Survival of the Fittest

Iron Man Soars, Expelled Suffers Unintelligent Design

(May 8, 2008) Opening

REDBELT. Jiu-jitsu master breaks his avoidance of prize fighting and steps into the ring when he must overcome a financial crisis. Rated R. 99 m. At the Broadway.

GALLERY >

SPEED RACER. Full-length live action film adaptation of classic Japanese anime series. Rated PG. 135 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Fortuna.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS. Rated PG-13. 99 m. Two strangers wake up married after a night of debauchery in Sin City; comic chaos ensues. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, the Minor and Fortuna.

Reviews

IRON MAN. The recent track record of adaptations of Marvel superhero comics into feature films is a very mixed bag, from the good (the first Spidermanmovie) to the atrocious (the last Fantastic Fourfilm). Despite the obvious visual parallels of comics and movies, on film, the superhero genre risks seeming like an overwrought adolescent power fantasy — and the worst of them are just that. Superhero films also skirt the danger of being unintentionally absurd and silly (all that bright skintight spandex doesn’t help).

Iron Man proves that the term “comic book movie” needn’t be an epithet though. In fact, it’s probably the best such film to come along in a while, mainly because it’s so light on it’s feet.

Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark, playboy arms designer who lives the high life (a Malibu mansion, a private jet equipped with a stripper pole). On a trip to try out a new weapon in Afghanistan, he’s captured by a group of warlords who are using his weapons against innocent civilians. With the help of a fellow captive scientist, he cobbles together an armored suit and escapes. Chastened by the knowledge that his weapons have fallen in the wrong hands, on his return to America he announces that he’s suspending weapons production, a decision that doesn’t sit well with his mentor Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), who is more sinister than he seems. Stark begins to construct an even more complex metal suit, which he uses to fight against evil.

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