So, last night Mike and I had a hundred thousand things to do on our “to do” list… but after hearing whispers in the wind about Iron Man, we said “Screw it!” and found ourselves at the theater.
I still have a hundred thousand things on my To Do list, so I’ll keep it brief: Best Superhero Movie ever.
I liked how they blended the original Iron Man mythos, with the new (flawlessly beautiful) Extremis story, and also with the Ultimates. And if you stick around to the end of the credits, it’s the best fan-service extra scene of all time, ever! I think I squealed out loud, and clutched Mike’s hand in an instantaneous, “OMG THEY ACTUALLY DID IT!!” reflex. (Mike and I had just been talking about the extreme likelihood of such a thing during the credits, and then it happened.)
But then again, you have to be a comic book nerd to really get it. Which is nice that they throw us a bone. :)
(Great Stan Lee cameo, too!)
All right, aside from being a total Marvel Comics fan girl, I’ll try to just give you a few, brief thoughts.
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark = Perfection.
He nailed the complicated nature of Tony’s character: he was both deep and shallow, comedic and dark, larger than life and insecure, and the center of everything while being absolutely alone. It was a flawless performance.
The special effects were beautiful, and I loved how they took their cues from the beautiful art of Extremis, which was such a compelling story, both art and writing alike:

The pacing was wonderful–just enough time was spent on each event. Humor didn’t get in the way of drama. You knew a lot about Tony’s character, cared about him, and the story got *started* all before the opening credits were finished. I kept thinking the whole way through, “This is fantastic storytelling!” They told the story through pictures, events… they didn’t spell it all out for you or drone on and on about stuff that didn’t matter. The pacing was unbelievable.
I mean, I left and my only critique was a few lame acting moments by Gwenth Paltrow toward the end, but even she had great chemistry with Robert Downey Jr.
If you hate Superheroes, I’m sure you’ll still hate this movie. But if you love comic books even a little tiny bit, OMG, don’t miss this one on the big screen!