JolieSimons.com

So the folks at Paramount decided they were going to try out a little game. They already knew that Iron Man, the new film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwenyth Paltrow would be a smokin’ hot summer release. People have been talking about this movie–at least the nerds I associate with–for months if not years. So, much like other highly-anticipated big blockbuster summer action movies, they decided to host midnight airings for the nerdy boys with disposable income. And, just to spice things up a bit and get this party started off right, they decided to allow theaters to let patrons see the movie before midnight, as early as 8 PM.

Some of us nerds have jobs in the morning, you know.

The word didn’t get out as quickly as many had hoped, but the turnout was still very good for the last minute change in start time at the theater I attended. Total sausage fest. Lots of denim and chuckling at subtle comic book jokes. But here’s the real shocker: this movie was awesome! Totally unexpected.

Iron Man tells the tale of the beginning of superhero Iron Man. Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) plays the billionaire playboy role without a lot of brooding, almost like the antithesis of Christian Bale’s dark and conflicted Bruce Wayne in the contemporary Batman series. The difference is that Stark loves to talk. He’s not so much a transparent character, but he does lay everything out on the line.

The audience instantly connects with Stark’s plight. After a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan goes south, he ends up the prisoner of a terrorist sect which orders him, at gunpoint, to build a special missile using parts from the other missiles laying around, ironically purchased from his own weapons manufacturing company. Stark decides to defy orders and spends his time building a special suit instead to not only fix his ailing heart but also make him bulletproof.

John Jon Favreau does a bangup job as director. It’s almost like he decided that Iron Man was going to be the anti-superhero movie. Cheesy one-liners are almost entirely eliminated and replaced with dialogue that’s, well, actually funny. Actors are given plenty of room to breathe and the stilted dialogue of other big action flicks–like the woman constantly screaming in fear or the constant shouting of “We’re running out of time!”–is nonexistent. In some places, Favreau gives a little homage to the late Robert Altman by even letting characters talk over each other, much like we do in real life.

Iron Man succeeds where other movies have failed. Iron Man is good to the comic book nerds who want to see some authenticity to the Tony Stark/Iron Man character. Movie goers want to see a movie that’s original and not the hackneyed affair we’re used to (ahem Spiderman 3). The laughs are steady and often. Even the emotional moments are bittersweet and surprising in a flick with this much CG.

If you see only one movie this summer… oh, wait, isn’t that the quote they always put on movie posters? How about… Go see Iron Man. It’s the big summer blockbuster that WON’T kidnap or kill you.

Grade: A -