Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Iron Man’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​There's something magical that happens when you see something from your childhood completely come to life, especially on the big screen. In fact, few things bring us nerds and geeks more joy than knowing that filmmakers got it just right by making sure all those perfect moments that kept that comic firmly in our hands as the story sucked us in have finally reached the silver screen.  

It's something that Marvel has managed to accomplish over the past ten years with little to no effort, to the point where they’ve flat out set the standard when it comes to superhero themed motion pictures, and while it brings me infinite joy to see incredible characters come to life on film, nothing beats the first time Marvel got it completely right back in 2008, when Iron Man hit the scene.

Tony Stark has it all. His company, Stark Industries, makes only the finest weapons technology and their innovations have made Tony an extremely rich man. But a trip to Afghanistan turns Tony's world upside down when militants injure him and capture him, demanding he build them his latest super weapon. With nothing to lose, Tony builds a super suit that not only allows him to escape, but essentially changes his life, transforming him into a new kind of superhero, Iron Man.  

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So, the first thing that got me completely and utterly excited for this film was the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and the hype over his casting was well deserved. In fact, his performance is what truly brings this film to life. Robert simply plays the part so well, sure his Tony Stark can be a jerk sometimes, but it is never done in an over the top way that loses the audience because by the time he dons the armor to escape, we're rooting for him to get free.

Not to mention, one cannot forget that this is the Marvel movie that set up so much more for all us. This is the movie that introduced us to Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D., it featured the first epic end credits sequence, one that featured a surprise cameo from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and really all of this was just a dream come true. Plus, it left us wanting more when it came to the Marvel universe and we all know now how well they delivered on that since…

But most importantly, this motion picture along with The Dark Knight (yes, I mentioned a DC movie in a Marvel review) are both responsible for the wonderful and incredible golden era of comic book movies we are all enjoying thanks to characters we could finally relate to and stories that had a feeling of the real world to it. Check it out if you haven't and if you don't own it, buy it, because this is a movie that should be celebrated as often as possible and is always worth another look.  

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