Iron Man A Great Movie, But Blown Away?? I Think Not....
May 16th 2008 15:41
I want to start by apologizing to my usual readers but this one is going to be a little rantish....
I promised I wasn't going to blog this yestrerday but after thinking over and being pushed to do so I felt I should lay out the reasons why I wasn't thrown to the floor about the movie Iron Man
I promised I wasn't going to blog this yestrerday but after thinking over and being pushed to do so I felt I should lay out the reasons why I wasn't thrown to the floor about the movie Iron Man
After finally collecting my thoughts I've figured it out...
When looking at my personal history of Super Hero's and Villains I liked and didn't like I think it falls into the category of personal identification and story telling.
When breaking down the Character of Iron Man I found it hard to get myself personally involved in the trials and tribulations of this Super Hero. As I saw it Tony Stark was a product of a Rich Family heritage that made it's money off of Defense of our country. Through Capitalisic enterprise the Stark Family provided their country with the weaponry needed to win the war's that paved the way to ending tyrannical rule and injustices around the globe.
As art often times mirrors reality...
Instead of the US gving the weapons to mad men directly (such as our arming of Osama Bin Laden to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan) to defeat our enemeies the blame was put squarely on Corporations in the form of private weapons enterprises as Stark's corporation was directly funding terrorists to carry out attacks on innocent people to wield power.
I found this directly disturbing, politicaly motivated and unbelievable for a Private Company to yield monetary power and poltical influence without the US Government getting a cut or being involved but much like other villains in comics it made for a great smoke screen to set up the story of the kidnapping of Stark in an assasination attempt. During this time Sark persevered the odds with his own weaponry rebuilt himself into a machine and built his first prototype.
The battle of Stark being the Patriotic American when discovering the folly of his namesake and making things right to defeat the bad guys his company armed is classic for today's times.
For me It's easier to follow classic stories like Superman who was given powers he never asked for but uses them to protect the people of Earth, Spiderman who was given powers he never asked for is faced with daily conflicts abotu his role in the world was shy and dorky and never got the the girl, Wonder Woman who fights to protect mankind well beyond her hidden Island, The X men who fight for the rights of Mutants carrying racial and societal overtones looking to be treated the same as humans and equal coexistance, Batman who's parents were killed by crime and now has the life code of using his fortune for protecting the innocent through a promise to his dead parents and The Hulk who received powers through a nuclear lab accident and is on the run to keep the government from exploiting him for military purposes. These characters are all at at odds with outside injustices that impact their daily lives and not products of their own enviroment or fortune.
I praise Stark for using his fortune for the greater good of keeping his weaponry out of the hands of mad men. I also praise Stark for eventually using his powers for the protection of mankind. But is is hard for me to look at his roots of power ascension and justifications compare them to other formentioned hero's and keep them on the same platform.
These hero's never brought problems onto themselves or profited from something they caused. In Iron Man I am being asked to feel sorry for a man that became a billionaire from weapons of mass destruction enginnering and wasn't involved in the day to day operations enough to protect the people he believed he was defending by being a weapons manufactuer.
The result of which caused the mass destruction death of innocent civillians. In situations like this I look at a man cleaning up his own mess. This is not something I can fall over with a wow or to look at his as a super hero who fights for the good of humanity but rather as a man who is trying to make his life right. The moral of someone becoming retrospective in their life and doing what's right is an admirable and heroic storyline but compared to someone who fights things outside of his control simply to protect people beyond his or her own well being pales in comparison.
As a Super Hero Movie I give it two thumbs up. Storyline development was impeccable as well as the graphics and all the actors. As I said yesterday Robert Downey Junior was amazing. Compared to other Super Hero movies Iron Man is in my top five and it also sets a new standard as Marvel is now in full control of their product. The detailed orientation of sticking to story line with only a change to put into modern times was visionary and also sets the stage for the Captain America, Nick Fury and Avengers movies that are coming out in the next 2 years. It also makes me lick my chops for movies that feature more prominet Marvel characters with stronger stories like the X Men: Originins movie featruing the Weapon X program next year.
In terms of a review it was exactly what I expected.
Was I impressed? Yes
Was it the end all be all best Super Hero movie ever made? No
Was it because of the Acting, Graphics, Special Effects or storyline? No
Was it because the Comic Book Character Iron Man does nothing for Me? Absolutely
Will this change with Sequels and Inclusion Of The Avengers and Will I be Front Row For Iron Man 2 in 2010? Definately
Seeing that this movie was building towards a Captain America, Iron Man, Nick Fury and Avenger movies makes me hopeful that I may change my mind about Iron Man as a comic character and I will continue to do my background reseearch in both the cartoons and the comic books but for now my mind is still open for change and the cartoons put me to sleep....
Whewww that feels alot better
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