"It's not a piece of equipment, it's a suit! It's ME!"

Well, I thought I would take the time to get back to some writing... no, not thesis writing.  That can wait a bit (cue SO's glare... and continue).  No, what I need to write about is the last DVD I've actually watched.  It's been way too long, almost two weeks since I've seen it, but I think I can still do the movie justice.  Because the SO didn't want to decide on what to watch, I took the initiative to choose something with action, comedy, a little romance, something that really gets the blood pumping... a little something I like to call Iron Man.

So what's Iron Man about?  Have you been living in a hole for the past year?  This involves the origins of Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, a billionaire who gets his money from his design and construction of weapons.  He's a very arrogant man who "gets around" any way he likes.  The movie starts with Stark in a Hum-vee in Afghanistan, on his way back from a weapons demonstration.  Along the way, the convoy is attacked, and Stark is hit, so we fade to black.  Stark is held prisoner by a terrorist group, who want him to make his latest weapon, the Jericho missile, for them from weapons they have "confiscated" from Stark Industries.

Unbeknownst to Stark, he has a battery attached to an electromagnet in his chest, which is keeping schrapnel from collecting in his heart.  This contraption is the work of Dr. Yinsen, who helps Stark "create" the Jericho missile, which actually is Stark's way of creating a self-contained electromagnet powered by an arc reactor.  During his captivity, he has created a suit which allows him to escape, unfortunately without Dr. Yinsen.

Stark gets back to the United States to stop Stark Industries from producing weapons, while at the same time he works on a better suit.  With the help of Pepper Potts, Stark's assistant, and some "Stooges"-like robots, Stark is able to create his better suit, thus creating Iron Man.

Unfortunately, Stark finds out that his company has been supplying terrorists through his company's overseer, Obadiah Stane.  Because of his work with terrorists, he finds out the secrets to Stark's original suit, creating new suits through Stark Industries, which would create a new wave in weapons technology.  By incapacitating Stark, he's able to take the arc reactor to power his new suit.  Stark luckily has his old arc reactor, which he uses to power his Iron Man suit and fight Stane, who ultimately loses (because it's the movies).

Stark, in a press conference announces he is Iron Man, to which we see Mr. Badass himself, Samuel L. Jackson, as Col. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. who wants to talk with Stark about the Avenger Initiative.  End movie.

It's really hard to write a synopsis of this movie without being wordy.  That's what happens with origin stories.  There's so much you have to set up in one movie in order for an entire film series to work.  Without it, Iron Man 2 would not take off.  That's not to say Hollywood wouldn't have tried to create a sequel, but the anticipation for it would have been less.  Suffice it to say, Iron Man is just as good on the little screen as it is on the big screen.  The action, the comedic relief, it's a very smooth movie with few faults.  Of course those who are closest to the original material might scoff at some of the ideas and plotlines that occurred, but for the average viewer, the film is a smash hit.

Easily, the SO likes it, so it's a keeper.  Probably one of the funnest movies we saw in the theatres when it came out.  Not being a devout follower of Iron Man, I thought the story moved very well, but then Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man made the entire movie experience.  He body language, his mood, his take on the role was something that just fit.  Without him, the movie doesn't work.

So in the end, this DVD is a keeper (it should be, I didn't even get the super duper deluxe version, just the regular single-disc widescreen... I know, I held back!).  Later!