So, let's rewind 10 years ago. If this movie were a failure, we would have not many superhero movies at all. Heck, the MCU would not be in existence. No Avengers, No Thor: Ragnarok, No Guardians of the Galaxy, No Black Panther. The pre-production is an interesting build-up to the movie. Jon Favreau was hired to direct the movie and was so excited by going on a diet. The casting process was even more interesting as a big star was not required to be set in the world of Iron Man because his stardom would interfere from the experience of a superhero origin story that sets up the MCU franchise. And, Robert Downey Jr. entered into the picture.
Marvel was opposed to the casting because of Downey Jr.'s past but Favreau did not care and fought for his casting choice as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Favreau thought that Downey Jr.'s personal life paralleled Tony Stark's life and in a way, he is correct. And, then, from there on in, people get casted and production starts on the effects and the story. In comparison to the other superhero movies in the MCU, this is one of the more simpler movies in terms of plot but complex in terms of character. We have a came a long way in terms of Tony Stark as a character as he is more of a billionaire playboy in this movie than now as a billionaire genius but leader of the Avengers. Still, after watching this movie recently, this movie still holds up as a great superhero origin movie.
Genius, billionaire and playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) receives an award from Las Vegas but is not there as he is playing craps. After a fling with a journalist, Tony goes to Afghanistan with Colonel Rhodes (Terrence Howard) for a weapons demonstration and presentation calling itself "The Jericho". After the demonstration, the convoy is ambushed and Stark is wounded from one of his own company's rocket-propelled grenades. Stark is captured and imprisoned in a cave by a terrorist group called The Ten Rings. Yinsen (Shaun Toub), another prisoner who is a doctor, implants an electromagnet to keep the shrapnel pieces reaching from his heart and killing him. Raza (Faran Tahir), the leader, makes an offer that Stark should make the same weapon of the Jericho in exchange for his freedom. But, both Stark and Yinsen knows that Raza will not promise that.
As both Stark and Yinsen know what may happen, they pretend to make the weapon and secretly build an arc reactor to power Stark's electromagnet and a suit of armor to make his escape. Almost completing his suit, the Ten Rings are aware of his hostages' intentions and attack the workshop. Yinsen sacrifices himself to divert Stark's escape and after destroying the Ten Rings' supplies and weapons, he flies away out to the desert and is rescued by Rhodes.
Rhodes and Stark return home to California as Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), his assistant, is ecstatic to see him back. Also, Stark's second-in-command, company's manager, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is happy to see him again but is concerned after Stark announces that the company will not manufacture weapons any longer. Stane thinks that the decision might ruin Stark Industries and his father's legacy. To keep himself lying low from the media, he builds a more powerful version of his improvised suit from his captivity and tests on the behalf of himself and the greater good. Even though, Stane requests to look at the arc reactor and stuff he is been working, Stark does not present it because he is suspicious of the company.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
This is a simple movie that does not require as much visual effects until the later third of the movie where it is an obvious hero vs villain type of battle that is also a corporate battle to decide who will take over the company. The trajectory for Tony Stark as a character is rather fascinating because you might think that Favreau and the writers would simply put him in his state of a person not caring about himself as much he does not care about others as much. As you can see in the solid intro below, after giving the presentation below, he is a genius but a playboy at best who seems to get the soldiers to be fond of him but then everything changed regarding the ambush.
What we see is a transition from self-absorbed arrogance and rudeness, like keeping Rhodes waiting for many hours on the tarmac, keeping Rhodes and Stane hanging while not accepting an award in Las Vegas, and being flashy with a journalist, to caring and now clear as to now seeing the picture of how his weapons are harmful, killing many people in different nations. He did not want to be represented as a "mass murderer" as his captors labeled Stark when he was ironically kidnapped. He did not see from another complex angle because he is mostly continuing his father's legacy instead of not knowing what is doing to the innocent people after his customers are using for the worst.
Well, both of those clips made me hungry. Anyway, the situation is turned around as he discovers how the Ten Rings, the terrorists grasped weapons. The weapons were approved without him knowing as Stane is now arms trafficking with the Ten Rings, who have attacked Yinsen's village, Gulmira. Would he care before he became captured? Maybe not as much as the old Tony Stark would be focused on profits. But, again, in parallel to the character development, he is more caring about how his business can do for good as he is watching broadcast of Gulmira being attacked using his weapons.
As you can see from the clip above, Stane is pissed because again, it was his clients behind Stark's back so he can have leadership of the company. It brings me to good vs bad in terms of leadership, both general and corporate. In the corporate side, Stane does not care whether lives will be lost as he sees money in his radar and in his mind to sustain business and label Stark Industries still as a weapons manufacturer company. It is corporate evil as trafficking is involved to maybe incite a war between not just other nations but also him and Stark as businessmen. However, good leadership is where Stark makes some great decisions after glancing at what his weapons are doing to innocent people. He starts not "wasting his life" according to his late friend, Yinsen, because he sees what is right and always looks to the next mission and nothing else to make his company and the world a better place.
It is Stark's persistence of making the world a better place that what makes his life going and starting the "Avengers Initiative" with the help of Agent Coulson and Nick Fury of SHIELD. As he also starts helping pick up other heroes to set up "The Avengers", he still a bit of a playboy in his soul but becomes more helpful in studying up astrophysics and other engineering factors that helps him and his team defeat Loki and the Chitauri. He cares more and now as he has been evolving for ten years, he is sort of a father figure to Peter Parker.
Robert Downey Jr. fits Iron Man like a glove as his personality of arrogance and charm is what captures Tony Stark on-screen. But, it is his intelligence underneath that makes him so confident into what he delivers and what he is selling. I mean, Stark is drinking and partying with Rhodes on a plane trip to Afghanistan then becomes ready in delivering his presentation regarding the Jericho. He is the only person who can capture Stark/Iron Man in my mind. I knew that Terrence Howard and Jon Favreau did not get along during filming but Howard captures the professionalism of a soldier and friendly attitude with Stark quite well as he evokes some soft charisma that makes us want him to join forces with Stark as another fellow Iron Man, "Next time, baby."
I think Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane is an underrated villain as it is not his fault that some people criticize the climactic sequence as being noisy and heavy effects-filled. (hey, see the DCEU movies and get back to me). But, his performance is chilling as represents corporate greed interfering that greater good that makes himself, the company and maybe Stark terrible images of the weapons manufacturing business. It is what makes him a great villain. It is sort of the weapons version of Gordon Gekko.
Director Jon Favreau opened this universe along with Jess Whedon but it is Favreau's direction that set up the universe that makes it more inventive and not as dark. It is perfectly balanced with intelligence and humor with some darkness on the side as we see what the terrorists do to the innocent people with Stark's weapons. Imagine if this movie was awful. Well, people and children would not worship the cast or movie superheroes on-screen and dress up as them. You can say it is a marketing ploy but it is inspiration to potentially become engineers like Tony Stark. But, also, we would not have as big of a fandom base as we have today. This and The Dark Knight, a movie that I hope can talk about one day, really kicked this superhero genre up a notch back 10 years ago and the genre is still chugging along.
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