Well here I am. I’ve alluded to a project where I will review the ENTIRE MCU prior to the release of Endgame. I already did the latest release, Captain Marvel. Now I will, in order, tackle each one that came out prior to the launch of my blog.
We start all the way back in the spring of 2008. I was a young analyst at Paramount Pictures, Flo Rida’s Low was all over the airwaves, America was enthralled by the escapades of the Desperate Housewives of Wisteria Lane, a fresh face named Barack Obama revolutionized…what am I doing? This is lame.
Great time period for movies though, at least because Iron Man came out. This was the granddaddy of them all. People who are less passionate about movies and/or comic books don’t realize what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is exactly, as they might not know what’s Marvel and what’s DC, that older films such as 2003’s Daredevil aren’t part of it, and especially that some current films such as Deadpool 2 don’t belong to it.
I want my blog to have wide appeal though. So what is the MCU? Well in 2004, Marvel Films, the branch of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. (I’d explain what that is but if you don’t even know that I doubt you’d still be reading this post) that previously licensed the company’s comic book characters out to major studios, decided to start financing its own films instead. That came with complications, as some studios still had rights to characters thanks to earlier movies they made. Marvel was on a quest to make its own movies though and the characters in those movies would essentially be part of one long story. Sometimes their paths would cross briefly, sometimes they’d have big adventures together, and sometimes they’d be completely doing their own thing. Just like us with other people in our world!
I don’t think we would have had any of that if not for Iron Man’’s smashing success though. Granted, The Incredible Hulk was also about to come out, but its performance was forgettable in the grand scheme of things. The other characters’ films were just blips on the radar, not even having directors or writers assigned until much later. I feel the whole concept of movies self-financed by Marvel Studios might have gone down as a bold but brief venture if Iron Man flopped. Or even if it performed lukewarmly with critics and audiences like The Incredible Hulk did. Given we were about to enter The Great Recession, it’s hard to imagine otherwise.
That’s not at all what happened with Iron Man though! It made $585,000,000 worldwide off of just a $140,000,000 budget and that’s from theatrical revenue alone! And this was that rare blockbuster also loved by critics-it has a whopping 93% on the Tomatometer.
Does it deserve all the adulation? Heck yeah! I know I took advantage of being an employee and watched it twice at the Paramount Theater, as well as getting one of the free DVDs they were giving out in celebration of its success. As far as what’s so special about it, one aspect is the visual effects. You have a character who can perform such fantastical feats in his suit and you really feel like you’re there with him experiencing the wonder. Another is the plot-it’s simple but unique and exciting, with very high stakes. A third is the humor, which is plentiful. Director Jon Favreau (who also plays the main character’s assistant Happy) proved with Elf how well he could balance jokes with heart and visuals and he doesn’t disappoint here.
The movie’s greatest asset is its cast. Jeff Bridges, whom we can all agree is one of our greatest treasures, makes his only appearance in the MCU as the perfect villain-intelligent, charismatic, cunning, powerful. Terrence Howard also makes his only appearance, albeit for a different reason. He apparently got shoved out due to salary demands when Marvel felt the sequel would do just as well without him. They were probably right (by the time Empire debuted the Iron Man movies were done and I don’t think War Machine has a big enough role to bring in Howard’s TV fans to the more recent movies) but it’s still the film’s loss, as Howard has a chemistry with Downey that the latter lacks with Don Cheadle, who looks years older than him. Gwyneth Paltrow is someone I don’t appreciate in real life due to her pushing dangerous pseudoscience, but she absolutely nails the role of Iron Man/Tony Stark’s exasperated but patient assistant/love interest. She conveys the exact amount of warmth, strength, and wisdom he needs.
However, the entire film would have been DOA if it didn’t have the right star. To fully appreciate the casting of Robert Downey, Jr. you need to know a bit about his history. A minor star in teen-oriented movies in the 80s, he floored the world as a 27-year-old playing the titular legend in 1992’s Chaplin. For that he received a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars and, had he won, he would to this day be the youngest in history to receive that accolade. I’ve been a fan for so long because of the way he charmed me in his highly underrated but beautifully creative next movie Heart and Souls.
As he should have continued to rise up the Hollywood ranks though, Downey spiraled out of control due to the drug problem that he had battled ever since the age of eight when his dad shared a joint with him. He first got apprehended in 1996 when drugs were found in his car. Three days later, unrelated to the first incident but still very much related to drugs, he was discovered passed out in a random child’s bed. Although treating nonviolent drug offenders as criminals is now slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past in America, back then Downey struggled with trying to get clean to the point that his quadruple dose of privilege (white-male-rich-famous) couldn’t help him anymore and he went to jail in 1998. In the early 2000s, released to much fanfare, he received major film roles and a part as the title character’s love interest on the popular show Ally McBeal. However, just as Hollywood was getting warmed up celebrating its comeback kid, Downey relapsed. He lost the movie parts, most notably in America’s Sweethearts (on the bright side, anyone who sat through that film would agree it was no big loss) but the producers of Ally McBeal stood by him. That is, until he got arrested AGAIN. This time the show dropped him. His work on it had been enough to earn him an Emmy nomination, but it would have been awkward had he won, considering he would have had to accept from prison.
He was eventually released again but by then most of the industry had just stopped caring. I still did though. I was glad to see he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which helped explain his cycle of addiction. An Entertainment Weekly article on him talked about how he was still smoking cigarettes a lot but that was his only remaining vice, as he mostly just took a bunch of herbal supplements to manage his psyche. He was getting big parts in some good indie movies like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Good Night and Good Luck. He cut an album and did a signing at Tower Records on Sunset in 2004. I went to that and when I told him how happy I was to see him healthy he smiled and said “Aww.”
Big studios weren’t about to give him another chance though, until Howard, the first person cast in Iron Man, lobbied hard for Downey to get the lead role. He was the perfect choice to play a brilliant, wealthy, aging playboy who gains the ability to harness superpowers. Downey had to play the role for only $500,000, practically scale for such a large part, but the valuable thing was the opportunity. When my department at Paramount took part in a screening of Iron Man just for our division, during the pizza and beer party beforehand I raised a can to Robert Downey, Jr. overcoming his demons and utilizing his amazing gifts.
During Downey’s darkest time IMDB once made Chaplin its “Movie of the Day” and essentially said “Chaplin overcame his demons to carve out a brilliant career. Downey has thus far been unable to do that but this movie showcases his talent on full display.” By the time he got cast as Iron Man Downey had proven he could stay sober for long stretches at a time but if he was ever going to become the major star his talent warranted this was his last chance.
The then-43-year-old knocked it out of the park though!!!!! Tony’s hedonism would not have been amusing or endearing if not for Downey’s limitless charisma. When Tony’s harrowing experience in the Middle East convinces him to turn over a new leaf, Downey’s immense acting ability captures the gravitas of the situation. As Mr. Stark becomes a crime-fighter, the energy Downey brings to the part keeps us thoroughly engaged throughout all the zaniness of the plot. Utterly fantastic performance in an utterly fantastic film.
Later the same year Downey, again thanks to my then-employer, appeared in Tropic Thunder. Although the movie’s most famous scene is Tom Cruise in a fat suit dancing to Low, (I can’t believe I just brought up that song twice!), Downey stole the show as a white Method actor playing a black character in a movie-within-the-movie and received his second Oscar nomination. Since then he’s remained the anchor of the MCU and although Iron Man will likely be one of the heroes put to pasture in Avengers: Endgame (I say that because he’s already had three of his own movies, the last one was six years ago, and Downey’s gotten to play his part years longer than anyone else has) during the past 11 years Downey has also gotten to star in the popular Sherlock Holmes films. At this point he’s just one solid franchise and/or one strong dramatic role away from earning the title of legend and receiving an honorary (maybe even competitive) Academy Award at some point.
And if that never happens Downey currently has 300,000,000 reasons to be happy anyway. That’s what happens when you perform so well in a blockbuster that you get to command a share of the profits for the sequels!
Well done, kind sir. And well done everyone associated with this movie!
Last thing: with all the incredible talent in the MCU, I thought it would be a fun game to make note of all the Oscar winners/nominees in each film. Iron Man has two winners (Bridges, Paltrow) and two nominees (Downey, Howard, briefly Samuel L. Jackson).
Up next: Let’s get it out of the way.
Bottom line: You can’t be a Marvel fan and NOT love this!
%
Recent Comments