Ironman
Last night we went and saw Marvel's latest comic come movie offering: Ironman. Straight up I think this film is a "boy film" and a male fantasy. Tony Stark has money, power, women throwing themselves at his feet and of course the best toys. I'd go so far as to say that this is a particular Western boy's fantasy of 'mastery.'
The fun stuff in this film is where Tony Stark is working out the kinks in his suit of armor.
You could of course look for more in this film using say Jung's analysis of embracing (or at least managing) one's shadow and in this case, like Batman, quite literally 'wearing' one's shadow as armor. Indeed as Tony Stark faces his death and suffers a mortal wound, his world will never be the same again, so he converts this to a veritable 'Red Knight' as Ironman and goes out to do battle wearing his shadow. 'Meh,' I hear you say.
Or you could look at Ironman as a critique of the Western world's sale of arms to The Third World and American Imperialism. But at the end of the day this relationship too becomes a Western fantasy of being able to go into a foreign (non-Western) country and 'fix' the problem and work out who are the baddies and who are the innocent civilians. Indeed the computer system in Ironman's suit even works this out for him in one scene!
Or even look at Ironman as the height of Western individualism and kind of the building of a fascist superman. As basically a prerequisite to be a superhero is to be a rich white able-bodied American male. (Alan Moore's Watchmen is probably one of the few examples in comics that deliberately breaks this with the character of Rorschach, even though his buddy Niteowl is still a rich white guy.) Again this is perhaps presenting the film for more than what it is.
But Ironman is essentially a film where Robert Downey Jnr is funny in perhaps what would be a somewhat tedious superhero flick, where men dressed in giant suits of armor clash as knights or gods. It had enough explosions, but I'm not sure this film has enough in it to appeal to a much wider audience, by which I think essentially I mean women. Not a lot for women in this film, but with Hollywood's essential movie going audience being fifteen year old white males, this film is sure to do okay. However, for me I'm giving it 2 1/2 flapping capes out of 5 capes.
The fun stuff in this film is where Tony Stark is working out the kinks in his suit of armor.
You could of course look for more in this film using say Jung's analysis of embracing (or at least managing) one's shadow and in this case, like Batman, quite literally 'wearing' one's shadow as armor. Indeed as Tony Stark faces his death and suffers a mortal wound, his world will never be the same again, so he converts this to a veritable 'Red Knight' as Ironman and goes out to do battle wearing his shadow. 'Meh,' I hear you say.
Or you could look at Ironman as a critique of the Western world's sale of arms to The Third World and American Imperialism. But at the end of the day this relationship too becomes a Western fantasy of being able to go into a foreign (non-Western) country and 'fix' the problem and work out who are the baddies and who are the innocent civilians. Indeed the computer system in Ironman's suit even works this out for him in one scene!
Or even look at Ironman as the height of Western individualism and kind of the building of a fascist superman. As basically a prerequisite to be a superhero is to be a rich white able-bodied American male. (Alan Moore's Watchmen is probably one of the few examples in comics that deliberately breaks this with the character of Rorschach, even though his buddy Niteowl is still a rich white guy.) Again this is perhaps presenting the film for more than what it is.
But Ironman is essentially a film where Robert Downey Jnr is funny in perhaps what would be a somewhat tedious superhero flick, where men dressed in giant suits of armor clash as knights or gods. It had enough explosions, but I'm not sure this film has enough in it to appeal to a much wider audience, by which I think essentially I mean women. Not a lot for women in this film, but with Hollywood's essential movie going audience being fifteen year old white males, this film is sure to do okay. However, for me I'm giving it 2 1/2 flapping capes out of 5 capes.
3 comments:
A friend reckoned that one real problem with the film were the action sequences. I don't know, they were not terrible, but certainly not the best either. Although considering the film is dealing with a walking CGI tin man...
Also after talking with two women last night apparently Ironman does have something for women and that is Robert Downey Jnr. One said "He has nice arms." So I stand corrected.
Good review. Makes me want to check it out, but be aware of potential shortcomings. I loved Iron Man when the cartoons were on TV in the 60s. I've enjoyed the Marvel cinema versions (X-Men; Spiderman; Fantastic 4; The Hulk) because they've managed to update while still remaining true to the original idea. There've also been plenty of in-jokes for those with more than a passing familiarity. I think the Tim Burton Batman series has failed on the above score. Downey impressed me in Chaplin & Short Cuts.
Hi there Ladlitter,
thanks for dropping by.
I think Ironman stays reasonably true to the comic books. A few minor changes though with the superhero origins bit.
Also make sure you stick around for the credits to end. I missed out on something at the very end...
In terms of in-jokes for the fans I particularly liked in X-men 1 when Wolverine is wearing the black leather X-men jump suit turns to Cyclops and says 'You people don't actually go out in public wearing this getup?!' And Cyclops drolly replies 'What did you expect? Yellow spandex?' Cyclops was of course the worst offender in terms of yellow spandex underwear worn on the outside of his pants.
Anyway, I reckon Ironman is definitely worth a watch, but I think my expectations were a little higher than they should have been.
Cheers,
Ed
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