LogFAQs > #966959728

So the girlfriend and I are going to re-watch all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies since she's never seen them all and I'm super into all of them. I thought it would be cool to do a little discussion and insight on these movies with the benefit of hindsight on all of them.

We'll probably end up watching all the Disney+ MCU shows too, but we'll see if I can convince her to watch the Netflix shows (is it called Marvel Knights now?). But there is no way in hell I'm watching all of Agents of SHIELD, and Agent Carter is a tall ask too. Don't expect this to be tremendously consistent either. We'll watch when we feel like it, mostly. We've watched the first four already, so I'll catch up with write-ups eventually.

Feel free to discuss this and other MCU stuff as well. Remember the older movies and give your thoughts. I've been enjoying going back to watch these again with the benefit of hindsight.

Iron Man
Release Date: May 2, 2008
Stand-Out Character: Iron Man/Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.)
Best Scene: Iron Man stops the Ten Rings kidnapping

So this is where it all begins. This is a tremendous start to the whole MCU and it's very clear they wanted to go out of their way with something that's really quality, far more than the usual shit we get out of superhero movies at the time. And with an all-star actor in Robert Downey Jr. no less, who delivers the perfect performance here and really makes this entire film work. He goes from dramatic, to funny, to everything in between. It all just really works out.

The gist of this movie is that Tony Stark is a weapons arms dealer who gets kidnapped and forced to make a missile for the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings. He is dying but only able to survive due to the power source in his chest keeping shrapnel from killing him. He makes a power armor to fight back and escape captivity and decides to turn his life around to make his company better and help people after seeing the violence that his weapons have caused. However, when he does so, he's still discovering that the weapons are being sold to theise terrorist organizations and goes to put a stop to them. It turns out that his father's old friend and interim CEO of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, was behind all of it and had an armor made like Tony's original one to sell to the highest bidders. Tony Stark puts a stop to Obadiah with the Iron Man armor and he ends up declaring that he's Iron Man, creating the MCU's first superhero.

What stands out more than Tony Stark is how well they build this world. It feels authentic in a way, with Stark Industries and the players in Tony's life. Pepper is there to try supporting him however she can. Rhodey is there played by <REDACTED> who is doing his best to protect Tony as his best friend.

And then there's Obadiah Stane: the guy who is trying to pull the strings behind Stark Industries. Jeff Bridges is awesome in this role and I'm legitimately upset we're unlikely to see him reprise this role. Obadiah is equal parts your dad's best friend who acts like he knows better, and then also being a complete menace. He's a ruthless businessman first and a villain second, and the first part is what makes him so scary. When it's revealed he's behind everything Obadiah is a monster to witness. "Tony Stark built this in a cave. WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!" That line still lives in my head because of how well it's performed. The scariest part is that in an organization dealing with the most expensive and deadly weapons in the world, the giant manchild running it is so checked out that he doesn't even realize that there's a guy operating everything to do shady deals to the bad guys to make more money for himself. Obadiah is just tremendous in this film, and if Robert Downey Jr. didn't absolutely kill it, he would easily be the standout of the movie.

On top of that, the action is fun. It's done exceptionally well and every action scene works well. From the opening where Tony is kidnapped, to Tony's escape, his attacks on the Ten Rings and finally his fight with Iron Monger, the action simply works really well. It feels like real throw downs with these heavy machines.

But it's really a character piece for Tony Stark in the end, and it does that well. It gives us a character worth caring about that we see slowly evolve. It's not about stopping a giant terrible plot. It's about a selfish man learning to do what's right and changing to be a better person using the talent he's been given, and the whole story serves to see him slowly evolve. The scenes where he's working on his armor works as well are just fun, mostly because Tony Stark is fun. We love this guy, and it was exactly what they needed to do in order to get us interested in further movies.