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Just like the movie, the DVD kicks much ass.

This has been a great year for comic book movies.  Iron Man kicked off the summer movie season defying all expectations.  It is a comic book movie done right.  Devoid of the movie clichés that have plagued most comic book movies, director Jon Favreau got rid of the camp and attacked the subject matter as a straight-forward action film.  With addition of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Iron Man leapt off the screen to become many people’s favorite comic book movie.

The story goes that wealthy industrialist Tony Stark is demonstrating his latest weapons system in a war-torn Afghanistan.  After a successful test, his convoy is attacked and he’s gravely injured.  Wounded, Tony wakes up in a cave with a car battery attached to a gadget in his chest that is preventing a piece of shrapnel from entering his heart.  He’s been captured by terrorists that want him to recreate his latest weapon for them.  Instead he creates the first Iron Man suit and takes them out.  Upon returning to America, he stops all military weapons and redesigns his Iron Man suit to modern technology.  When he discovers that his second in command, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) has been supplying the enemy, he uses his new powers to try and stop him.

I know that last bit might sound like a spoiler but trust me, I could give a plot point by plot point outline and it wouldn’t matter.  There are no surprises or big shocks here, Iron Man is about the action and once it gets started, it doesn’t stop.  Robert Downey, Jr. plays Stark with a cocky swagger and man-child mentality.  He is both flawed and heroic.  When forced to grow up, Stark grabs the mantle and fully embraces it.  Downey makes it difficult to image anyone else in the role. Jeff Bridges does a fantastic job as his nemesis. As Stane, Bridges is conniving and sinister.  You almost expect him to twirl his mustache from time to time.  It’s Bridges at his darkest and the role suits him very well.  Hopefully, we’ll see him play the heavy more often. 

When I heard that Jon Favreau was hired to direct the film, I didn’t have high hopes as I hated Zathura.  Sure Elf is funny but after two movies, it felt like Marvel was throwing the film to someone to that didn’t have the experience.  Rumor has it that Marvel wanted to can Favreau before the film was released.  Then it made an obscene amount of money and those rumors quickly disappeared.  He’s on for the sequel and it appears to be in more than good hands.

The extras are plentiful and worthwhile.  On the first disc are 11 deleted and extended scenes.  It’s easy to see why they cut or shortened the scenes.  The alternate ending was a very wise choice.  It’s nice to see here but if they had gone with it, it probably would have ruined the rest of the film.  It’s a shame there are no commentary tracks with any of the cast or director Favreau.  Of course we might get that on a future release, but who knows.

Disc Two is has the rest of the extras, including an hour long documentary, “I Am Iron Man”, which can be viewed as a whole or in seven individual parts.  From pre-production to the film’s premiere, the documentary does a great job covering the production.  For once, you get a look and highs and lows of filmmaking.  Next is “The Invincible Iron Man,” which traces the comic book movie with interviews with Stan Lee, Warren Ellis, Joe Quesada and Adi Granov.  It feels like a giant commercial for the comic and mainly focuses on the recent story arcs.  “Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man” look at the special effects and the Iron Man armor.  It further expands on the visual arts aspects briefly mentioned in the “I Am Iron Man” documentary.

Finishing out the disc are some screen tests, an image gallery and a story from The Onion News Network about how the trailer is expanded into a feature length film.  All pretty standard features, though the Onion News Network is fairly clever and fans of the film will love it.

After the mess that was Spider-Man 3 and X-Men 3, it’s good see comic book movies getting back on track done correctly.  With an exceptional cast and impressive directing, Marvel hit one out of the parks and made everyone talk about how they are building an onscreen universe.  Iron Man is a great, fun movie that should be added to any adventure fans collection.

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