Three and 1/2 stars
When Stan Lee began to usher in his self-proclaimed "Marvel Age of Comics" in the early 1960s, he differentiated his comics from those of his contemporaries not so much by setting his stories in the realm of costumes and fantasy as he did by asking the question "What if ...?"
Yes, Lee's tales of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four were imaginative, but they always were grounded in reality and some sense of the possible.
This thought comes to mind as one watches "Iron Man," a film based on yet another of Lee's Marvel creations. The reason why the film is a lot of fun is because its makers, like Lee, tell a story of "What if ...?" as opposed to one full of camp or pretension.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is to the munitions industry what Bill Gates is to the computer world. Stark is the wunderkind genius of biomechanical engineering, the darling of stockholders in his company, Stark Industries, and a world-class ladies man who would put even Hugh Hefner to shame.
The only thing that moves more quickly than Stark's life is his mind. Thankfully, his faithful and beautiful assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), dutifully keeps his life tidy from such mundane things as keeping appointments or bidding a previous evening's conquest goodbye.
To say that Stark is a bit of a self-absorbed boor would be an understatement. But people such as his business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), or Col. Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), a military attache, tolerate Stark's eccentricities because of his genius and talents.
But one day fate comes calling when Stark, promoting one of his state-of-the-art weapons to U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rebel ambush.
Wounded and imprisoned by guerillas, Stark is put to work with another captured doctor (Shaun Toub) to build a weapon of mass destruction for the insurgents.
Instead, the duo covertly construct an intricate armor suit that Stark uses to blast himself to freedom. Upon reflecting on his ordeal, Stark reaches a couple of epiphanies.
Appalled that his weapons are being confiscated by the enemy to use against American forces, Stark announces that Stark Industries no longer will market the production of weapons. This is an announcement that neither Stane nor Rhodes comprehends nor appreciates.
Stark instead wants to focus his intellect and energies on refining the prototype iron suit that he built in Afghanistan. For if he can perfect his designs, he believes he can bring meaning to his own life by righting the wrongs he unwittingly has helped create within this world.
"Iron Man" is great fun on a multiplicity of levels. First, as a story, director Jon Favreau and his writers, Mark Fergus, Mark Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, get Lee and what he was trying to do with his comics. To wit: They root their story in the here and now, with a touch of "What if ...?"
Second, "Iron Man" is graced with some great special effects. Yet Favreau does a masterful job of using the effects to supplement his story as opposed to supplanting it.
If anything, the film's best "special effect" is Downey. "Iron Man" is a star-making turn for Downey and his sizeable talents and off-screen issues.
He parlays both into a stranglehold on the character of Stark. Downey commands the screen with his quick wit, rapier-sharp intelligence and considerable charm. But he doesn't shy away from his character's shortcomings and fallibilities.
Like a finely oiled machine, "Iron Man" is a rousing entertainment because all pieces are working in sync with one another. Its success only serves to beg the question, "How long until the sequel comes out?"