

Oh yes! Iron Man 2 is already in the pipeline. Target to release on April 30th 2010. So overall, I feel that it is a very enjoyable movie, suits for all walks of life and worth watching. After all, this movie made ONLY $400 million in just 3 weeks!


VERDICT : 7.5 out of 10


p/s: did you know that Jon Favreau (director) was in F.R.I.E.N.D.S, portraying Pete Becker, Monica's rich boyfriend in a few episodes in Season 3?