Iron Clad

Just got back from seeing Iron Man, and wanted to provide my gut reaction.

In the era of increasingly cunning computer-assisted weaponry, the back story for Favreau's version of Iron Man comes off as being imminently plausible. Pete from Friends does a nice job of taking a classic, Silver Age Marvel story and adding a contemporary, middle-eastern flavor. The dialog and story clip along at a comfortable pace, and the visual effects are fantastic. It's hard to believe that the production crew opted to use real suit effects, and not go CGI. It truly paid off.

It's impossible not to compare every new super hero film with its contemporaries. As the launch for a franchise, this felt more akin to Spider-Man than Batman Begins, but was more fun where Spidey often times felt corny. All-in-all, the tone was very true to the comic.

The only negatives (and I use this term lightly) for the film were Gwenyth Paltrow's disposable role, and simpering character portrayal, and the much discussed trite ending for the story. The many positives far outweigh these annoying divergences from an otherwise phenomenal popcorn flick.

I would absolutely love to see a Spider-Man/Iron Man grudge match somewhere down the road. Robert Downey Jr. would kick the ever-living-shit out of that simpering Tobey McGuire. And I'd pay twice the $9.00 price of admission to see it!