The "Iron Man" Franchise

[StevePulaski]

Iron Man (2008).

Robert Downey Jr. accompanied by the makings of an iron suit in Iron Man.

Rating: ★★★½

Iron Man is one of the only superheros I can find myself completely loving and admiring, up there only with Peter Parker. Few characters, in my opinions, are as interesting as their superheros, and as far as film-portrayals go, Tony Stark and Peter Parker have been treated with excellence and respect. Christopher Nolan's Batman series was a monstrous success, but I didn't find myself caring much for Bruce Wayne as a person. I saw him as more than a shell, but had no real passionate, human connection with him that would seem like a personal relationship. It's not a fault of Nolan's filmmaking or actor Christian Bale himself, I just didn't find much personal investment with Wayne.

Parker and Stark bring a more recognizable, forceful energy to their legacies. Parker's charming geekiness, naivety, and understandable anguish during his time as Spider-Man provided me with total joy and excitement. In contrast, Stark brings a different energy to the table, a collective, narcissistic one that I usually loathe. And yet Robert Downey Jr. Makes no missteps as playing this kind of cocky, self-indulgent character. He comes off as a force of total energy, making his cockiness actually kind of charming and elegant.

Downey Jr. is a big part at why Jon Favreau's Iron Man is such a big success. I always look at superhero epics as character studies before special effect showcases, which some may find to be irrelevant and rather expecting of me. The way I see it, if you plan to make a film based on a specific hero, you are required to give back story, character development, insight, and a reason for the viewer to care about him and hope for him to succeed. Favreau does this and more as Iron Man is one of the best superhero films of the new decade, exciting, perilous, uncompromising, and simply a joyous experience.

The film concerns Stark's rise from astronomically intelligent philanthropist/playboy persona to a crime-fighting, high-flying superman in an enormous, full-body iron-suit. There's also explicit detail in the relationships of Stark's life, one being Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, his highly-competent assistant, and Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane, his business partner. There's an equal balance between character relations and satisfying action, and neither plod along or become unearthly long. Favreau is smart about his placement and vision; Iron Man is shot and conducted on a grandiose scale, uncompromising in its clarity and visually arresting in its imagery. One of the most common things I see in superhero epics is their hunger for enormous sequences and their struggle to achieve that. Here, the film simply doesn't know how to fail and that's a huge strength.

Several scenes show the complexity of Stark's mentally draining process to become Iron Man. Stark's energy very much comes out here, especially when he's faced with criticism from people like Pepper and Obadiah. His unfathomable intelligence and cocky exterior makes up for a somewhat present feeling of inferiority. It subtly seems that Stark uses defense mechanisms such as cockiness to make up for feelings that he may not live up to the expectations brought forth by his father.

Yet this is not a pity story or a disposable action film. This is a promising picture, with mesmerizing action sequences, plotpoints that deserve your investment, characters that earn their business to be liked, and a film that deserves a viewing on your part. Iron Man hardly ever missteps; it's as dynamic and as confident as its title character.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges. Directed by: Jon Favreau.

[StevePulaski]

Iron Man 2 (2010).

Iron Man meets his matches in the sequel to the 2008 blockbuster.

Rating: ★★★

Despite the fact that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is such an egotistical, relentlessly uncompromising man, he can't help but earn one's sympathy in Iron Man 2, the sequel to the overwhelming success that was Iron Man. Stark must deal with a Russian physicist named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who believes that he stole the complicated plans for his own personal Iron Man-technology from his father, his other arch-rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) who is establishing an gigantic uprising of metal monstrosities, and Congressional jurisdiction attempting to make Iron Man property of the Defense Department rather than his own personal technology. Talk about Atlas shrugging. On top of this, his company is now run by his longtime assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his best-friend Rhodey (now played by Don Cheadle) may now become his sidekick to stop Vanko.

Iron Man 2 is probably the most kinetic, fast-moving, briskly-paced sequel that could've been made to such a surprisingly elegant, intriguing film. Initially, with all this stuff going on, this sequel looked like it was going to follow the messiness and unfocused nature of Spider-Man 3, but director Jon Favreau manages to, for the most part, keep things moving steadily.

I begin by reiterating the main element I praised in the original film and that is Downey's wonderful, wholly spirited performance as one of the most narcissistic males to take the screen in years. Stark is a tricky character to play, on one hand being a generous philanthropist and an uncompromising genius with a love for chemistry and science, but on the other, being hopelessly cocky and basking in the light of his own self-centered arrogance. How does one make a character like that watchable, let alone likable? Downey Jr. somehow pulls it off, using tactile energy and quick-witted humor as a means to convey a character we simply enjoy watching.

Another fascination I have with Stark is his ability to be and remain public about his abilities as Iron Man. Most heroes prefer reclusion, resorting to closeting their abilities by acting as if they are darker, more elusive alter-egos. It's at least fascinating that Stark doesn't play by these old constraints and chooses to be as open about his alternate persona as a person who just took up a new job.

With that said, there is more of a focus on Stark as a human rather than Stark accompanied by a large, straining iron suit. This way, his problems appear more humanly to us (not wanting to give up something that is rightfully his, trying to establish peace amongst large groups, etc) and his agony feels more close to home. If there is an unfortunate element to be found in Iron Man 2, it's that the focus too often shifts and there are really too many things going on here for them all to be truly explored in one-hundred and twenty-four minutes. This isn't as half-baked as it could've been, but it's not as deeply involving or as nourishing as it should have been either. And just when you think the ideas have all shown themselves, out pops Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), leader of the organization S.H.I.E.L.D, to inform Stark about his father and how he could be valued in the organization. And just when you think that's the final plotpoint, a twist features Scarlett Johansson's Natalie as someone that is more than just Stark's latest piece of eye candy.

The idea of Stark refusing to surrender over his technology and advancements to the Defense Department alone could've made for an unbelievably interesting story about staying true to one's inner-self and holding on to what is rightfully yours, regardless of price or negotiations. However, could you see that being the main point of a superhero film? Neither could I; too many bad guys and too little time.

Iron Man 2 is at least an ambitious sequel, looking to tackle a wide-range of ideas and central conflicts had by its title character. The problem is it takes enough plot from a potential Iron Man 3 in its quest for ambitiousness and variety. The action sequences remain fluent and grandiose, the actors all fill their parts nicely (if only Mickey Rourke was given more time to shine), and the sense of fun and excitement is still present. There's just a sheer listlessness of execution that needed to be discussed when implementing so many wonderful ideas.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by: Jon Favreau.

[StevePulaski]

Iron Man 3 (2013).

Iron Man returns for another round in the third installment of his franchise.

Rating: ★★½

Early on in Iron Man 3's lengthy, long-awaited production, director Shane Black stated he wanted to make a film that wasn't superficial or self-serious, but rather, more fun and lighthearted. I would've went with serious; Iron Man 3 is, to say the least, a disappointing conclusion to a franchise that showed amazingly potent promise with its awe-inspiring debut just five years ago. This is a been-there-done-that affair that does exactly what I praised its original film for not doing; serving as a special effects compilation and incorporating much more humor than necessary.

Perhaps that was the foreseeable effect of having Black take the director's chair over Jon Favreau, who manned the ship on the first two productions. Black, whose fame stemmed from the 2005 cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, throws way too many cutesy witticisms in his writing, treating the third installment of the Iron Man franchise as the byproduct of a self-referential film treading the likes of Seven Psychopaths. Not only does putting this side-by-side with the original two films, which weren't as dark or as heavy as Nolan's Batman franchise but still rather serious, seem a tad out of place, but the series feels like it's more concerned with nudging and winking at the audience than wrapping things up cleanly.

We are thrown back in the futuristic world of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), only this time, we start in 1999 at a New Year's Eve party where scientist Aldrich Killian tries to bring up thoughts and ideas about expanding his company to an cold, uninterested Stark. He is quickly-shifted out of Stark's mindset, never to be seen again any time soon.

Fast-forward to the present and we see Stark's battle with the aliens in New York (events from The Avengers) have made him jittery and a frequent victim to panic attacks. Just in time, too, since the elusive terrorist Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is threatening America's safety and Killian (Guy Peace) returns to exact revenge on Stark for his narcissism and arrogance. On top of this, he must ensure the safety of his long-suffering Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and continue emphasizing that he will protect the citizens of the United States from uncertain danger.

There is far less going on in the third installment of this series than there was in the second film; whether or this is good or bad, you can be the judge. Black doesn't play it safe, but he sometimes only slightly opens doors before closing them abruptly, a little bit like what Iron Man 2 did in the face of the government wanting Stark to hand over all his technology to the Defense Department. The ignored idea that we could've got a lot out of is when Stark's pal Rhodey (reprised by Don Cheadle) tries to convince him to refrain from instigating or provoking Mandarin in anyway and saying leave it to the government. That is when Iron Man's role in social order and political uprising should come into play but sadly never does.

I, too, can't help but feel that if you were a fan at all of the original Iron Man comic books that if part two let you down part three will considerably let you down. Mandarin is drastically shortchanged as a villain, not given too much backstory and only given certain times to chime and spit villainous cliches. Killian, as well, although the film sort of explains why in a twist ending that I find a tad more disingenuous. Clearly, he is played as some sort of Osama Bin-Laden-esque terrorist, but we know far too little about his motivations and plans. He is evil and wants to take over, case closed.

Another subplot features Ty Simpkins as a young boy named Harley, who connects with Stark on a personal level in certain points in the film. Harley is a well-meaning kid, kind of irritating, but genial and relatively harmless, and often the victim of Stark's narcissism as are many of his close friends. Harley isn't a bad character, but he's an unneeded addition to the story. His story offers little-to-no payoff and, in the end, plays as sort of a little piece that tries too hard to tug at the heartstrings.

It's honest to say that the Iron Man series has gotten a tad bit worse since its start in 2008 with a very promising film that I consider one of Marvel's strongest films to date. Its sequel, while crowded with subplots and characters, still found a way to get its energy and heart in the right place and at least tie things up marginally well by the end of the film. The third film features yet another wonderful performance by Downey Jr., a briskly-paced narrative, and interesting little minor inclusions along the way, but gets too caught up in the sense of its own whimsy and personal delight with its humor. At this point, the fans deserve an "Iron Man 4" just for the sole-purpose of optimism that it will be better, more efficient than the two sequels we got.

NOTE: My video review of Iron Man 3, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqz0INZADww

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, and Rebecca Hall. Directed by: Shane Black.