The 1960’s were a time of counter-culture revolution and young people being upset at what the government was doing. With this in mind, comics writer Stan Lee decided to create a superhero that would be the antithesis of this. Taking inspiration from industrialist Howard Hughes, Lee created Anthony “Tony” Stark, who was a multi-billionaire, weapons manufacturer, and womanizer. The idea was to create a character that would be everything the readers hated, and yet still be likable. With scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, was born. He first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 in May 1963, and quickly became one of Marvel’s most popular characters. So, when Kevin Feige decided to create a shared cinematic universe, the first character to be adapted was Iron Man. Cut to 2008, when Jon Favreau directed the first Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Iron Man.
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While in Afghanistan for a weapons demonstration, weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is attacked and captured by terrorists. He’s held captive with local doctor Yinsen (Shaun Toub) and ordered to build weapons for the terrorists. Seeing that the terrorists are using weapons his company made, Tony instead to build a suit of armor to escape. With help from Yinsen, he’s able to complete the suit and escape, but at the cost of Yinsen’s life. Once he returns home, Tony decides to stop manufacturing weapons and instead focus on refining his armored suit. With his new suit, Tony decides to go and destroy all of the weapons caches the terrorists have. Unfortunately, this doesn’t settle well for his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), who’s been supplying weapons to the terrorists. Stane manages to build his own suit, and Tony has to stop him before it’s too late.
While on the surface it seems like a giant explosion fest, there’s a much deeper story going on here. When he first meet Tony, he’s self-centered, egotistical, irresponsible, and doesn’t seem to care about anyone other than himself. After his experience in Afghanistan, he returns a changed man who wants to undo his past mistakes. It’s a classic story of redemption that anyone can relate to, helped by Robert Downey Jr’s fantastic performance. Not only is he very charismatic and funny, he also sells the more emotional scenes and really shows his skills. It also helps that he’s supported by a great cast, including Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, and Gwyneth Paltrow. For someone who’s known for playing heroes and chill guys, Bridges is surprisingly intense and frightening as the villain. Paltrow is also quite good here, and she has great chemistry with Downey Jr.
Of course, a superhero movie wouldn’t be much without some thrilling action, and this one has it in spades. From Tony fighting off terrorists with his initial suit to the final battle with Iron Monger, it’s fun to watch. What helps is that we get to know the character so well that we actually care about the action. Admittedly, the final battle does go into CGI-overkill, but even still, because the characters are well-developed that it’s ok. At the end of the day, this movie shows that even the most self-centered people can change for the better. As the start to a major cinematic universe, this was the best way to get things started. Honestly, other than some dated 2008 references, this movie still holds up even in 2019. Overall, Iron Man works thanks to a strong lead performance, exciting action, and a well-developed story.
