Iron Man

I often come back to an interview I saw with Robert Downey Jr. and Christopher Nolan. RDJ talks about how he made a movie that flopped, and Jon Favreau also made a movie that flopped. At the time, everyone told him, “This will do until The Dark Knight comes out.” I think that’s pretty funny, considering how well this film did. Sure, The Dark Knight did better, but considering Iron Man’s competition, it still did very well. This film was also the start of something new—the beginning of the MCU. The film that started it all (unless you count Howard the Duck). Marvel Studios is just as good as—if not better than—foreshadowing as the Final Destination films. And I’m not just talking about this movie—all of them. That’s what gives the MCU its charm: they’re all similar, following the same formula, but still uniquely different in terms of tone and messaging. This film was great to revisit. I genuinely forgot how good it was—and how good Jon Favreau is as a director. I’ve only seen about five or six of his films, but all of them feel very personal and passionate (and surprisingly different from one another, considering one is a sequel to a previous film of his, and two are live-action reboots—not great films, but you get what you come for). I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I grew up with these films (as young as that makes me), so they’ll always hold a special place in my heart. Maybe some of my ratings are me glazing them a little bit—but who cares? I know I don’t.