Waukster Online

Paramount Pictures and Marvel did an incredible job in drumming up hype and noise for Iron Man the movie. Suffice to say, theatres here in the Philippines were really packed when the movie finally opened last April 30, 2008. We initially tried to watch it at Power Plant but the lines were so long that it resembled the long lines we see for Level Up Live. We decided to go to Podium instead and it was a really good decision since there weren’t really too many people and the theatre was very spacious and it had a kick ass sound system. Please be warned that this post is a movie review and it will contain spoilers. I suggest you watch it first before reading this.

TONY STARK: MERCHANT OF DEATH?
Tony Stark’s company, Stark Industries, is the primary supplier of weapons to the US government. He’s really living the life on the fast lane complete with all the girls, drinks, and billions of dollars. The initial Tony Stark is really portrayed as immature and irresponsible. There’s even one part there when a soldier asks if he really did sleep with all the models of Maxim calendar and Tony Stark replies by saying that he missed Ms. March but he made up for it in December because the feature had twins (LOL).

This Tony Stark eventually changes - and it starts when during a weapon testing session, he’s attacked by a terrorist group and kidnapped.

THE TEN RINGS - MANDARIN’S SHADOW
The terrorist group is called the Ten Rings, and any Marvel fan knows that this is connected to Iron Man’s arch nemesis - the Mandarin. Hopefully this will be a plot that they will take for future sequels of Iron Man. They kidnap Tony Stark and force him to make them the Jericho missile. When Tony Stark wakes up, he realizes that his heart is connected to a car battery and without it he would die. In the attack, bits of shrapnel from the weapons he himself created pierced his chest and the magnetic device on his chest was the only thing keeping the shrapnel from reaching his heart.

However, Tony Stark has other plans and with the help of his fellow captive scientist, makes a suit of armor equipped with metal armor, guns, missiles, flame throwers, and rocket boosters. The scientist sacrifices himself to make sure Tony Stark has enough time to power up the suit. It’s here that we see the first change of character for Tony Stark. Once he gets out he sees that the weapons he’s making are the same weapons that are killing innocent people all over the world. He escapes his prison and blows up all the weapons he could find.

THE HERO IS BUILT
Upon his return to Amercia, Tony Stark shuts down the weapons division of his company which causes the stock points of his company to fall. His long time friend and partner, Obadiah Stane, tells him to lay low while he tries to fix everything to save the company. It’s here that Tony Stark begins working on the advanced version of the mobile suit he made while in captivity. It’s at this point that Iron Man is finally born. Little does Tony Stark know that the man he entrusted his company with, Obidiah, has betrayed him and is in fact the one who is selling weapons made by Stark industries to terrorist groups like the Ten Rings. The story now shifts focus on these two men.

IRON MAN vs IRON MONGER
Tony Stark’s assistant - Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), eventually discovers that it was Obidiah who paid the terrorists to kill Tony Stark. She also uncovers that Obidiah is also building a suit of armor similar to what Tony Stark has. Obidiah wants to mass produce the armor suits and sell them to the hight bidder. She reports to an agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. (woohoo!) and they track down Obidiah to arrest him. Cornered and trapped, Obidiah wears the armor and starts blowing everything up. Just before he’s able to kill Pepper, Iron Man makes his entrance and the final fight of the movie begins.

I won’t go into details on what happened in the fight but it’s pretty obvious that Iron Man won. :)

S.H.I.E.L.D. & the Avenger’s Initative
If you stayed until the end of the movie and the credits there’s one more scene with Tony Stark meeting the legendary S.H.I.E.L.D. commander. Nick Fury says one line that will really jolt you out of your seat. “I’m here to talk about the Avengers initiative.”

OVERALL RATING
Over-all, I’d give the movie an 8/10. There were some dragging scenes but this movie really laid out the foundation for the Iron Man franchise for the next 5 years. They had so many references to potential sequels that it really gets you excited on when the next Iron Movie will come. Here are the potential sequels: Mandarin, War Machine, and even the Avengers! The soundtrack was also fantastic and Robert Downey Jr’s acting was simply superb. I’m really looking forward to seeing more Iron Man movies in the future. If you ask me, this movie is right up there with Spiderman.

INCREDIBLE HULK versus IRON MAN?
The next Marvel movie will be the Incredible Hulk. It looks like we will see Tony Stark again there hinting at a Hulk-Iron Man movie in the future.