I don't really like Gwyneth Paltrow. She's never done anything to me personally, but something about her just irritates me. Until yesterday, I could only name one movie I could bear her in (that would be Emma). Now that I've seen Iron Man I have a second film I like her in.
I've been behind going to see films in theaters, but I'm not suffering the repercussions of driving much anymore so I hauled butt out to go see this movie.
Iron Man works much the same way as the first Spiderman movie did. It is a good, solid, enjoyable film that shows us the origin story for this superhero. It is not quite as dramatic or emotionally rich film as Spiderman, but that may have something to do with where Tony Stark is as a person when the film begins and where he is as it ends.
Overall, it is a pretty sweet ride. I have always been a fan of Robert Downey, Jr's and he doesn't let you down in any way. His Tony is full of charm, wit and bearable cockiness through out. He's not completely cold, he's just too self involved at the outset. Gwyneth is solid as his personal assistant, even though I hate her character's name. It's a comic book thing I know, but I have yet to understand the appeal of having some one's name be Pepper. At any rate, she has the right sort of temperament to handle her boss. Gwyneth and Robert handle their scenes with just the right amount of tension keeping their relationship from sliding into cliche-ville. Every character has some great lines and moments, though I thought Terrance Howard was underused. But, if everyone had a major story, the movie would be four hours long. Maybe next time.
The effects look great. The technology available is mostly believable. Some of that comes from having seen the effects before (Minority Report) or running with the storyline that Stark is a genius and has been creating technology ahead of its time. The product placement doesn't really jar, unlike some movies (hey, let's focus in on that can of Coke...think anyone will think that's weird? Heck no!). The story aims for a more realistic approach as opposed to having a bad guy that's an alien mutant or has been dropped in a vat of nuclear waste.
On a side note, Robert looks extremely de-lish in this I gotta say.
I'm looking forward to seeing where the next movie takes us.
Rented Southland Tales, the second movie from the director/writer of Donnie Darko. It looked really good and the music was great, but I'm not sure I actually understood it. I think I may need to watch it again.
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