Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his personal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard plays military liaison James Rhodes and Jeff Bridges plays Stark Industries executive Obadiah Stane.
The film was in development since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema, before Marvel Studios reacquired the rights in 2006. Marvel put the project in production as its first self-financed film. Favreau signed on as director, aiming for a naturalistic feel, and he chose to shoot the film primarily in California, rejecting the East Coast setting of the comics to differentiate the film from numerous superhero films set in New York City-esque environments. During filming, the actors were free to create their own dialogue because pre-production was focused on the story and action. Rubber and metal versions of the armors, created by Stan Winston's company, were mixed with computer-generated imagery to create the title character. Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures, the distributor, planned a $50 million marketing campaign for the film, which was modeled on Paramount's successful promotion of Transformers ; Hasbro and Sega sold merchandise, and product placement deals were made with Audi, Burger King, LG and 7-Eleven. Reviews were very positive, particularly praising Downey's performance. Downey, Favreau and Paltrow will return in the sequel Iron Man 2 , scheduled for release on May 7, 2010. Downey also made a cameo appearance as Stark in The Incredible Hulk . The MPAA has given this film a PG-13 rating for Some Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Action and Violence, and Brief Suggestive Content.
Plot
Tony Stark is the head of Stark Industries, a major military contracting company which he inherited when his parents died in a traffic accident. Tony himself is an engineering genius, having earned multiple degrees and awards for his company's advanced technological products, many of which he has invented. However, Stark is also a heavy-drinking, womanizing playboy. Stark is awarded a prestigious award but Obadiah Stane, his deceased father's friend and business partner, accepts the award for him since Tony is gambling at a Las Vegas casino. As Stark leaves the casino with his entourage, he is approached by reporter Christine Everhart, whom he charms into a one-night stand at his Malibu house. When she awakens the next morning, Stark is gone, and she is coldly greeted and ushered out of the house by Pepper Potts, his personal assistant.
Stark flies off to war-torn Afghanistan with his friend and company military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, for a demonstration of Stark Industries' new weapon, the "Jericho" cluster missile. On the way back, however, his military convoy is attacked. His escort is wiped out and Stark is critically wounded by one of his own company's bombs.
Waking up in an Afghan cave, he discovers he has been captured by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. He also finds an electromagnet embedded in his chest, placed there by fellow captive Dr. Yinsen. Powered by a car battery, it keeps shrapnel from working its way to his heart and killing him. The Ten Rings leader, Raza, orders Stark to build a "Jericho" missile for him, and upon its completion Stark will be freed.
Instead, during his three months of captivity, he and Yinsen begin secretly building a crude suit of armor, powered by a miniature "arc reactor" which also acts as the replacement for the car-battery powering the electromagnet in his chest. Suspicious of Stark's designs, the terrorists grow impatient and give Stark 24 hours to finish. At the end of that 24-hour period the terrorists come to collect Stark's missile before the suit is fully activated, so Yinsen makes a suicidal attack in a desperate bid to buy time. Once the armor is ready, Stark charges through the caves. Near the entrance, Stark has an encounter with Raza, who fires a rocket at him. Stark dodges, and fires one back at Raza, damaging his face. He then finds a dying Yinsen, who tells him not to waste his life. Forever grateful to Yinsen, Stark burns all the munitions the terrorists have accumulated and then flies away, only to crash in the desert; Stark survives, but his suit is destroyed. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark announces at a press conference that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. Stane advises Tony that abandoning weapon designs may ruin the company and advises Stark against it.
Instead Stark focuses his energies on building a better version of his power suit, while making an improved arc reactor for his chest. Once the new reactor replaces the old one, Stark asks Potts to throw out the old one. Instead Potts gives Stark back his first miniature reactor, encased in glass and bearing the inscription "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart".
After much trial and error, Stark develops a new "Mark II" armor suit, but after a brief test flight a dangerous flaw in the suit's design causes an ice build up when flying in high atmosphere. To remedy this problem Stark replaces the titanium armor with a titanium-gold alloy. Stark finds the bright gold a little ostentatious and adds a little "hot rod" red to it. The new armor is dubbed the "Mark III".
During Stark's first public appearance after his return, he spots Potts wearing a backless blue dress - her delegated choice of birthday present from him, and recognizes his romantic feelings for his assistant. As they are about to share a kiss, Potts interrupts by asking for a martini. While ordering the drinks, Stark is accosted by Everhart, who shows him pictures of Stark Industries weapons, including Jericho missiles, recently delivered to insurgents. He realizes that Stane has been supplying both the Americans and their enemies, and attempting to remove Stark from power in his own company.
Enraged, Stark dons the Mark III armor and flies to Afghanistan to rescue Gulmira, Yinsen's village, from the Ten Rings. The Ten Rings fighters prove no match for Stark's weaponry and are quickly overwhelmed. As Stark is flying away, he is detected by the United States Air Force, which dispatches two F-22 Raptors to try to identify the mysterious flying object. The fighters are ordered to destroy the target. Stark doesn't want to harm the pilots and during the resulting chase, Stark frantically calls Rhodes, called in as a consultant, that he is the unidentified target and asks to have the planes called off. One of the planes is accidentally destroyed when it collides with Stark. The pilot ejects, but his parachute does not deploy, and Stark rescues him before escaping.
Stark sends Potts to hack into the company computer system. She discovers that Stane hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark. The group reneged on the deal upon discovering who the target was, which ultimately seals their fate when Stane has them eliminated later. She also learns Stane has recovered the pieces of the original power suit and reverse-engineered his own version, one much larger, more powerful, and less "conservative" than Stark's. As she leaves Stane's office, she meets with Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., a newly-established counter-terrorism government agency, who has been accosting her and Stark about an interview concerning Stark's escape from the Ten Rings.
After she leaves, Stane discovers what she has done. He goes to his scientists and is angered when they admit that they cannot duplicate the arc reactor technology that Stark created. Later that evening, Stane ambushes Stark in his house, using a Stark Industries device to paralyze him. While revealing his plan to take over Stark Industries, Stane removes the arc reactor from Stark's chest and leaves him to die. However, with the assistance of his workshop robots, Stark gets to Potts' gift and re-installs his original reactor. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, guided by Potts, break into Stark Industries to arrest Stane, only to be attacked by Stane in the now functional Iron Monger suit.
Although his original reactor is underpowered for his latest armor, Stark races to the rescue. Stane's armor suit is larger and is equipped with a wider assortment of weapons than Stark's armor designs, though not quite as sophisticated (it never fixed the icing problem that the old Mark II had). With the underpowered reactor Stark ultimately finds himself outmatched and lures Stane atop the Stark Industries building. With no power left, Stark instructs Potts to overload the full-sized reactor in the building. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that knocks Stane unconscious and sends him falling through the ceiling into the reactor itself, apparently incinerating him.
The next day, it is revealed that the press has dubbed Stark's alter ego "Iron Man". Rhodes gives reporters a false explanation of what happened. Before speaking, Stark briefly makes an attempt to establish a romantic relationship with Potts, but is put on hold considering she has not forgiven him for leaving her at the party without explanation when he decided to help Gulmira. During the press conference, Stark starts to tell the cover story given to him by S.H.I.E.L.D., but then instead announces openly that he is Iron Man.
In a post-credits scene, Stark is visited by S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury who notes that Stark is not "the only superhero in the world" and states he wants to discuss the "Avenger Initiative".
Cast
- Robert Downey Jr. as Anthony "Tony" Stark / Iron Man
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