I Am Iron Man

It's been a long time in the making (or has it?) and it's finally upon us: Iron Man, the movie. Now this could all be fabrication, but I swear this movie was announced back in 2002 and has switched hands so many times in terms of direction and star power, that we all blew it off as something that's just not going to happen, and really, why would we want it to happen?

I recall because I traded this movies stocks on the Hollywood Stock Exchange, a fun little site that allowed you to trade fictitious shares of movie stars and movies. When a movie was announced, you could grab the IPO and sell it a few days later. I was eager to pick up as many super hero movies as was available, which were quite plentiful in those days.

The big news and the motivation to get excited about this movie was that it's Marvel's first true film, in that they are the sole studio behind it's development. They've partnered with Paramount for distribution, but as Nathan puts it: this is Marvel without any outside interference. And they did not go wrong.

I could spend some time talking about the movie and how good it was, but the bottom line is you just need to go out and see it. I very much appreciate how they've catered to both comic book fans and everybody else. Indeed, I kind of felt like I was in the latter grouping as I know practically nothing about Iron Man, as he and his kind (re: The Avengers) were part of that other corner of the Marvel universe I never bothered with. So you're not going to feel lost, and I'm sure they threw in enough to satisfy the craving of the average comic book geek. The only negative of this movie that could have made me much angrier if the movie itself was no good, was the showing. Galaxy just can't handle it: the movie was out of focus and noticeably so throughout. It became distracting in numerous scenes but was bearable, considering the content. I'm excited to either see it again (and hope it's in focus) or view it at home in high definition later this year, in sharp glory.

So why could I not get excited about this movie before it's release? X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil. These were all movies, among others, that I felt a genuine excitement for from the time of ticket purchase to leaving the theatre after viewing. Not so much with Iron Man. And really, there's no reason for it because it stands among the best comic book movies out there.

Perhaps it's because we've been burned so many times with these movies you can't trust the pre-release hype. Perhaps I'm just getting older, or there are more exciting things going on in life now. In any event, it was a good feeling (not an excited feeling) of purchasing the tickets days in advance for a preview screening (just a night before release, really) and then showing up entirely way too early to stand in line with nobody else there. And that's what it's all about: the movie experience.