FEEDBACK: MCU review of "Ironman" (2008)

This Friday on the POST Wrestling Café, it is the return of our MCU reviews.

Because the feedback to our Captain America reviews was so strong, we have decided to go back and review the MCU films chronologically, beginning with the 2008 “Ironman” film starring Robert Downey, Jr.

We are looking for your feedback & comments to be read on this Friday’s show.

The original Ironman movie is always a treat to revisit. The way it’s shot, the lighting, the tone; I find everything to be a bit different in the MCU’s first outing, and you can argue that this results in a rare film from the MCU that really works as a stand-alone movie (post credits scene notwithstanding).

Robert Downey Jr is amazing as Tony Stark, and I find the chemistry between Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow to be at its best in this film. I’m not sure the pair ever quite recaptured the magic they had here in the sequels. The third act leaves a bit to be desired, but all in all, “Ironman” made its mark as a classic in the superhero genre, and most importantly, gave producers the confidence to give the B level superheros a chance.

1 Like

Rich from Winnipeg.
Nice to see you guys starting at the beginning with the MCU reviews, with probably one of the best, at the very start. This movie in hindsight, still holds up today, effects wise, and when you read that others like Tom Cruise could have been cast as Tony, Robert Downey Jr. seemed liked a long shot at best. But you can’t imagine this movie, or even the MCU, without him. He gives the movie a combo of flippant, spoiled rich dude, and super genius that when confronted with the reality of the situation of his capture, realises that things have to change, at first to get out of the terrorists hands, then to take on the troubles of the world by using his genius for good. And he still does it while pouring himself a martini. I was surprised at the inclusion of Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, but they pull off what they need to do. You scratch your head at Terrance Howard, giving up a plum role. And the suit. Oh, this made this longtime fanboy soooo happy. Looking like it would have been made in the real world, and watching it kick ass in Afghanistan is the real highlight of the movie.
Couple of points.

  1. Tom Morello of Rage against the machine worked on the music for this movie, as well as a guest appearance by Ralphie from a Christmas Story. (Peter Billingsley, the kid who played Ralphie, is a longtime friend and Producer on Jon Favreau movies.)
  2. This movie helped me through a very, very dark time in my life. I was recovering from a very bad car accident, and by the time this movie came out, I was rehabbing from this. It helped me out of the house, after the 6th time I had seen this, mentally I was feeling a lot better about myself. Oh, and wrestling helped too, though I wasn’t listening to the other show as of yet.
    Thanks, and can’t wait until The Incredible Hulk!
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My only question to this otherwise perfect masterpiece is: How does Iron Man/Tony survive at the end, when Pepper blows the roof?

When i saw the trailer to this movie i was already blown away. The iron man suite in the trailer looked like the comic book… could it be that after x-men in dark matrix suits we get a real well translated comicbook movie ( oke spiderman 1 and 2 and blade where pretty cool but all the sequals … lets not go there.)

It was amazing, first time i saw it i was blown away by it. In the same year an other comic book movie was released with one of my favorite superheroes who is also a billionaire. The movie i enjoyed the most was the one i never knew i wanted to see Iron man… while i still wait for my comic accurate batman movie… 10 years later … 20 Marvel movies … it is amazing that because of the risk marvel studios took with iron man, we got to see infinity war and saw some of my favorite characters like dr strange and the winter soldier in theaters.

Because i haven’t watched a raw since Wrestlemania ( my life is more fun just listening to the podcast so really thanks for that) i had time to watch it again, and it still holds up pretty good, still a lot of fun, looks pretty good for 10 year old movie and i think downey is the definitive tony stark. Probablly still in my marvelmovie top 10 and got me back into reading Iron Man comics again like extremis where the origin in the movie is based on. Nick fury cameo in the post credit scene … was just amazing

Curious to hear you guys review it

P.S.

i think this was the reason named in a interview with favreau and now used as the reason why :wink:

Tony, even wearing the Iron Man armour, is light enough that the shockwave of the blast throws him out of the way, so he escapes the majority of the explosion’s effects. Stane, in his much heavier suit, isn’t so lucky and so gets the full impact, which kills him.