On May 2, 2008, the world of pop culture completely changed, as the original Iron Man landed in theaters. The film marked the first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that would go on to earn more than $20 billion worldwide over the course of 22 movies. While comic book movies weren’t a new idea, with Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man series all earning praise from fans and critics alike, Iron Man helped establish the burgeoning idea of a shared cinematic universe, which multiple franchises have adapted to inspire interest in various properties. While the success of the experiment seems obvious in retrospect, the ambitious approach to storytelling wasn’t without risk.
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Robert Downey Jr. had been a household name at the time, though his artistic endeavors leaned more towards collaborations with auteur directors like David Fincher’s Zodiac, Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys, resulting in his reported now-measly $500,000 salary for starring in the film. Reports claim that, including his back-end stakes in Avengers: Endgame, the actor will score nearly $75 million for his most recent efforts. Similarly, director Jon Favreau wasn’t known for his action films, despite films like Made and Elf establishing a fan base for the filmmaker.
Few heroes are as iconic in 2019 as Iron Man, yet in 2008, he was a hero mostly only known by fans familiar with Marvel Comics. Despite his lack of recognition, the effectiveness of the film helped it earn $585 million worldwide. The film also retains some of the best reviews of the franchise, with 93% of reviews calculated by Rotten Tomatoes as positive.
In honor of the film’s anniversary and the release of Avengers: Endgame, check out what critics first said about the film when it hit theaters!
Empire – Dan Jolin
“For all the bold casting and inventive selection of director, Iron Man certainly doesn’t break the mold on this front. It opens dramatically and impressively with the tinkle of ice cubes in whiskey, casual references to Maxim cover girls and an explosion, setting up Tony Stark as an amoral, money-grabbing high-flyer who is felled with inevitable irony by his own hardware, incarcerated in a cave and ordered by Afghan guerillas to build a mountain-levelling missile. It’s in these harsh, subterranean surroundings that Stark travels most of his character arc, discovering a conscience and constructing the Ned Kelly-style ‘Mark One’ suit of armor (which looks absolutely nothing like the missile that was on the menu, but somehow his captors don’t notice, despite the fact that they keep him under constant video surveillance). Logic-lapses aside, it’s the most thrilling part of the movie, and it’s over all too soon.”
The Hollywood Reporter – Kirk Honeycutt
“The space flights and acrobatics over Los Angeles evoke Spider-Man. Yet the whole package is distinctly its own, a tale originated in the ’60s cleverly and logically transposed into today’s world. Downey plays off his own bad-boy image wonderfully. The writers give him great lines to work with and ditto that for his Girl Friday, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts, whose own svelte lines cannot be improved on. Key disappointment is a climactic battle between different Iron Man prototypes, which is both illogical — how did Tony’s nemesis learn how to use the suit? — and derivative of many other superhero climaxes. Never mind. Marvel has several more sequels to upgrade Iron Man.”
New Yorker – David Denby
“Will Iron Man become a franchise? Superhero fantasies have generally drawn their emotional energy from teen-age male frustration, or from early wounds that shaped the heroes’ characters. Bruce Wayne sees his parents killed; Clark Kent’s home planet gets destroyed; the X-Men (and women) are outsiders—mutants—and Peter Parker is a nerd. But Tony Stark is more like James Bond—he’s always on top. At the end, Stark acknowledges to the public, ‘I am Iron Man,’ setting up a possible sequel. Downey has a star’s confidence now, and, if the audience takes to him, he could probably do this insouciant acting turn again. But it would be a bad joke on him—his most unfortunate mishap—if he winds up clanking around in a metal suit forever.”
Associated Press – Christy Lemire
“Tony undergoes plenty of trials and errors on the road to becoming Iron Man, which are both amusing and thrilling. But the moment he finally climbs inside that streamlined, rocket-propelled, red-and-gold suit – with its perfectly intertwined pieces that lock together like the most comfy, high-tech pair of ski boots – will surely cause the hearts of geeks and non-geeks alike to go pitter-patter. But because the build up is so successfully engaging, the ending feels like a letdown. It’s just plain silly watching versatile, Oscar-nominated actors behave like a couple of middle-aged Transformers. That’s merely one bump in an otherwise satisfying ride, though. And there’s plenty of opportunity for improvement: The last line clearly sets up a sequel. But you knew that was ironclad from the beginning.”
Entertainment Weekly – Owen Glieberman
“The storyline is, to put it mildly, familiar, with all the episode-one bona fides ticking into place. Yet Favreau’s direction never feels rote, even during the sky-zipping, metal-smashing action scenes, and the casting is aces. Jeff Bridges, as Stark’s corporate partner, looks as scary as a cult leader in his shaved head and bushy beard, but he underacts, benignly; Bridges uses that wry, trust-me voice to create a timely portrait of stylish power. And Gwyneth Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, Stark’s selfless girl Friday, manages the neat trick of taking a character who’s a prefeminist throwback and playing her with a liberated twinkle. When Pepper replaces Stark’s glowing electric heart device, it’s a nifty, squishy gross-out and a terrific love scene.
“Too often, superhero films feel like a different species of entertainment from the smudged comic books that spawned them. Iron Man takes you back to the days when you sprawled out in front of those books, flipping through the adventures of a dude who was too vital, and vulnerable, to ever be a mere F/X object. Even at his coolest, Downey’s Iron Man remains a ghostly, neurotic crusader — one whose life, in the Marvel tradition, has become a grand spectacle of overcompensation.”
The Los Angeles Times – Kenneth Turan
“I understand that this film is an origin story, but even so, enough is enough. Yet more Tonys emerge in the rest of Iron Man, from the Human Rights Watch monitor on steroids who protects innocents in Afghanistan to the superhero who fights a behemoth called Iron Monger in the film’s elaborate finale. With all these Tonys running around, it’s not surprising that Iron Man feels more convoluted than it needs to be. Downey’s unbeatable charisma makes these problems less troublesome than they would be otherwise, but wouldn’t it be nice if they didn’t exist at all?”
L.A. Weekly – Scott Foundas
“Just about a year ago at this time, another summer tent pole that climaxed with giant robots body-slamming each other on the streets of Los Angeles was making its way into cinemas amid much clamor from critics that no matter what they wrote, people would go see it anyway. The movie was called Transformers — perhaps you have heard of it. Iron Man too is something people will see regardless of the reviews, but here is the point: Where Michael Bay has mastered a kind of sensory-assaulting pop art, Favreau is a born storyteller, who engages the audience’s imaginations rather than crushing them in a tsunami of digital noise. He gives us giant robots we can actually care about as opposed to those we can scarcely tell apart — and that, I would propose, is the difference between making images and making movies.”
E! Online – Alex Markerson
“Downey has a great, manic energy about him, and it shines through even in the more casual moments. He even elevates solo origin-story laboratory sequences that might have been unbearable mugfests, making them into somehow exciting comedy routines. The effects are no less thrilling—bone-jarring action with pristine, only occasionally unreal CGI. Anyone in the movie who’s not playing Tony Stark, however, feels a little under-utilized. Only Gwyneth Paltrow, as Stark’s sparky, long-suffering assistant, gets enough play to be much of a character, and while Jeff Bridges’ bearish, sharp-eyed turn as the heavy is interesting, the role itself is unmemorable. But that seems like picking nits. This is a film about a guy with a superpowered suit, and in this case both the suit and the guy are golden.”
Newsweek – David Ansen
“Favreau’s imagery doesn’t soar—Iron Man has none of the sweeping lyricism that made Bryan Singer’s much-maligned Superman a pleasure to watch—but he’s paced the tale cleanly and well; it never feels overstuffed. Whether the movie has enough mayhem to satisfy 12-year-olds–and whether they respond to Downey’s sly, ironic spin—remains to be seen. Like it or not, this summer season is piled high with rippling, righteous superheroes. For those whose hearts don’t race at this prospect, Iron Man may not be distinguished enough to convert you to the cause. But Downey and Favreau give the movie a quirky flavor it can call its own. For that we can be grateful.”
AV Club – Nathan Rabin
“Like Ang Lee’s Hulk, Iron Man is a comic-book blockbuster characterized as much by heavyweight acting and sober intellectual concerns about the use and misuse of power and technology as the usual comic-book foolishness. But Iron Man finds a much more palatable, audience-friendly balance between delirious spectacle and tortured introspection thanks largely to Downey, a great actor who’s also a great entertainer. His relationship with a fire-extinguishing robot is funnier and more poignant than the central relationship between humans in most movies, and there’s nothing arbitrary about love interest/long-suffering assistant Gwyneth Paltrow. Having gotten all that exposition out of the way in a brisk and entertaining fashion, Favreau paves the way for more pure fun and excitement in future entries. Iron Man is the rare comic-book movie that makes the prospect of a sequel seem like a promise instead of a threat.”
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