First: no one questioned Robert Downey Jr.'s acting ability. However, this is a superhero movie. It isn't so much about whether an actor has the talent, its whether he's suited for the role. Eric Bana made for a boring Bruce Banner, as did Brandon Roth's Clark Kent. We know Downey can play a drunken asshole - he doesn't need to act, to pull that one off. The question was really twofold: could Downey pull off the cool, suave genius that is also Tony Stark? And could Jon Favreau as director, whose previous directing credits included Zathura and The Breakup, pull off an adrenalin-charged, technology-heavy film like Iron Man?
A most emphatic yes to both.
Downey's Stark is fearless, carefree, impulsive - and yes, dear lord, every bit the tomcat I grew up wanting to emulate. His shameless flirting with a blond reporter, even while she's insulting him and his corporation, will become the stuff of legend (do I need to tell you where she wakes up the next morning?) He is every bit the egotistical ladies man we expect him to be, and you can't help but feel that Downey obviously enjoyed the role immensely.
However, Stark is only one half of this movie. The title demands the armor be both believable AND fantastical, and Favreau delivers on both fronts. The classic grey Mark I is every bit the home-cobbled monstrosity we expect it to be, and yet in its crudeness we are amazed. We watch as Tony, safe at home with a renewed sense of purpose, begins to refine his design. Here Favreau shines; he is obviously a fan himself, and the film is riddled with small kudos to the Iron Man storyline. Stark's computer AI is named Jarvis, and any Avengers fan worthy of the label will recognize the name. The suggestion of a later War Machine sequel is also hinted at, and Stark's anger at seeing his technology abused can't help but bring to mind the classic Armor Wars storyline of the early 90's.
The film is, of course, technology heavy - but wisely does not try to fill our heads with pseudo- science. Stark MAKES you believe that he, if no one else, understands how it works - and as the viewer you become free to accept the improbable as truth. You don't care how his repulsors work, how his suit's AI interfaces with the helmet's HUD, or how his boot jets work - you only care that it does, and wonderfully so. You'll move to the edge of your seat when Stark takes that first flight, wishing you could be the one inside it. Downey captures that childlike glee marvelously, drawing you in and sharing his exhileration with you.
Gwyenth Paltrow plays a casually cool, but obviously enamored, Pepper Potts. She's Stark's version of Bond's Ms Moneypenny, so much in love with her boss but knowing she could never have him to herself. Jeff Bridges' Obidiah Stane manages to be both fatherly and cunningly evil, and when he finally admits his betrayal to Tony you're well prepared, yet still impressed by the level of his hubris. He roars with impotence at his own inability to match Stark's genius, tearing into a subordinate who declares a needed level of technology impossible to build, snarling in response: "Stark did it in a CAVE! With SPARE PARTS!"
If there is a dent in this movie's armor it would have to be Terrance Howard's James Rhodes. Rhodes is Tony's right-hand man, his protege, his best friend - and yet none of this comes across in the interactions between Howard and Downey. I don't know if it's a measure of Howard's acting, him being miscast in the role, or a poorly written role for him. He doesn't mash his parts, far from it - but he's background material, overshadowed even by Paltrow's character. This is a shame, because it casts doubts that he could handle a starring role in a spin-off War Machine film.
Is Iron Man worthy of the name? It's a sleek, titanium-gold ride of a movie that straps a pair of rocket boots onto your feet and sends you cackling happily into the stratosphere. Sit back, eat your popcorn and enjoy. I did.
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