Thoughts on Iron Man and Super Heroes

I saw "Iron Man" this morning at a matinée showing, and for the sake of catharsis I just wanted to blurt out a few thoughts here on my blog. I'd love to hear what you guys think if you want to leave your own thoughts in the comments.

Iron Man - 8/10

PROS:

• Downey, Downey, Downey. At the risk of repeating what every other reviewer has said. He IS this character. Also, he ended up being a lot funnier than I thought he would be (I loved how he treated the robots like pets)... so again, kudos
• The Supporting Cast. Paltrow was understated and cute, and Terrence Howard was decent despite being a weirdo (more on that below). Also, who knew "The Dude" could be so suave. If someone hadn't told me that was Jeff Bridges I never would have known.
• CGI. This is what special effects should look like. They were so photorealistic, that at times it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't. It's just about time to stop trusting your eyes folks.

CONS:

• No use of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath in the actual film. This is a weird thing to have bothered me, but when Downey busts out of the cave in the trailer and you hear those main cords from "Iron Man", it gave me goosebumps. It's the main reason why I became excited to see this. Anyways, I dug it for the credits, but there were so many scenes that would have been breathtaking had they added that in. It's a personal thing, but it bothered me nonetheless
• Bridges is way over the top at the end. For a man who played a greatly nuanced character almost all the way through, he steps over the line once he crawls into his own Iron suit. It was just too much for me.
• Everyone who told me to wait until the credits were over. Sorry folks, but "The Avengers" movie means nothing to me (literally, I don't read comics). So I sat through the 10 minutes of credits to see Samuel L. Jackson in an eye patch for 15 seconds. Really?

For the record, I am not a super hero fan. I am not a comic book fan. I went into "Iron Man" excited based solely on the spectacular trailer. They nailed the promotion for this, and as we've seen over the last week or so, it paid off.

Generally, super hero movies are too corny for me. I have always HATED Superman. He's corny and hokey, and a throwback to an era and a mindset that I can't relate too. On the other end of the scale you have Batman , who as a dark anti-hero, is more my style. When "Batman Begins" took the franchise and reinvented it by going ultra-realistic, it blew my mind because they made something so ridiculous seem so believable.

So, where does "Iron Man" fall on that scale? Well, it's obvious that it is set in some sort of near future where technology is more advanced than it is now. On the whole, the film was a little more "fantastical" than I would have liked, but I also felt that it really rode the line pretty well. My favorite scene in the entire thing is when he flies to Afghanistan towards the end of the second act, and lands among chaos while it's snowing. The strange juxtaposition of a shiny superhero against this bleak landscape was really interesting to me. Because of that dance back and forth, I was able to excuse the more wild aspects of the film.

Oh... and I read an interview with Terrance Howard once where he said that if you don't wipe your bottom with baby wipes every time you take a crap, then you are a dirty person and he won't have sex with you. Score 1 for toilet paper.

So... anyways, I feel pretty cleansed now (see what I did there?). Bottom line, "Iron Man" is a really fun and enjoyable film. If you haven't seen it, do your best to divorce yourself from the hype before you go, otherwise you might be slightly disappointed. It doesn't reinvent the wheel in any way... but then again, that's not what Summer Blockbusters are for right?

I say bring on the sequels... and whatever this "Avengers" thing is everyone keeps talking about ;)