Movie Review: Iron Man

I was planning on writing an Iron Man/ Speed Racer double-review, but seeing as it has been almost two weeks since its release, I find it necessary to reveal my thoughts about Iron Man.

As I have mentioned in the past, I am a comic book fan. Not fanatic. Fan. That being said, I am not as familiar with the Iron Man mythology as I am say, Spider-man. Without very little knowledge of Iron Man, I was leery that I would miss some important back story if the film did a lousy job of describing this comic book hero. There are some comic movies that skip important details that reveal a lot about a character just to get to the action. Luckily, that was not the case with Iron Man. Yes, there are decent action scenes, but for the most part, the movie is about the story of Iron Man, not the action of Iron Man.

I was also completely impressed with the quality of acting in this film. Robert Downey, Jr. was meant to play Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark’s assistant, Pepper Potts. I never would have pictured her as a super-assistant, but she is. Iron Man is directed by veteran actor, Jon Favreau.

Normally, I would give a synopsis, but I figure that the people who will go to see either already know Iron Man’s story or want to find out about Iron Man on their own. So, in the interest of not spoiling it, there will be no synopsis this time. I will, however, give a warning. Stay through the credits. There is an epilogue, and it’s one of the best one’s I’ve ever seen.

As eluded to in my Summer Movie Preview, I am introducing a rating system with the summer releases. It is a five-point system with one being the lowest. The intention is to give you an idea of whether or not it is worth spending the $8 it costs to see the movie in the theater or if you shouldn’t ever see it, even if it’s free.

5 - Must see in the movie theater.
4 - Good enough to see in the cheap theater.
3 - Wait for rental.
2 - Watch on network/cable television.
1 - Never see this film.

Based on this rating scale, I would suggest that Iron Man rates at a 5. Not because it is a perfect film, but because it is worth seeing in a good movie theater.