Iron Man (2008)

IRON MAN (2008)
by Steve Maus

“I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public.”

The Air Force has had many misfires with Hollywood over the years. They passed on Top Gun, wouldn’t permit Pave Lows to participate in Clear and Present Danger and dare I even mention it….Iron Eagle! Iron Man is a step in the right direction as the Air Force is portrayed honorably and respectfully and they even make it look fun. Sure, it’s a superhero movie so the action’s very good, the special effects are excellent and the banter is top notch – “…no gang signs. No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job for peace. ” But, in my opinion, this movie’s intriguing quality is in the character study and not in the action.

Although the attendance may have suffered, the movie should have been called Tony Stark. Tony is Marvel Comics answer to Bruce Wayne and, thanks to the new and improved Robert Downey, Jr., is a much more interesting main character. He is brash, irreverent, immoral and incredibly foolish. He is the classic spoiled, brilliant rich kid that inherits the company and parties his life away instead of growing up. We see clearly the folly of his foolish ways and eventually, martini in hand in the middle of a desert Humvee (HMMWV) takedown, so does he. The ultimate reality check is being attacked with weapons made by your own company.

Tony is mentored by his fellow prisoner Yinsen who, just like Monseigneur Bienvenu, the Bishop of Digne in Les Miserables, turns Tony’s life around with his wisdom…

Tony Stark says, “You got a family?”
“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?”
“No.” says Stark.
“ So you're a man who has everything, but nothing.” says Yinsen.

And later…

“Don't waste it... don't waste your life, Stark.”

Tony escapes captivity, turns his life around and goes on to the honorable profession of crime fighting - flying around the world at supersonic speeds in an iron suit with a sweet heads-up display and a talking flight computer. But, he has not completely taken off the old man. Tony’s arrogance is still there as is evidenced by his attitude that he will become the savior of America and the world – all by himself. He IS Iron Man.

Its important to fast forward to the second Iron Man movie to see this theme manifest itself completely as Tony defies and mocks Congress and proclaims himself Lord Protectorate of mankind. Tony mistakenly believes that he knows better than anyone how to decide right from wrong. He alone will keep the ultimate power. He is proven wrong, but that’s another dissection to come later. We should never forget that absolute power corrupts absolutely and the only solution to compensate for man’s sinfulness in this area is for a group of Godly, honorable men to share that power equally with accountability to the people. This is why we have 3 branches in our federal government with balanced powers and why our churches are led by a board of elders instead of one all-powerful man.

I will succumb to my ADD momentarily and mention that another reason why this movie works is the music. Ramin Djawadi, a protégé of the great Hans Zimmer and part of Hans’ Remote Control Productions, put the soundtrack together. It’s a rock n roll score with influences from all over the place and the way he weaves in themes and melodies is creative, subtle and very effective. The gift of a great soundtrack is that it makes everything in the movie better – the scary parts are scarier, the action scenes have you pumped and the sad scenes make you cry. Don’t ever miss the impact of the music!

I don’t want to end this dissection without ensuring that you understand that Tony Stark/Iron Man is heroic, but he shouldn’t be our hero. He takes the fight to the enemy and wins. He foils his corruptible friend and takes back his company. But like all men, he is fallible. He is brilliant, but not perfect. He gets control of himself, but he’s still immoral. He does not know God. Its fun to watch this man made in the image of God express His attribute of justice on the evil men even if its just a taste of the ultimate reality. But, I am left lacking. I want more out of Hollywood. I want a better depiction of Godly heroism. I want faith, fidelity, purity, and selflessness. My hero has to be a whole lot more like Jesus than Tony Stark.

PS – somewhere in the skies over Afghanistan, cruising through the dry, camel-colored canyons between Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in a Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter, I sat waiting my turn to fly. I needed something to do to pass the time and decided to watch something on my i-Phone. The irony occurred to me quickly that here I was in Afghanistan watching a movie about Iron Man saving Afghanistan. I grabbed my Afghan interpreter and gestured to him to watch the scene where Iron Man saves the village from the terrorists. He watched very intently and enjoyed it. Then he said to me “is this supposed to be Afghanistan?” “Yes,” I said. I think he was thinking the same thing I was – “I wish it were that easy!”