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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
"One of the few Marvel comic films I've entered with little knowledge of the titular character. This movie made me regret not reading such comics." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- The Best Stan Lee Cameo. Stan Lee has a penchant for being a walk-on role on all the movies based on the comics he helped create. So where is he in this one? Look carefully at the man Tony Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner(!). I've seen many films integrate Stan Lee into the story, and this one is among my favorites.
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Iron Man
A Review by TechtiteAs always, a review of The Show and the DVD extras. The Film Review: I have to admit, I'm not much of a trivia buff about Iron Man. For many Marvel Comics turned into movies, I've had above average or even major knowledge of the hero from my younger years. I read Spider-Man and X-Men comics, watched the original Hulk TV series, and so on. Yet I didn't enter Iron Man with any knowledge of the character beyond "crossover" comics (the Spider-man/X-men comics he guessed starred in). This film not only took me by complete surprise; it made me actually regret missing the comics from my youth, if this is how cool the character is. That, in a nutshell, is how cool this Iron Man movie is.The story introduces us to Tony Stark (or at least the film version of the character; I'm not sure how well this film relates to the comics). We see Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) go to a war zone to promote one of his company's many weapon inventions. He gets severely injured by one of the very weapons his company helped to produce. He suddenly has a change of heart...literally. The weapon has placed magnetic shrapnel in his body which will be lethal unless he wears this electromagnet generator for the rest of his life, which has been surgically implanted above his heart. This opens up an intriguing element to this character, because much like Batman, he is not a genetic superhero. He's an average guy who wishes to become a superhero. He first becomes this "superhero" while kidnapped in the Middle East, by would-be terrorists. They think he's helping them create the ultimate weapon. They just have no idea that the "ultimate weapon" he's making, is actually a suit...with Tony in it! This full body metal suit is made of solid iron, and is powered by the very electromagnet generator in Tony's chest that keeps him alive. So Tony Stark becomes "Iron Man," escapes his kidnappers, and returns home. However; what will he do with this new power...and what will his enemies do, to get such power themselves? At this point, you may wonder how political this film is. After all; you have a guy who runs a weapons company, who suddenly has a change of heart (literally), and helps stop crime with the weaponry he helped create. Is there a political message here? The easiest answer is: not at all. There are very emotional thoughts provoked from this film, though they are subtle, and only enhance the emotion of the film. That's one of many things that divides this film from the typical rubber-stamp comic book movie. There's a lot of heart to the story, without getting sappy, overly sentimental, or preachy about it. Which is to say, as the first story set in the Iron Man universe: this story is the best one they could have chosen. I can't reveal much more of the story without spoiling some very interesting plot twists. So let me just list some of the best parts of the core story without any spoilers. I loved the chemistry between Tony Stark and his faithful assistant, Pepper Potts, who is played perfectly by Gwyneth Paltrow. I was actually surprised at the one-two punch this movie had, to cast two dramatic actors like Downey and Paltrow in a comic book action movie such as this. It's quite a casting coup...and the film is ten times better because of it. Let's just hope the same brilliant casting agents had the same brilliance when signing these two on for as many sequels as they could! They're perfect together. Even with only a cursory knowledge of the comics, I would imagine that fans of the comics will love the step-by-step process Tony makes to become the "real" iron man back home, complete with the trademark red and gold suit, rocket boots, and so on. Hey; I never read an Iron Man comic, and even I loved how cool these scenes are, of Tony in his lab making his first Iron Man suit. It doesn't sound like the sort of scene that befits an action movie, though that's what makes such scenes so cool. I especially liked the character of Pepper, who's a lover/sidekick for a new generation. Gone are the days when Lois Lane would get her fool self in trouble and wait for Superman to arrive. While I must report that I learned this is unlike the original character's storyline, based on her character's bio on wikipedia, the cinematic Pepper Potts is an integral part of Tony Stark's new life as Iron Man, and even helps him replace his electromagnet/generator in one of many perfectly acted (and visually stunning) moments of the film. She's an integral part of Iron Man's life, and helps him stay alive on at least one occasion. I don't know how accurate this is to the comics, though I totally loved it. Each movie needs its "big bad guy," however, the same way Batman needs the Joker and Superman needs Lex Luthor. In this case, the bad guy of this movie is a sort of reverse engineered, "evil" Iron Man, called Iron Monger. Who the man is behind the suit, I will not spoil here, though I must admit it surprised me a little. I must confess, however, that I wasn't terribly awestruck with the final battle, given the build-up to it. Then again; the movie had been so flawless up to that point, I didn't care. In the end, you're left with a perfect comic book action movie. Just make sure that "end" is after the credits, if you want to know about the sequel. In addition to a unaccredited cameo by a brilliantly chosen actor as "Nick Fury," it appears that Iron Man will soon jump straight to another of his most well known comics, as one of the founding superheroes of a Marvel team called The Avengers. I have no doubt; fans of that comic can't wait. The fact even agnostic filmgoers can't wait either, is just a small sign of how well done this film is. The DVD Review: If a film is even slightly "hit" worthy it gets multiple editions: two-disc, one disc, and the works. So you can imagine how many editions Iron Man received, which even included a super-special edition (or whatever they called it) which was encased in a DVD case resembling Iron Man's red and gold helmet. So for the record; this is a review of the most typical version that most people will be interested in purchasing (and which by the time you read this will not be already sold out!): the two disc special edition. Is it sold in a special "helmet" case? Well, if you hurry, maybe...though let's just review the DVD for now! Disc one includes only one set of extras: deleted and extended scenes. This is bittersweet because on the one hand it means that these two extras are probably available even as a one-disc rental, though...why no audio commentary? You'd think that the jolt that this movie gave to Robert Downey Jr.'s career more than warranted the actor's own audio commentary. Maybe for Iron Man 2...? Disc two begins the extras with a no less than 7 part Making-of documentary, and a six part history of the character in comics. A separate documentary is of special FX. Yet another intriguing offering is the actual, recorded screen test for Robert Downey Junior as he first read for the role of Iron Man. Additional snippets about other actors in the movie, as well as various photo galleries, are also offered. Of course, none of this matters much because just about every Iron-fan has already bought this DVD by the time you read this. So all that matters now is to put it on record that it was a good purchase. Anyone who saw the movie knows that for sure.
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