the iron man effect

I’ve officially been “Iron-manned”. Wow…that was unintentionally dirty.
When this May “blockbuster” first came out, I had pretty much zero interest in it…my impression was that it would be similar to Transformers, an “all show no substance” kind of film. Frankly, I’ve never REALLY seen Robert Downey Jr. in much of anything, other than loving him on Ally McBeal (Gosh, I used to watch that show). So…the saliva-inducing, knees-shaking effect he has on women in general, I didn’t totally GET.

Fast forward a few months and I start reading actual reviews…and got curious at why the film was so well-loved by everyone. And why 2008 was really RDJ’s year to shine. Having no previous knowledge of the Iron Man mythology, I finally watched it the other night.

I’m now a believer. Convert. Late bandwagon jumper…whatever you want to call it.

It made me laugh, made me squirm, made me think…made me feel like a kid again. A kid who gets completely sucked in by movie magic…thinking “HOW DID THEY DO THAT?” on more than one occasion.

RDG was so charming, hilarious, magnetic, and friggin PERFECT for the role. He plays the “I’m an ass – so what?” role so well, but also manages to convince you that he’s genuinely struggling with some serious moral dilemmas. And yep, he’s oh so dreamy too.

The film also made me realize that man-made heroes are infinitely superior to heroes with superpowers. It’s so much more interesting to watch a superhero film unfold in a world rooted in present-day reality…one that me and you like living in. (So I don’t know if The Dark Knight totally fits under that bill…I certainly would not want to live in Gotham.)

Which leads me to ask you which you liked more: Iron Man or The Dark Knight?