Take a bow, Jon Favreau and Bob Downey Jr.
Who’d have thought a director (and sometimes actor ) whose best known film before this was the Will Ferrell farce “Elf” could pull off what is surely one of the best examples of a superhero movie done right. VERY right.
At the time of posting, Iron Man has a 94% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, with over 150 North American reviews on the chart. To give a comparison, Spider-man 2, widely acknowledged to be the best superhero movie ever, scored an eventual 93% over 228 reviews.
And Robert Downey Jr – hands down the best superhero performance I’ve seen (aside from Chris Reeve’s original Superman). Magnetic, nuanced, funny and powerful, his casting is a master stroke. To think that Tom Cruise at one point wanted the role. Sometimes development hell has its merits.
To put it simply, this is the best origin story since Batman Begins and possibly even better than it. For me, 1978’s Superman tells the quintessential birth of a superhero, and Iron Man comes close to hitting that note with a character that is marvelously flawed and even unlikeable at first but grows to become a true protector.
Iron Man, like countless superheroes, essentially chooses to use his powers for good (in this case a genius mind for weapons invention and obscene wealth). Conscience is a powerful driver and with Iron Man, especially in the hands of Downey Jr, you get a rare piece of character development that feels infinitely more epic than teenagers being bitten by radioactive spiders.
The sequel (and you can bet your life savings on there being one) is likely to be darker as Favreau has spoken about bringing in the arc of Tony Stark’s descent into alcoholism. Given Downey Jr’s history of substance abuse, one could only imagine the potential of that performance.
For now, a new hero has been built. Go see him soar.
