The year’s first blockbuster is here! Jon Favreau’s Iron Man grossed $98,618,668 in 4105 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office and making it the tenth-biggest movie opening of all time. Audiences were hungry for something decent and the release of the year’s first “big” movie was certainly met with gobs of enthusiasm and anticipation. In development since 1990, Iron Man certainly took the long road to its eventual release from Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures. So was it worth the wait?

Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who has built his fortune on the building of military arms. After an abduction and an apparent crisis of conscience during a tour of Afghanistan, Stark is shocked to find out that his weapons have made their way into the hands of the “bad guys.” This crisis of conscience marks both the central plot component of the film and its most troubling aspects. It doesn’t appear to be a problem that the weapons of mass destruction are used necessarily. Instead, the biggest issue appears to be who is using the WMDs from Stark’s company.

While in captivity, Stark constructs a suit of power armour and kicks some ass. He is eventually rescued in the desert and arrives back at work with a newfound appreciation for the sanctity of life (American life, mostly). Pissed that terrorists are using his weapons, Stark does what anyone would do in his situation and builds a bigger, better weapon to get back at them and continue the cycle of violence. He constructs another suit of power armour and adds some fun gadgets to it.

Stark also mentions that his company will no longer deal in weapons, something that infuriates his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Stane continues to try to work with Stark to save the company, but Tony has a mind of his own now and he begins putting his riches and technology to other uses (namely building a secret suit in his basement). Eventually, Stark begins to use the suit and saves a village in Afghanistan from terrorists. All hell breaks loose when the truth about Obadiah is learned and Stark must make yet another moral choice.

The original comic book character of Tony Stark was based around Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire with lots of money and time to spare. Downey Jr. captures this character type extremely well and is ultimately entertaining as his attitude and charm take the lead. The scenes with him and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) are among the finest in the film, at least in terms of dialogue and actual acting. Other scenes are a bit tougher on Downey Jr., especially the visuals of him working within the suit. Luckily, his trademark cadence helps things along and it’s clear that his thoughts move faster than his mouth.

Part of the fun of Iron Man is in getting caught up in the flashy gadgetry of Tony Stark and his wonderful machines. Of course, that’s also part of the film’s downfall. To venture back to the moral question at the centerpiece of the movie, it’s clear that one of the key iconic messages in the film is based around the notion of America’s technical superiority. Case in point: Stark is able to handily destroy terrorists with explosives coming out of his arms, fly halfway around the world to do so, and makes it back in time for an elbow-rub session with starlets on some sort of E!-sponsored shindig. This is a clear indication of Stark’s general attitude, but it doesn’t play well after his crisis of conscience. If it’s brown, it goes down.

Sure, you could chalk that critique up to just another liberal whining about propaganda in the media and in blockbuster movies. But it is slightly distracting and bothersome to have a film experience demonstrate how Americans view themselves in light of the darkness of the rest of the world. In that respect, the suit looks a little like a big swinging shiny phallus. The insight here is taken as a shining light on American culture, by and large, as the explosions by the good guys will always be more passable than those from the evildoers.

Messy moral agenda aside, Iron Man was just about as average as possible. The CGI was just okay and nothing about the film was particularly dazzling, save for Downey Jr., Paltrow, and Hurt. This is certainly not up to par with the brilliant Batman Begins or the Spider-Man franchise, but it does offer a nice introduction to the inevitable summer blockbuster season. Thankfully, Indy’s back and The Dark Knight isn’t too far away. Iron Man is, sadly, a mediocre effort with bland direction (face it, those action sequences are pretty tepid) and fuzzy morality at its core.

Do stayed tuned after the end credits, though. There’s kind of a neat scene there that opens the doors good and wide for a sequel.

4.9/10

Trailer: