” Well, good, because that would be outlandish and, uh, fantastic. I’m just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I’ve made, largely public.”
10. FREAKING. YEARS.
10 years since Terence Howard helped bolster Robert Downey Jr‘s credibility, who in turn became the launchpad for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) under the Direction of that guy who was in Swingers.
As we await Avengers: Infinity War, the 19th film from the studio which promises to be the biggest yet, I’ve decided to rewatch and re-review the MCU films to prepare.
Because that too, would be outlandish and fantastic.
A billionaire industrialist and genius inventor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), is conducting weapons tests overseas, but terrorists kidnap him to force him to build a devastating weapon.
Instead, he builds an armored suit and upends his captors. Returning to America, Stark refines the suit and uses it to combat crime and terrorism.
Yes, everyone always talks about the outdated mySpace reference at the beginning, but I think that in of itself is a good thing.
Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark would be cognizant of the “hot, cool thing” in tech and that it was.
As the fun-vee pushes forward, we begin to drill into the origin of the Armored Avenger, revised for the modern era.
Much like Downey himself, the film ages well!
Yeah sure, there was that whole debacle with Howard and his eventual recasting, but “of the time” and circumstance, especially with Marvel’s reputation, Iron Man was an incredible introduction to a whole new world.
“The truth is…I am Iron Man.”
Indicative not only of Downey’s complete ownership of the role, years of the secret superhero were suddenly thrown to the side in favour of the ‘non-hero’ hero.
Identity matters not for status when trying to change the world, and Downey delivers a masterclass in change-of-heart.
The impeccably sharp visual FX work still holds itself high, with the Mark III suit outperforming some of the later suits as the uncanny valley grows smaller with improved technology.
Questionable inter-office relationships aside (in respect to both his assistant and father-figure boss/villain) the best part to takeaway from Iron Man is Tony feeling he lacks family.
From that, you see the seeds of something bigger for Tony that can’t be brushed aside like the excellent stinger ending involving Nick Fury.
He never needed the Initiative.
He needed family.
And that can build a universe.
1 Comment
So excited that you’re doing this! I definitely wanna revise so now I can follow along with your posts. Nice!