Iron Man

Abelisto & I went to see Iron Man today. Abelisto is a comic book fan. We have boxes of his old comic books in the closet. Iron Man was one of his favorites, I think. Him and Dr. Strange.

The movie was a very smart rendition of a genre that has gone a bit stale and predictable in its products following the first Spiderman release. Casting Robert Downy Jr. as a decadent playboy billionaire with a genius for inventing gadgets was a grand experiment that seems to have worked. He flourishes as Tony Stark. It is refreshing to see a studio chose someone with some wrinkles and creases, not a baby-faced male ing'enue for this role. Robert Downey Jr. is sort of a reprobate anyway - perhaps reformed, who knows - and this adds to the subtle flavor of the film. Perhaps the superb casting (not just Downey, but Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane) can be laid at the feet of Marvel Studios in this debut venture into greater autonomy in movie creation (Marvel Studios totally funded the creation of Iron Man).

This story is understandable and engaging without a personal history of comic book reading. It is a witty, sharp, non-saccharine saga with glimpses of the epic good vs. evil (evil that you sometimes are in bed with) tension that lets you leave the theater with all sorts of promises to do better, to be better, zinging around in your head and heart.

***************************************************************************************************************