The Invincible Robert Downey Jr.
With the release of Iron Man screaming towards theaters at Mach 3 (thanks to the armor refresh), more and more fans are asking questions about Robert Downey. Is he really the best choice? Will he be able to pull of a tried and true action role? What was John Favreaux thinking? All kinds of buzz is heating up. Personally I thought the idea of Downey as Stark was a great choice. Let's look at the evidence:
Downey has proven himself as a great dramatic actor. What have a lot of bad movies lacked in the past, good acting and depth of character. We know he's got it in him to pull it off.
Favreaux is a great writer. Did you see Swingers, honestly. He's been working on this movie for the last two years non-stop. Trailers aside, Favreaux has a great cast under him and great writing. How can you go wrong there?
Downey's personality and lifestyle actually have a lot of things in common with Tony Stark's. There both recovering addicts. There both rain men (in their respective field). Stark is a techno-genius, Downey is a great actor. Did you see Chaplin, Good Night and Good Luck, or Zodiac?
All my opinions aside, it seems like a lot of superhero movies lately have drawn on talent that isn't necessarily close to the source material (like casting the Governator as Superman or Lex Luthor for that matter). What do you think about the recent trend in comic-to-film properties? Let us know at tips@pulpsecret.com.
Don't forget to tune in to this week's episode of The Stack to get all your information about this week's comic book and graphic novel releases!
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Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.
I think Downey is the perfect person for Tony Stark, and every time I see a new trailer for this movie released, I'm more convinced. He's perfect, and the movie is going to be awesome.
Well Downey was a sketchy choice, that I think turned out well. The guy is really hit and miss, more than likely due to his personal life choices. It really looks like he was not only clean, but is drawing on his own experiences as a playboy to enhance the role. I think its far too late for people to be voicing doubts however. The deal is done. I dont really know how anyone can say anything negative about the movie after that last trailer. I didnt see anyone comment negatively, or voice anything but excitement after seeing it.
Did you see the movie "Kiss kiss, bang bang" that Downey did? I liked that film a lot. He's a great actor. I'd say 80% of a good super hero movie is made of Good actors and good writer/director teams.
See, I thought that movie was horrible, and Downey particularly so. But A Scanner Darkly, that was freakin genius, pure genius. Natural Born Killers, more genius. But if you look at his IMDB bio you see he's made like 50 other movies you've either never heard of at all or were just bad. So like I said, it was a very sketchy choice because you never know which Downey is going to show up, and the odds are against it being a good one. Believe me, I love Downey when he's good. He's an extremely entertaining actor who has moments of pure unadulterated genius.
I'm not a big Iron Man fan, but this movie is maybe the one I am most excited about for all of 2008. The main reason is how wonderful Downey's execution is. I really believe him as "Tony Stark, billionaire douchebag" and I think that charisma, flippancy, sarcasm, and generally flawed character is for this hero.