Ryan McNeil
Bernard Malamud once wrote “Without heroes, we would all be plain people and never know how far we could go.” It’s that idea that leads us to escape for two hours traffic in a movie theatre. It’s that idea that lead many of us to escape to the pages of storybooks and comic books when we were younger. And it’s that notion that makes Marvel’s movie adaptation of IRON MAN work so very well.
Like many of the best movies based on a comic book, IRON MAN is an origin story. It sets itself at the beginning of the legend and tells the story of how this particular hero came to be. In this case, we are introduced to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a ludicrously talented and immensely wealthy weapons designer. Stark is so successful in fact, that he can afford to be brash, carefree, and a boyish smartass. For example, during a demonstration of his latest weapon design to a military op in Afghanistan, he cites the notion that the best type of weapon is one you don’t have to fire. Stark respectfully disagrees – he feels the best sort of weapon is one you only have to fire once. Unfortunately, not long after this bold declaration, Stark is taken hostage by a terrorist cell.
As he is taken to a well secluded camp, Stark becomes visibly shaken when he discovers that his own weapons were used in his capture, and that he has unwittingly been arming his countries enemies. Adding insult to injury, Tony is told that he must build them one of his newly-designed missiles or he will die. Disillusioned and defiant, he decides instead to design a brand new weapon: a suit of iron armed to the teeth, which basically turns any man who wears it into an amazing plane/tank hybrid. After a daring escape, he returns to America, tries to pull the plug on his corporation’s weapons development, and becomes a slight recluse. He spends all his time refining and remodeling his suit of iron, until he has created a workable model. And not a moment too soon, since during one of his first social outings after month in seclusion, he discovers that he has unfinished business in Afghanistan. Thus, Iron Man is born.
The movie’s success boils down to Robert Downie Jr. It’s been said that he can deliver dialogue in a way all his own and instantly make it funny. Call it the Christopher Walken syndrome. He is believable both as a millionaire playboy, and as a man driven to heroism – the latter being played with a sense of desperation under the surface that gives the performance more weight. The whole situation has a certain level of insanity to it, and the fact that Downie recognizes that and works it into his performance is what makes it work. Credit must also be given to Gwyneth Paltrow for her role as Pepper Potts. Potts is Stark’s assistant, the sort of right hand that actually lives much of his day-to-day for him. She is quick-witted, but believable, and with it Paltrow gives one of her best performances in quite some time…and one where she actually looks like she’s having fun.
IRON MAN’s release signals the beginning of the summer movie season; the point in the year where drama, logic, and story tend to get thrown out in the window in the name of action, explosions, and franchises. As I write this, the film has been estimated to have netted $100M in a single weekend. Certainly movie producers and studios will look to the success of this film, and try to replicate it somehow. If I could offer them one piece of advice it would be this – focus on the story. It’ll bring ‘em back every time.
Over the last eight years, there seems to be a renewed interest in heroes. Audiences are indeed flocking in record numbers, increasingly wanting to believe in something truly extraordinary. Heroes – be they dressed in black cowls, red capes, or golden iron suits – allow us to become kids again. Better still, when these larger than life heroes have to deal with truly human misgivings and obstacles, we are able to identify with them as adults. Therein lays the equation, laying out what sort of super-story will work, and which won’t.