Iron Man

Overview

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

Rating

11 Reviews

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  r96sk

  9 Jan 13, 2021

  My first taste of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A great start! I absolutely enjoyed seeing 'Iron Man'. Robert Downey Jr. is terrific as the titular character, who is a blast to watch throughout - love the design! The plot is very entertaining, I like how it tells the story; simply, but very effectively. Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, meanwhile, all add to the film with good performances. The special effects are very neat, as are all the action sequences. I will say the score isn't the strongest, at least in terms of what I'd expect from this sorta film. I wouldn't say it's bad per se, just not as spectacular as it could've (should've?) been; especially with someone like Ramin Djawadi composing. I love a film with great music, so hopefully that improves as I watch the MCU expand. I know, I'm extremely late to this particularly party but happy to finally begin watching.

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  Filipe Manuel Neto

  9 Jun 22, 2022

  **An excellent film, which only loses a little in some details related to the writing of the script and the conception of some characters.** I'm not a fan of superhero movies, but like any movie fan in general, I've seen a good handful of them. This was the first film made by Marvel and financed by the company itself, and it brings us one of its most acclaimed heroes. The film shows how a young playboy millionaire named Tony Stark, with a fortune inherited from his father and largely made from the production and sale of weapons, becomes a vigilante determined not to allow the misuse of the weapons he sells. I don't know much about comics, but I believe that the film was limited to adapting to the cinema a story already written on paper about the origins of the character, giving it, perhaps, a touch of the present. The plot is one of the strongest points of the film, not only for the way it introduces the character in the context of the current geopolitical conflicts (with the Middle East issue very present), but mainly for the way it transforms Tony Stark into a deeper character, who lives a catharsis that opens his conscience to questions that he was not sensitive enough to understand. Put more simply, if initially Stark was a rich and spoiled idiot, he ends the movie with another awareness of what he should do and how his attitudes influence the world around him. However, I also felt that once Stark realizes what he has to do, and it becomes clear who the enemy is to defeat, the script quickly loses quality and becomes much more basic and underdeveloped. With a skillful direction provided by Jon Favreau, the cast gave us a very good performance. Of course, the public's attention is focused on Robert Downey Jr., an actor who started working in the 80s, but only began to emerge at the turn of the millennium, with some productions (*Gothika*, *Good Night and Good Luck*, *Zodiac*) that he entered before accepting Marvel's proposal. He is perfect in character and gives us his life's work as an actor. Beside him, we can still admire Gwynneth Paltrow, in a more discreet but competent role. The villain was secured by Jeff Bridges, but his work is not so well executed and the actor sometimes doesn't seem to know exactly how to behave in the character. What can we say about the production values ​​and technical quality of a movie with a millionaire budget of 140 million dollars? It is a film determined to be a blockbuster, which fully achieved all its objectives, earning high profits, pleasing the fans and achieving high praise from the general public and the specialized critics. And the money invested is in plain sight, with a declared bet on very high quality CGI, wonderfully well-executed sound and image effects and really good sets and costumes (with great emphasis - obviously - on Iron Man's suit and Stark's mansion). The cinematography is excellent, the filming work was really well done, and the editing was detailed, giving the film a pleasant rhythm that doesn't tire us out. Finally, a note of praise for the excellent and epic soundtrack.

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  The Movie Mob

  10 Feb 11, 2023

  **Iron Man had all the class, quirks, genius, and fun to birth one of the greatest film franchises in cinematic history.** The movie that started it all. That created the personality of a multi-billion dollar entertainment behemoth. That introduced the world to the first of many characters that have become household names and cultural icons. Iron Man stormed on the screen with a lead actor that Hollywood had given up on and a small start-up studio without a single movie under its belt backed by Disney, who had little to no live-action comic experience of their own. But director Jon Favreau’s adlibbed approach leveraged the strengths of his cast and created a world that was simultaneously realistic and magical - where a man could build a flying suit of armor, or a Thunder god could fall in love with a quirky mortal. Many forget that Robert Downey Jr’s personal struggles had left him blacklisted by many in Hollywood, making his casting a risky stroke of brilliance. The result of all this was precisely the lightning in a bottle needed to birth the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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  Andre Gonzales

  6 Jul 5, 2023

  An ok movie. I just wish there was more action. The storyline was great but could have been a lot better with more action.

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  CinemaSerf

  7 Jun 3, 2024

  Having inherited his father's skill, "Tony Stark" is supplying just about every bit of military hardware to the US Government. On a trip to Afghanistan, however, his convoy is ambushed and he is seriously injured. He awakens in a cave, held hostage by insurgents, and with the help of co-captive "Yinsen" (Shaun Toub) must use all of his skills to stay alive and to find a way out of his predicament. Cannibalising just about every bit of kit he can find, he concocts a power source to keep him alive and a suit of armour that enables him to fight his way out. Once free, he determines to further hone this flying suit of armour and use it for the common good. His business partner "Vanko" (Jeff Bridges) soon realises there are other, more lucrative, uses and a conspiracy is soon afoot. Can "Stark" thwart him and save the day? As ever, there is no jeopardy whatsoever - what this is, is a fun action adventure with loads of top notch visual effects and quite a bit of humour in a script well delivered by an on-form Downey well supported by Gwyneth Paltrow and a solid cast. The "Iron Man" stories are not the most complex. It's a pretty linear depiction of good and evil - though it does, at the start, demonstrate some of the ironies of the weapons supplies industry. It's overly long, we spend just a bit too much time getting going, but once it does - it is worth a watch on a big screen.

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  Manuel São Bento

  9 Jul 17, 2025

  The true miracle of Iron Man isn't just that it launched the biggest cinematic franchise of all time - it's that it works so well on its own terms. Made without a finished script and relying heavily on actor improvisation, the film somehow emerges as a cohesive, emotionally resonant origin story that still holds up nearly two decades later. Robert Downey Jr. doesn't just play Tony Stark; he *is* Tony Stark, embodying a character arc that transforms a narcissistic billionaire into a man of purpose with surprising nuance and authenticity. His natural wit, emotional intelligence, and lived-in charm carry the movie, but it's the grounded direction - practical suits, real locations, restrained CGI - that gives Iron Man its timeless grit and weight. The first suit-up scene alone remains one of the most satisfying moments in the entire MCU. Jeff Bridges gives Obadiah Stane just enough calm menace to make his escalation feel earned, even if predictable. And Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts deserves more credit - not just as the emotional anchor to Tony's chaos, but as an active player in his survival. The emotional beats - from Yinsen's death to the rescue in the desert, from "don't waste your life" to "it's going to be okay" - hit harder than expected, enhanced by a surprisingly effective score. Iron Man remains a testament to character-first storytelling, and even after 30+ entries, it still comfortably sits in my MCU Top 10. Rating: A