100 Days of Marvel: Road to Infinity War - Day 5: Iron Man

Heroic Analysis on Iron Man will come after I re-watch Iron Man 3, so this post will focus on Iron Man 1. Unlike Agent Carter, I know Iron Man 3 will come for sure (because it is already out). Additionally, I am exhausted after a long week and day that, somehow, has come and gone faster than any other Saturday in history. Bare with me on this ride, folks. My goal is to at least be coherent tonight.

So, people call this the film that started it all. When it came out, I was either a senior or junior in high school (or more accurately it was the summer between) and I had no idea that this film would begin a series that would actually change my life forever.

I really liked the first Iron Man. At first, I didn't really think of it as a "super hero" movie. When it was marketed, I don't remember studios calling it a "super hero" movie like how we do now. Additionally, I was never a huge fan of the character until I saw the movie, so in that sense the film did it's job. It made me really excited for what was to come next for the character, and it set the stage for many of the "heroic" movies to come. I can always find a heroic character though, and I especially love finding them in movies that are not heroic.

Iron Man 1 was more like a war movie, much like Captain America: The First Avenger. In actuality, many movies can be considered "super hero" movies, but the challenge then becomes finding out what kind of movie it is underneath. War movie? Spy film? Dramedy? Romance? Different from Captain America's version of "war movie," Iron shows a different side to war - the politics of the weapons dealer. Both films discuss the dark side of war - the loss, the struggles, but Iron Man's internal struggle of doing what he finds to be morally the right thing to do is meaningful to this film.

After marathoning both seasons of Agent Carter, I am in love with little moments in this movie. Jarvis being his A.I. makes me remarkably sad, and I would have liked to see some moments of the two characters together - Tony Stark and kid Jarvis. Just thinking about that fills me with happiness. I can see Jarvis now, attempting put a crying Tony to sleep and struggling. Knowing that Jarvis can not have kids, I love the poetic continuation of him in this way, and then subsequently as the A.I. that becomes the Vision.

It is additionally nice to see Tony Stark in relation to how we see Howard Stark. Like father, like son. I think we get Tony at a time in his life when he is a little more wise than how we see Howard in the Agent Carter Series. Tony is already begining to become a 1 woman man, is taking his contributions to the world, and his intellect, a lot more seriously than Howard does in Agent Carter. He is still pretty much a lose canon by the time Agent Carter ends.

Robert Downey Jr. is obviously, as time has objectively proven, perfect for the role of Tony Stark. He is charismatic, handsome, and fits right into the pocket of Marvel's most Batman-like character. I also loved Pepper Pots (Gwenyth Paltrow). A joke: Pepper Pots Picked a Pepper and passed it to Peter Parker in the Parking place past pastime. That is funny to me, and it is late. But on the serious tip, Pepper is fantastic in her role as Tony's assistant. I absolutely love their banter, and I love how she makes him a human character. Without Potts, Stark would be a pretty one dimensional character - only truing caring for other people once his impact has hurt them. Then, he would become flat in the other way - only wants to help people and correct his legacy. Without Potts, Stark would be annoying. He wouldn't have any reliable character to check his ego. He wouldn't have a character that he cares about so much more than himself. And, he wouldn't have good enough motivation for fighting. Fighting for others is too generic, and for all intents and purposes so is fighting for one you love, however we can name her whereas we can't name the random civilian #47.

Stark escaping his war prison showed the character's bravery, ingenuity, and ability to act under pressure. I felt connected to the characters immediately, and I felt bad when his prison-mate died. The villains in this were very well done, and I would say that the villain in Iron Man 1 was one of the better Marvel Villains. He had relation to Tony Stark's father, and his motive was simple yet enough for me. He was a weapons dealer who didn't want Tony to stop him from selling weapons. Easy enough, and relatable. I know that if I was in the business of selling books, and my partner decided he wanted to stop selling boks and sell, idk forks, I would think he has lost his mind. Putting the film into that perspective, I can understand how he let greed destroy his morals.

The terrorist villains were okay. They were not over developed, but just enough to where I got a sense of what they wanted and why they wanted it. Really, they served to help Tony Cross the first Threshold. 

The set design, special and practical effect, the sound - all really well done in this movie. In films it seems like we have reached a ceiling of visual prowess. Honestly, in these past 10 years, nothing release has been overwhelming groundbreaking visually. Iron succeeds in making me believe that all of this could happen, technically speaking, in a far fetched "it-could-never-happen" kind of way. But a small part of me wonders "but-maybe."

Iron Man is all about the tech. Unlike the other heros who all have powers, Tony Starks gets the pleasure of having a character who has to carry the hero. Moments when he is without the suit show that Tony is the hero, not Iron Man. Iron Man, I think, is one of Tony's supernatural aid. The suit saves his life and gives him the one up on multiple occasions - like magic users in fantasy stories, but it is Tony Stark that crafts the ideas, using nothing but intellect, resourcefulness, and well money.

All that being said, I cannot keep my eyes open another moment longer. I am eager to really dive into the character after the 3rd Iron Movie.