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Movie Train - FILM REVIEWS by Morgan Bell

 
Fresh critical film reviews by young Australian journalist Morgan Bell. A bight-sized opinionated analysis of popular movies and indie/art-house feature films. Explores plot, themes, characters, performances, soundtracks and film technique. Morgan Bell assesses movies in the context of what makes a successful cinema or DVD experience.

REVIEW: Iron Man

October 22nd 2008 12:30
Directed: Jon Favreau (Elf, Zathura, Made)

Written: Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (Children of Men), Art Marcum, Matt Holloway


Starring: Robert Downey Jr (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Gothika, Wonder Boys), Gwyneth Paltrow (Running With Scissors, Sliding Doors, Emma), Terrence Howard, (Crash, The Brave One), Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, The Vanishing), Faran Tahir (The Jungle Book, Charlie Wilsons War)

What a fantastic super-hero action film!
I loved it - great concept, great script, great cast - whats not to love!

Tony Stark (Downey Jr) is the wiz kid who grew up and took over his fathers weapons manufacturing business. The thing is he never really grew up, he got older but he is basically just living the high life, wining and dining women, but shirking all responsibilty when it come to the consequences of the products he distributes. When Stark is capturer by a terrorist (Tahir) in the middle east his eyes are opened to the destruction his company is facilitating and he decides his talents would be better employed helping people.

Stark is such a fantastic character, hes part Batman, and part MacGyver, but the most appealing part is Robert Downey Jr himself. He has injected a huge slice of his own personality into this role is a cheeky and charming genius!

Gwyneth Paltrow does a nice job as Stark's personal assistant Pepper. Her character is prim and proper but also intelligent and capable. Paltrow and Downey Jr have a pleasing chemistry and look like they are having alot of fun with each other. Stark also has a great relationship with his computers, one of them a mainframe (voiced by Paul Bettany), and the other a robotic-arm helper who aids him in his workshop and commicates through amazingly human-esque gestures and "expressions" for such a rudimentary machine. Stark is lord of the gadgets and Pepper is sensible and grounding.

Iron Man is set modern day in the real world, and the scenes in the middle east are at times quite grim in their realism. There are important and relevant themes about the ethics of being and arms dealer and developing technology designed to kill. Stark is a real sort of guy, he is flawed and troubled and he makes mistakes. This is one of the most enjoyable super-hero genre films to come out of the recent flood of mediocrity - dont miss it!

Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr, and Jeff Bridges in Iron Man (2008)


Faran Tahir as the terrorist in Iron Man (2008)







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Comments
5 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

October 23rd 2008 21:49
it's better than most, but I still found it disappointing. It starts off with some shiny satire, then goes into the unreasonable realm.

Then becomes all CGI and explosions. I get bored watching these kinds of movies..

Comment by Morgan Bell

October 24th 2008 15:21
hi Cibbuano,
hey "action" isnt really my genre but i genuinely enjoyed this, i thought the time spent on action sequences was in proportion to the time spent character building so it kept my little pea brain entertained - perhaps im just a sucker for Robert Downey Jr, he oozes charm!

Comment by Wilson Pon

November 1st 2008 18:21
WoW, it's been almost decade since the last time I saw Robert Downey Jr. movie lol

Honestly, I get bored with this Iron Man, as I kind of expected more about it here...

Comment by Morgan Bell

November 2nd 2008 17:33
hi Wilson,
oh no! bored?
oh well i guess different people find different things compelling . . . i think if it had been anyone other than Robert Downey Jr i may have found it less interesting!
thanks for sharing your opinions!

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