beforethedarktimes.com had a special opportunity to review this film before its official debut (5/2/08). The commentary below contains SPOILERS but is definitely worth a read, especially if you're on the fence about seeing this early Summer blockbuster. But first, some answers to some highly-anticipated concerns:
For anyone who didn't think making this movie was a good idea...
*you're dead wrong*
For anyone who thinks the trailers have given away the best parts of the movie...
*rapidly shaking head NO*
For anyone who didn't think Robert Downey Jr. could pull off the part of Tony Stark...
*print a copy of this and take it with you to the movie theatre*
This movie is the coolest one made in a long time.. For any person who has ever appreciated any of the following, this movie is a MUST-SEE for you:
-cars, old, new, exotic
-motorcycles, old, new, exotic
-airplanes, old, new
-any comic book
-old jukeboxes
Everywhere you look in this movie, it SCREAMS both mechanical and electrical eye candy.
It's pretty obvious to know that most men will want to stand up and chant HOO-YAH for Tony for the first half of the film, while most women will probably sum up their thoughts on him in one word: "PIG". But for anyone who has half a clue what the character of Tony Stark is supposed to be like, this will come as no surprise. The guy truly has it all (at least from a materialistic sense).
The film runs 2 hours 6 minutes, and does very well in keeping the audience from finding any lulls. There are some HILARIOUS moments in this film, especially when Robert Downey Jr. first dons the suit. Again, as mentioned above, the trailers do NOT show it all- and we here at beforethedarktimes.com are going to keep that level of respect in this area, so you can see the best moments for yourself..
The acting in this film is very well done by ALL cast members- it is actually surprising to see Jeff Bridges portraying the role of a hidden bad guy, but it's great to see a new side of his acting finesse. The only other character we could think of off-hand where he portrayed a masked bad-guy was his role in The Vanishing with Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland. Aside from that, most of his roles are always on the "good" side of things. It was an interesting switch.
Gwyneth Paltrow pulled off a good job as Pepper Potts (OK... we do have to ask: WHAT kind of flippin' name is Pepper Potts??? anyway-). Her role is relatively thin in the grand scheme of things, but her performance is believable, and we're just thankful that she is in this movie and not Kirsten Dunst (cough*HAG*cough).
Robert Downey Jr. has been a funny guy since his appearances all the way back to movies of the 80s (anyone remember him in Weird Science?). But the beauty of his performance in this film is, his antics are done at the perfect times, and it doesn't appear that he tried to steal the show with any moments of idiocy or over-acting. Two thumbs up for Robert's portrayal of Tony Stark..
The effects found in this movie are simply incredible. It is absolutely amazing to see the achievements that have been made using this new technology in modern films. If you were impressed by what you witnessed in Transformers or War of the Worlds, you will be right at home with Iron Man. Some of the best moments in the movie from a cgi perspective, believe it or not, are all of the HUD-oriented scenes that are found throughout the film. They include but aren't limited to:
-shots/angles
from INSIDE the suit with Tony Stark
-displays that come up on various glass panels within Tony's home
-the wide variety of equipment used in Tony's garage/lab area
It is astounding to see how many different types of functions the suit possesses. One of the funniest is early on in the film, when you actually hear Tony receiving a call on his cell during flight. There, we gave you that one- But one thing that impressed us the most is, Downey was able to make us believe that there really WAS a way to get that suit on and off of a human being- and believe it or not, it does show how DIFFICULT it is to fit into that suit! Any previous attempts to fool an audience on this PRE-cgi would have been disastrous. This feat was VERY well done by the special effects crew. Hats (and helmets) off to ya!
You can tell that there is room for a sequel, and from the perspective of what we saw tonight, a sequel could come out just as strong as
this first film. We invite you to check out the film for
yourself, and report your findings here or in our Forums!
(review has been migrated from prior server location as of September 2012)
