I am Iron Man

Heavy metal.

It’s one way to describe the surprisingly good “Iron Man” which takes all the best elements of comic book history and goes full speed ahead with it.

It’s sharply written with some great reference lines. It might be loud, crass at a few times, like a rambling tour through the scrap junkyard with lots of metal in it.

What carries the film is the sincerity of the people who made the film. Several people involved including the lead actor are already self-proclaimed fans of the original comic book created by Marvel Publishing. Yet their work rises above the fanatic garble of most adaptations to make a truly remarkable throwback to the original source. And they make it fun.

What better way to make a film fun when the crew and actors in the film are having a good time? You can see that easily on the screen. Much of the credit goes to the well-written script that doesn’t slow down, takes you by the collar and drags you along for the ride. Much like the life of Iron Man. It’s an adrenaline rush.

It’s some of the best comic book films out there.

Much of the film weighs on the lead Robert Downy Jr. who fits the part. The role suits him so well that he’s tailor-made for it. Downy Jr. has already been a drunkard and had plenty of drug abuse in his life. So has his fictional character Tony Stark.

There’s a definite prerequisite here.

It’s more than that. It is a performance on his behalf. And you are led to believe that here is a man with a personal conflict as his mountainous ego nearly becomes self-destructive. The first thirty minutes of the film is a wonderful character drama for Stark as audiences learn more about his history. And his caged situation in Afghanistan which forces him to look into the mirror to review his underlying achievements.

Stark is a flawed person. Only he realizes that now.

Downy Jr. is commended for the part he plays. There’s a definite journey from his being the hardass of business at the beginning of the film looking only for profits. Until he re-thinks his goals to better his life. Sort of like having a mid-life crisis.

The story here is so good and there are definite Stark moments. My favorites are when Stark arrives in the Afghanistan town where a terrorist act is being committed. Stark punches his fist through the wall and drags one of top thugs through it. Then he glibly says to the persecuted townsfolk, “He’s all yours.” That’s a Stark moment.

Another Stark moment is when he first introduces his weapons of mass destruction to the military at the beginning of the film with his shoot first, ask questions later routine, brilliantly capturing the arrogance of the titan businessman.

What’s interesting is you get to see the super science involved in building the armor suits. From the clunky Mark I version that he built in a cave to escape his prison to the shiny, metropolitan colors of red and yellow. Stark is constantly improving his suits. And it’s great to see how he does so. With state-of-the-art computers. He has a genius for building things.

The high tech stuff almost makes it worth seeing the film. It’s so fascinating. The physics are a wonder to behold.

Jeff Bridges is also great as Obsidian Shane, the second in command of Stark Industries and one of the original builders of that organization. You get to like his at first. He’s charming. He has that kind of spark in his eyes that makes his accessible. Until he nearly rips your heart out when you find out how truly evil he is. His greed and desire for all control of the business makes him a ruthless man. How he cut underhanded deals with the worst lot makes him insufferably horrible.

He makes a great contrast to the part Stark. He is the ultra menace of business exploitation. He remains the dark side of Stark… if Stark had decided to stay on a less than good path. But their mirror is broken by different decisions they made. Shane wants to continue to dominate the industries, the board and quite possibly the world with his intentions. Starks doesn't want to do that anymore when he learns how his weapons are abused.

There were a lot of great references in the film. The mentioning of SHEILD makes a great entry in the film. Military hero James Rhodes says an offhand remark of “next time, baby” when he sees the silver, unused Iron Man armor. Setting up for the sequel already. There’s also references to the Avengers initiative and even a brief appearance by Nick Fury.

It’s a highly recommended film. And it should be ranked with the first two Spiderman films with its consistent use of comic book history and doing it correctly. It’s a great vision in filmmaking. And it points to the direction that the next Iron Man films would set another mark in comic book films. This time, we have many reliable creative people taking the helm.

It’s hard to get the great theme music out of one’s mind. And the thumping, loud music is great for a film such as “Iron Man.” Such a steely effort makes for raising a few eyebrows. And catch a few good moments of high powered excitement. Bring it on, metal man.