An American Hero for the Now

Jon Favreau’s supremely entertaining “Iron Man” is better than that type of film deserves to be. Instead of big and bloated with more villains than it can handle, the film is more introspective and sensitive, though not in the cringe-inducing Ang Lee “Hulk” kind of way. Much of the film’s success comes down to Robert Downey Jr’s performance as arrogant weaponmonger-cum-metal clad lawbringer Tony Stark, the titular hero. Kudos to both Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper, who is supposed to be some kind of love interest and in a lesser movie would have been Mary Jane 2.0, and the great Lebowski himself, Jeff Bridges, who gives filmdom one of the finest, most feasibly human villains yet, Obediah Stane.

It being an origins story, “Iron Man” contains less action than one might expect, but this simply sharpens the film’s focus more onto its characters and developing their relationships. Much has been made of the film’s anti-weapon statements, yet “Iron Man” remains first and foremost a proud comic book hero movie that takes itself seriously. It deserves to join “Batman Begins”, “X2” and “Hellboy” as the best of the batch. Unsurprisingly, a sequel is already in the pipeline.