Cut To The Chase: Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic.

In theaters now, Iron Man is the long-awaited film based on the Marvel comic book superhero. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a rich, boyish genius whose company builds sophisticated weapons for the military. But after he’s kidnapped by terrorists using his own company’s weapons, he decides he can no longer be a part of building tools of destruction. While held captive he builds his first version of the Iron Man suit which he uses to escape. Once home he declares that his company will no longer be making weapons, which doesn’t sit well with his partner Obidiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Tony starts to perfect his Iron Man suit in order to go out and stop the terrorists who have been using his company’s weapons. And of course eventually he and Stane have to come to a final showdown.

Robert Downey Jr. may have seemed like an odd choice for Tony Stark at first, but we could even tell in the movie trailers for this film that he was going to give it all he had and make this character work. And he sure does deliver. This is a great actor that had gone through some troubled times, not unlike the character of Tony Stark. One of the challenges of this role was to show the transformation of Tony Stark from bored playboy to a hero and from a jerk to someone likable. Downey did it brilliantly and really showed what he could do here as he effortlessly rattled off witty one-liners, channeled Errol Flynn and Howard Hughes, and created a character so completely that you cannot imagine anyone else in that role once you’ve seen the film. He made the movie fun. Unlike the tortured Batman and Superman, this movie’s Iron Man is having a really good time. Continue reading →

Entertainment Weekly has published an article which covers the apparent dispute between Edward Norton and his director Louis Leterrier with Marvel over the length and direction of the movie. Marvel wants a 120 minute action-packed hit, and Norton and Leterrier want a 135 minute thoughtful epic. Marvel won and stories of the dispute leaked.

Here’s Norton’s official statement (in part) :

“Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking.

Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen.

It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves… our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.”

Read the full story here