Iron Man (2008)

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Overview

One of the first films in Marvel comics line of movies based on their comic properties to be made under their Marvel Studios banner, This movie starts the Avengers franchise, introducing the SHIELD team to the Marvel film universe, special agent Coulson, and including a secret scene at the end of the credits introducing Nick Fury where he tells Iron Man that he would like to talk with him about the Avengers Project. Because of this, this movie holds an important spot in film history, being the first movie to ever attempt to merge multiple film universes together that before this would have stood by themselves.

Creation

The character of Iron Man was created by Stan Lee back in 1963 in the pages of Tales of Suspense #39. The movie was directed by John Favreau, making this his biggest budget film to date. Some of the writers include Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, two of the writers behind the critically acclaimed Children of Men. But perhaps the biggest part of the creation of Iron Man goes to the man playing the title character, Robert Downey Junior, as many behind the scene stories have said that he improved numerous lines and helped to rewrite several lines for his character. On an interview with David Letterman he talked about how he would often reject a line they gave him, saying "Hey if we're going to make this movie let's make it right."

Plot Summary

Tony barely manages to survive his first time in the armor

Tony Stark is a genius, billionaire, weapons engineering playboy who believes he has life all worked out. However after a trip over to Afghanistan to introduce his latest weapon, he is attacked and suffers severe damage to his heart. When he comes to he has been taken hostage by insurgents who want him to build weapons for him. Tony doesn't want to but he isn't given much choice when he is thrown into a cell with another engineer taken hostage, Yinsen. While held captive Tony learns that someone has been selling his weapons to the insurgents all along so they could use them against US soldiers. Tony and Yinsen decide they'll build a weapon, but not the one that their captors want. They construct a miniature reactor to be placed within Tony's chest to keep the shrapnel from killing him, and from here they use what tools they have to build a suit of armor that Tony uses to fight his way to freedom. Yinsen, however, does not make it out of there alive and Tony realizes what he must do when he gets home.

Upon arriving home, Tony calls a press conference to declare that his company will cease production of all weapons. This comes as quite a shock to the company's co-owner and Tony's father figure, Obadiah Stane. However his secretary, Pepper Potts, can't believe this sudden change in Stark and stands by her boss, even helping him to change out his old chest reactor for a new one. He tells her to throw out the old one, but she decides to frame it in a case that reads, "Proof Tony Stark has a heart." During all this the government takes an interest in Stark, as Agent Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division begins to ask Tony questions about his newest ventures.

Tony builds his newest set of armor from the ground up

Tony continues to improve upon the suit of armor he created in the cave, making a smaller and more powerful model. He eventually creates the final model of the suit and heads back to Afghanistan to destroy the very weapons his company made. On his way back he is intercepted by the United States Airforce. It looks like he is going to die until he calls his friend Rhodey, a high ranking member of the Airforce and tells him he's the man in the suit. Rhodey pulls back and let's him get away, however that isn't the end of his trouble. Because meanwhile back home, Stane is attempting to recreate the reactor in Tony's chest so he can create his own line of Iron Man suits and get back into the weapon's game.

After returning home Tony is attacked by Stane, who pulls the reactor from his chest, leaving him to die. Tony is able to crawl away, back to his lab where he grabs the old reactor that Pepper framed and uses it to save his life. He suits up just in time to see that Stane has completed his own suit, the Iron Monger, and is about to kill Pepper until Tony comes in and saves the day.

The march to the Avengers film begins

Once it's all over, Tony is informed by Agent Coulson that his department, now just shortened to SHIELD, will be in touch and they want him to cover up the existence of Iron Man. They tell him to call a press conference and tell the public that Iron Man is just his personal bodyguard. However the moment Tony gets in front of the crowd he just shrugs it off and tells the truth, revealing that he is Iron Man. This isn't the end of Tony though, as after the credits roll Tony enters his home and finds a mysterious figure standing there, saying Tony has no idea what he's gotten into. The figure turns around to reveal himself to be Nick Fury, the head of SHIELD, and tells Tony he wants to talk to him about their new Avenger's Project.

Critical Reception

The movie opened up to a massive release, making over 100 million dollars in its first weekend, and much of that is thanks to the good word it got from critics. To date it still has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.