Dir: Jon Favreau
Writ: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway. Based on characters created by Stan Lee , Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby
- Robert Downey Jr. … Tony Stark
- Terrence Howard … Jim Rhodes
- Jeff Bridges … Obadiah Stane
- Gwyneth Paltrow … Pepper Potts
- Leslie Bibb … Christine Everhart
- Faran Tahir … Raza
- Sayed Badreya … Abu Bakaar
Ever since Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang I’ve loved Robert Downey Jr. and that is the main reason I wanted to go see this film. Sure, I enjoy superhero films, but I know nothing at all about Iron Man, so it wasn’t any grá for that character that made me go. For those of you who share this non-knowledge Iron Man is Tony Stark, a genius of a weapons-dealer. When things go wrong for him in Afghanistan he ends up thinking that the only route forward is to give up the whole destruction business, obviously enough his share-holders object slightly.
I really enjoyed this film. It isn’t the greatest film ever made; not by a long shot. But it is entertaining, with some great effects, and some wonderful acting. Yes, I still love Robert Downey Jr..
However it isn’t perfect. And I think I may be getting old. Why else am I wondering why they spent so much time focusing on the possible death of one single US pilot when many, many, many other non-Americans have just been killed, and a few US soldiers too. And I’m sorry, but death by being burned alive is something I don’t think I can really think of as being cool.
But those are minor quibbles. This is a perfect popcorn flick. Finding fault at things like that is more than a little silly. It isn’t designed to make you think, not really, it is meant to entertain, and that it does. In buckets.
Two thumbs up.
IMDb ; Stainless Steel Droppings ; Barking Carnival
I am glad you enjoyed it. I know I’ve liked Robert Downy, Jr. in other movies before Kiss, Kiss but I am not sure that I considered him a great actor. I do know that since Kiss, Kiss I do. Maybe it is maturity based on his experiences or directors casting him in the right roles for him or a combination of that and many other factors, but whatever it is he is a joy to watch. This film wasn’t perfect, few superhero films are, but it was as close to perfect as I need my superhero films to be and that is in large part to his acting and Favreau’s vision for the film.
Yeah, big fan of Favreau too Carl.
The first time i heard about the film I thought it was gonna be a Ted Hughes stylee-thing, which it’s obviously not :(
Awww
When will we have enough superhero films? At what point will our society be surfeited with masked, conflicted heroes and anti-heroes, haunted by their past? Iron Man sounds like a punch-alike of Batman. Rich geezer decides to put his wealth to baddie ass-kicking uses. I bet he has nightmares, too. But all superhero films are essentially the same story, which has precious little dramatic potential to begin with. Sigh.
hooray! i know i’ve said this too many of your film reviews, but i really hope i get to see this. payday is wednesday, which also happens to be orange in colour. so here’s hoping…!
(you know, i haven’t seen a film at the movies for 2 years now… :( )
You wannabe cynic Mal. There can never be enough superheroes out there. They are all metaphors for stuff afterall, and stuff will never stop.
2 years JP? Two whole years! me = speechless
Yes, but there’s more stuff than can be metaphored by superheroes. Maybe some different metaphors are in order!
Just bought Kiss Kiss Bang Bang today for 4 Euro. I’m a bit scared to watch it in case it’s not as good as I remember. I do love a good/metaphorical super hero movie and if RDJ is in it, all the better. There were some incredibly funny lines in it too
Mal, but then what about the “look, people flying” coolness? You need superheroes for that sort of malarkey.
I really need to buy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, loved it when I saw it in the cinema, but that was years ago at this stage :)
i second those sentiments about super heroes fency.
:)