Iron Man

by Alex

Iron Man is about America’s love affair with guns. It exults in the way that weapons and technology magnify power and amplify the ability to make the world safe, even as it shows how terrifying it can be to be target or victim of violence. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, and because this is a post-9/11 movie, the line between Good and Evil is drawn ever more clearly, even as it cuts across familiar Cold War dichotomies. The conflict is not between good Americans and bad Foreigners, it is between the good Americans and foreigners versus the bad Americans and foreigners. Its a transecting of the usual alliances that makes the black and white morality of the movie more palatable.

Unlike a lot of superhero flicks, Iron Man really does bear comparison with Singer’s X-Men movies because both put the underlying themes of their source material in charge and harness the CGI and eye candy to them, rather than the other way around. The difference betwen Iron Man and X-Men, however, is that the underlying themes of X-Men are alienation and misunderstood powere, whereas the underlying theme of Iron Man is kicking ass and taking names.

But, like the obsession with guns, Tony Stark’s Hefneresque life style and gadgets could easily be part of a vapid cars-and-chicks summer block buster. And, of course, all of that is on display in the movie. But we also see a driven, obsessive genius — half Faust and half Edison (which mean, basically three quarters Faust) who, like all good Romantic Artists, externalizes his inner self in a work of art which (unlike the typical Romantic Artist) he then climbs back inside and uses to kick ass and take names. He is (for the first time since Revenge Of The Nerds?) a male role model who is both virile _and_ good at math and sciences. Although of course in an engineering, “working with my power tools in the garage” sort of way. It a combination that could fit together awkwardly, but which does manage to hang together mostly (I suspect) because of Robert Downey Junior. No one could redeem the keystone cops antics with the robots, but at least Robert Downey Jr. keeps them from being too embarassing. Equally, Gwyneth Paltrow (and some deft maneuvering by the screenplay) keeps Pepper Potts from being merely a doormat. And although Terrence Howard never quite gets the room he needs to become Tony’s moral compass, he does manage to become more than just the mandatory ‘Of Color’ member of the Scooby Gang.

Although its enages with the ambiguities of American power abroad and the military-industrial complex, it never ultimately escapes the idea that there are, in the end, good guys and bad guys. This is not the Marvel franchise with Film School ambitions to probe moral ambiguity. Iron Man is just as subtle as it has to be in order for you to enjoy the explosions — and Robder Downey Jr’s twitchy, charismatic delivery — with a clear consciensce.