Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Kudos to John Favreau

Mrs. Kid and I saw Iron Man this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Robert Downy, Jr. was a good choice for the MIT-educated, brilliant playboy who dons an iron suit as he finds he really does have a conscience. The movie was good, but the ending is really good.

** Spoiler Alert -- Plot Details Follow **

The movie's climax has your basic epic battle between the good guy and the bad guy. It's standard "how will he survive this against such terrible odds?" stuff that makes for a satisfactory ending. Once the climax has ended, a brief denouement wraps things up, but just as you are calmed down and ready to just saunter out of the theater, Tony Stark (who is standing at a podium for a press conference) announces "I am Iron Man" and then the ending credits roll accompanied by one of the great comic book inspired songs of all time.

Other comic book movie adaptations have theme songs by Danny Elfman (Batman, Dick Tracy, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc.) , but Iron Man is different. Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath did the ultimate song for Iron Man years ago and it still works today:

When Tony Stark says "I am Iron Man" and then the movie kicks straight into the Black Sabbath song for the closing credits, I was ready to watch the movie all over again. It brought it all full circle and tapped into my adolescent love of the song's primal heavy metal drive that seemed to dovetail so nicely with the comics I enjoyed as a kid.

Soundtrack: Black Sabbath (Iron Man), Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy), Menomena (Friend and Foe), The Crystal Method (Legion of Boom)

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