Iron Man: Advance Screening & Fawning

Last night I attended Marvel’s NY premiere of Iron Man with some of the Midtown guys and I have to say I had a great time. Unlike the rest of the crew I wasn’t particularly hyped up for this one, but it completely won me over. Robert Downey Jr was even better than expected. Granted, no one was doubting his ability to nail the hard-drinking womanizing playboy Tony Stark’s side (would he even need to act for that?), but he turned in the complete performance, making Stark’s nobler intentions believable and more importantly, quietly showing his vulnerabilities. He and Gwyneth Paltrow had a nice understated chemistry, although she seemed a bit weak in scenes not opposite him (not sure if that is just how she was written or not). I could’ve used more Terrence Howard, but like he said — with a glimmer in his eyes as bright as the silver armor he was referring to: “Next time!”

As much as fans will get a kick out of the insider references — like War Machine, Jarvis, the Ten Rings, the requisite Stan Lee (my favorite yet lol) — the bigger picture is that anybody can get into this movie. Whether you’ve seen Adi Granov’s CG work before or not, you’ve got to love the look of the Mark III armor; as great as it looked on Granov’s covers, it’s pretty spectacular seeing it in motion. Additionally, Iron Man’s character here is free of the complexities he’s taken on in the comics — which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy those complexities, just that they rightly don’t belong in his coming out party. And speaking of intros, the origin has been nicely updated to fit post-9/11, without becoming overly political.

Honestly I can’t even think of what I didn’t like about this movie… no Ghostface cameo? Any negatives are just nitpicking. Bottom line: this movie has everything you could really ask for in a summer blockbuster — high-speed action, great effects, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. And who doesn’t love big kickass robots?

This was such a fun flick I’ll probably pay to go see it again this weekend, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s going to see this movie multiple times. Look for Iron Man to make Marvel a ton of well-earned money. Congrats on the studio’s first solo outing.