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(About Our Ads) "IRON MAN" (2008) (Robert Downey Jr. Terrence Howard) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Moderate Extreme Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor Heavy *None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Mild Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Adventure: After seeing the military weapons he developed used in ways he hadn't imagined, a wealthy industrialist has a change of heart and creates an armored suit that nearly leaves him invincible, gives him the ability to fly, and affords him the opportunity to right his wrongs. PLOT: Tony Stark (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.) is a playboy industrialist who's followed in his late father's footsteps of developing weapons for the military. With the help of his computer systems and assembly line robots, not to mention his flesh and blood personal assistant, Pepper Potts (GWYNETH PALTROW), Tony is something of a celebrity. All of which means while he might get tough questions from reporters such as Christine Everhart (LESLIE BIBB), he's just as likely to end up in bed with her. But business beckons, so while his mentor Obadiah Stane (JEFF BRIDGES) stays home to run Stark Industries, Tony's off to Afghanistan with his college buddy and current military liaison, Jim Rhodes (TERRENCE HOWARD), to show off his latest weaponry. An ambush there, however, leaves him injured and then held captive by insurgent leader Raza (FARAN TAHIR) and his right-hand man, Abu Bakaar (SAYED BADREYA). A fellow captive, Yinsen (SHAUN TOUB), has saved Tony's life by implanting an electromagnetic device into his chest that prevents embedded shrapnel from entering his heart. He ends up being Tony's assembly assistant when Raza orders the industrialist to build him the same weaponry he had earlier been pitching. Instead, and realizing he and Yinsen will likely be killed no matter what they deliver, Tony creates an armored suit that's impervious to bullets and allows him to escape. Having seen his weapons in the hands of Raza, Tony has a change of heart and announces that Stark Industries will no longer build weapons, a decision that doesn't sit well with Obadiah. Instead, Tony creates an enhanced version of his armored suit, hoping he can use it to undo many of the past wrongs he's created. From that point on, he must not only contend with Obadiah, but also the fact that Raza has collected the remains of his original Iron Man suit and is building one of his own, what will eventually become the Iron Monger. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet many will, particularly among the teen set. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ROBERT DOWNEY JR. plays a playboy industrialist who invents and supplies all sorts of weaponry for the U.S. military. Initially not concerned with such profiteering or the ramifications of his work, he has a change of heart after being held captive for months by Raza and his men. He then develops an enhanced armored suit with which he hopes to right some of his past wrongs, but must contend with Obadiah's objections to his reverse course business decisions. He drinks and beds Christine. TERRENCE HOWARD plays his college buddy turned military liaison for Stark Industries. He appreciates Tony's work, but doesn't always approve of his initial cavalier attitude. He drinks with Tony in one scene. JEFF BRIDGES plays Tony's mentor who once ran the company following Tony's father's death, at least until Tony took over. He isn't happy with the way Tony is running the company and thus has his own opinions and plans about how it should operate. He briefly smokes a cigar. GWYNETH PALTROW plays Tony's personal assistant who knows him better than anyone and will do most anything for him. She becomes a bit uncomfortable when some romantic sparks fly between them, and worries about his safety once he begins doing the Iron Man thing. LESLIE BIBB plays a reporter who asks Tony tough questions during the day, but ends up in bed with him at night (at least once). SHAUN TOUB plays Tony's fellow captive who saves his life on more than one occasion. FARAN TAHIR plays the lead insurgent who initially wants Tony to build him the same weapon he was pitching to his enemies, and then is interested in creating his own version of the Iron Man armored suit. He smokes a few times and is responsible for many deaths. SAYED BADREYA plays his right-hand man who's similarly responsible for many deaths. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this action-adventure flick that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of a possible "s" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexual innuendo is present, as is the brief sight of a scantly clad woman on top of a man on a bed, with sex implied, followed by views of her barely covered by the sheets. Some women are briefly seen doing some sexy dancing for the entertainment of men. Violence consists of all sorts of action-based violence (characters bashing each other around, resulting in lots of property damage), and various non-graphic deaths (many occurring just off camera) and injuries. That material, some moments of potential peril, and some visuals (blue veins forming under the skin, half a face with bad burn scars, etc.) might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, while some kids might be enticed to imitate the action and other behavior. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while characters drink and/or smoke and some tense family material (including kids believing they're about to see their father be executed) is also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that from paparazzi camera shots. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of camera movement in the film, including some bouncy/shaky handheld footage. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Tony has a drink in a Humvee in Afghanistan. People have wine at a reception. On his own plane, Tony tells a flight attendant to heat up some sake, and wants Jim to drink with him, but he doesn't want to. Moments later, however, we see both of them drinking, while a video on a screen behind them shows other drinking. Tony activates a portable mini-bar out in the desert and then has a drink. Yinsen asks Tony if he remembers meeting him in the past. When Tony says he doesn't, Yinsen says if he had been that drunk, he wouldn't either, let alone be able to stand up. We see a drink by Obadiah. People have drinks at a reception where Tony tells a bartender, "Give me a scotch, I'm starving." Later, Pepper tells Tony she would like a drink and he then orders two dry martinis. We see a liquor decanter in front of Obadiah. Raza hands Obadiah what may be beer. Obadiah has a drink and then pours one for Pepper, but she doesn't have any. BLOOD/GORE Tony's shirt appears to have some blood on it following an explosion, while we see various small cuts and such on his face then and later. Coming to after being injured in an explosion, Tony pulls a very long medical tube from his nose, and then discovers he has an electromagnetic devise implanted in his chest that's attached to a car battery. Tony has dried blood on his face from his earlier injury. Yinsen has some blood on his shoulder and neck after being wounded. Tony asks for Pepper's help in replacing the electromagnetic device in his chest. She's reluctant, but then sticks her hand down into the metal-lined hole in his chest, complaining about unseen pus in there, but he reassures her that's the byproduct of the device and not something his body made. Raza has a now dried, bad burn scar on one side of his head. Obadiah uses a device that renders Raza temporarily paralyzed and with blue veins showing up in the skin on his face. A villain uses a device that renders Tony temporarily paralyzed and with blue veins showing up in the skin on his face. Tony has slightly bloody cuts following a battle with Iron Monger. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Accompanied by U.S. military personnel in full combat gear, Tony is shocked that one such soldier is a woman (although he seems to be joking about that). Rather than attend an award ceremony in his honor, Tony's off gambling, thus leaving presenter Jim in the lurch. Raza and his followers are insurgents/terrorists and he holds Tony and Yinsen captive, wanting the former to build him a version of his latest advanced weapon. Spoiler Alert: One of Tony's close work associates turns out to have conspired against him, is working with Raza and the insurgents, and repeatedly tries to have Tony killed. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We see that the insurgents have Tony kneeling and hooded while standing around him with guns on him (similar looking to real-life terrorist footage). We see disorienting footage of what initially appears to be insurgents torturing Tony following his capture, but we later realize it was Yinsen performing surgery on him to save his life by implanting the electromagnetic device in his chest. Guards come in and aim guns at Tony and Yinsen. With Raza mad about them having not completed his weapon, he has his men put Yinsen on his knees, while he retrieves a glowing hot coal and appears ready to put it into Yinsen's mouth, but that doesn't happen. Tony asks for Pepper's help in replacing the electromagnetic device in his chest. She's reluctant, but then sticks her hand down into the metal-lined hole in his chest, complaining about unseen pus in there, but he reassures her that's the byproduct of the device and not something his body made. She then accidentally pulls out the device before she's supposed to, thus leaving him in partial cardiac arrest, but that's fixed when she inserts and attaches the replacement device. Tony takes his Iron Man suit out for a flight and goes high up into the sky. Unforeseen ice buildup in the upper atmosphere, however, leaves his suit powerless and he plummets back toward Earth, regaining power just in time as he takes flight again, barely missing the road at the bottom of his fall. Insurgents raid a village and separate a father from his family. His kids and wife then watch in horror as it appears the father will be executed, but Iron Man arrives and saves the day. Tony sends Pepper to retrieve data from his computer at work, and she finds material that incriminates one of the top people in the company. Just then Obadiah comes in and she tries to remain calm while hiding what she's doing as he acts somewhat suspicious of her. A villain uses a device that renders Tony temporarily paralyzed and with blue veins showing up in the skin on his face. He then proceeds to remove the electromagnetic device from Tony's chest, and then leaves him to die from cardiac arrest. Tony then tries to make his way to his old device, but comes up just short and appears doomed until Jim shows up and helps him. Government agents slowly enter Stark Industries with their guns drawn, unsure of what they'll find. As Pepper peers into the dark, eyes from Iron Monger suddenly illuminate and she then sees just how huge Iron Monger is. He then chases after Pepper while smashing and bashing those agents. With his energy supply dwindling, Iron Man tries to fly high into the atmosphere, with Iron Monger in hot pursuit. Iron Monger finally catches and grabs Iron Man, but the icing on him causes Iron Monger to lose power, and he then plummets back toward earth. Iron Man also falls, but occasionally has enough power to slow his fall. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Machine guns/Rockets/Missiles/Tanks/Fighter Jets/Iron Man & Iron Monger suits: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. We see footage from CNBC's "Mad Money" that includes canned audio sounds of machine gun fire. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Isn't that the usual B-S?" "Hold still you little pr*ck," "I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair" (innuendo), "Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing," "Hey Forrest," "C'mon, sour-patch," "What the hell /did you do to me/is this/was that/is that noise?" "Screw it," "Yeah, I can fly," an incomplete "Holy..." and "You crazy son of a bitch." All of the fighting, stunts and other action might be enticing for some kids to imitate. When Tony refuses to cooperate with Raza, we see brief footage of insurgents repeatedly dunking Tony's head underwater as torture. We see footage of Jim Cramer from CNBC's "Mad Money" using a baseball bat to hit a coffee mug. Tony speeds and swerves through traffic. JUMP SCENES A Humvee suddenly explodes. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of action-oriented and suspenseful/ominous music plays on the soundtrack. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None, but some songs had lyrics that we couldn't fully hear and/or understand, thus presenting the possibility of them potentially containing objectionable material. PROFANITY At least 1 possible "s" word (and another spoken as "B-S"), 1 slang term using male genitals ("pr*ck"), 4 hells, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 damn, 5 uses of "Oh my God," 2 of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "God," "Good God" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY A soldier asks Tony if it's true he's "12 for 12" with some calendar models. Tony replies something about a scheduling conflict disrupting that run, but then adds that the last month was twins, and thus made up for that. We see miscellaneous cleavage. Christine calls Tony on his obviously rehearsed answer to a question, with him joking that yes, he does practice that every night before bed and then adds that he would like to show her personally. She then asks if he loses any sleep from his military profiteering, and he replies he'd prefer to lose sleep with her. We then see them making out on a bed, her on top of him in panties and a bra, and they end up rolling off the far side of the bed (and thus out of the camera shot). We later see her asleep in bed, nude and lying face down with the sheet strategically covering anything explicit. She then gets up and walks around holding that sheet over her front, and we later see her walking about in just a dress shirt (thus lots of leg, with brief glimpses of her bra and a little cleavage). Knowing Christine spent the night with Tony, Pepper tells her she does anything Tony asks, including taking out the trash (a reference to Christine). Dropping innuendo that only he gets (about sleeping with Christine), Tony says he was late because he got caught "doing a piece" for Vanity Fair. We see sexy flight attendants on Tony's private plane with their shirts tied up to reveal bare midriffs, and one then grabs a stripper pole that suddenly rises up out of the floor, and does a little sexy dancing around it. We see a close-up and very pixilated view of Tony shirtless. After being held captive for three months, Tony tells Pepper there are two things he wants. One is an American cheeseburger, but before he can say the second, she assumes it's something sexual (although she doesn't say that outright), but he then says he also wants a press conference set up. We see Tony shirtless. Tony jokingly reminds Jim of the latter's spring break experience with some lady, and then asks, "What was his name?" (the emphasis being on "his" -- meaning it was a transvestite or transsexual). Pepper wears a cocktail dress with an extremely low-cut back, while the front shows a little bit of cleavage. She and Tony dance and nearly kiss. Pepper hears Tony telling someone to be gentle and that it's his first time, but she then sees that he's referring to his automated equipment removing the Iron Man suit from his body. He then tells Pepper, "Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." SMOKING Obadiah (cigar) and Raza (cigarette) each smoke at least once, while some miscellaneous terrorists also smoke. We see Hugh Hefner (really Stan Lee in a cameo) holding a pipe. TENSE FAMILY SCENES At a ceremony, there's a brief video package about Tony's life, including the death of his parents (not how or when they died, just that they did). Tony states that he never got to say goodbye to his father. Insurgents raid a village and separate a father from his family. His kids and wife then watch in horror as it appears the father will be executed, but Iron Man arrives and saves the day. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Weapons manufacturers and the notion of using military weapons to keep the peace around the world. Tony having a change of heart about the above. Tony's philosophy of work hard and live fast. The question of whether it's better to be feared or respected. Upon hearing that Tony has no family, Yinsen comments on him being a man with everything yet nothing. Iron Man being a different sort of superhero who gets his abilities from his suit. VIOLENCE Tony rides along with U.S. military personnel in Humvees when the one in front of his suddenly explodes. Gunfire and explosions then erupt all around them, with all of the soldiers around him hit by such fire and wounded or killed. He gets out and tries to run away, but then sees one of his own bombs has landed by him. The resultant explosion blows him backwards, wounded and unconscious. Tony hosts a demo of his latest weapon, a missile that separates into smaller pieces that all fall to the ground, resulting in a massive explosion (that sends a shock wave that hits Tony and various military personnel). We see the Humvee explode again during a replay of the above attack. We see disorienting footage of what initially appears to be insurgents torturing Tony following his capture, but we later realize it was Yinsen performing surgery on him to save his life by implanting the electromagnetic device in his chest. When Tony refuses to cooperate with Raza, we see brief footage of insurgents repeatedly dunking Tony's head underwater as torture. He's otherwise manhandled by them, including being slapped forward on the shoulder/back. A bomb attached to a door blows back and kills two insurgent guards. Tony and Yinsen then race to finish powering up the former's prototype Iron Man suit as other guards race toward them. To buy time, Yinsen grabs a machine gun and wildly fires it through the caves, chasing away the guards until he runs out of bullets and runs into a bunch of men who aim their guns at him. As Iron Man, Tony knocks various insurgent guards back and aside, all as their bullets bounce off his armored suit. During this, his arm gets stuck in the cave wall, with one insurgent racing up and trying to shoot him in the head. However, the bullet ricochets off that and hits the insurgent, killing him (no blood, and played for laughs on the part of the film). Raza then fires a rocket at Iron Man that misses, with Tony returning the same at Raza that hits nearby him, injuring him. After Tony's assistant dies from wounds inflicted by the insurgents (not seen), he exits the caves, and more insurgents fire machine guns at him. He uses a double flame thrower to catch them and weaponry around them on fire. When the latter results in a huge explosion, Tony uses the suit to lift off and fly out of that. He loses control, however, and crash-lands in the desert, damaging his suit, but he's okay (although his arm is later seen in a sling). We see footage of Jim Cramer from CNBC's "Mad Money" use a baseball bat to hit a coffee mug. Tony tests lifting off in his new Iron Man suit, but ends up quickly flying backwards and smacking into a wall (played for laughs). He then does this again and is similarly whipped backwards, but this time we don't see the impact. In his Iron Man suit, Tony accidentally goes down through his roof, smashes down through a piano on the floor below that, and then crashes to a stop on top of one of his expensive cars parked below that (played for laughs). We see TV footage of the insurgents firing machine guns in a village. We then see a huge explosion adjacent to the village, followed by explosions from inside buildings and machine guns being fired into buildings. The insurgents manhandle various villagers, and separate a father from his family. When his boy runs back to him, the insurgents separate them, throw the boy aside and the father to the ground where Raza stomps down on him and orders a subordinate to shoot the father. Before he can, Iron Man shows up and knocks the insurgent across the street through the air to a building into which he smashes. He strikes and blasts others, but insurgents hold their guns on women and children to make him stop. He then uses other weaponry that hits and kills those insurgents but leaves their hostages unscathed. He then yanks Abu Bakaar through a wall, leaving him to the villagers. Tony tests the suit's arm weaponry, and the resultant explosion causes property damage inside his lab. A tank fires at Iron Man but misses. Tony then fires something back at the tank, turns and starts to walk away, and the tank then explodes. Two jet fighters chase after Iron Man as he flies along, with one firing a missile at him. He deploys flares that divert the missile, but it still explodes near him, and the blast knocks him aside. One of the jets then fires its machine guns at him, but he avoids that. We then see that he's hiding beneath one of the jets, and its pilot shakes him off. As he's flung away, however, he crashes through the other jet's wing, shearing off part of it. That pilot ejects just in time as the jet breaks apart, but his parachute doesn't deploy and he plummets toward earth. Iron Man then races toward him and gets the chute out as the other jet prepares to fire at him again, but doesn't. Obadiah uses a device that renders Raza temporarily paralyzed and with blue veins showing up in the skin on his face. Obadiah's men shoot many captured insurgents (we hear but don't see the shooting of machine guns). A villain uses a device that renders Tony temporarily paralyzed and with blue veins showing up in the skin on his face. He then proceeds to remove the electromagnetic device from Tony's chest, and then leaves him to die from cardiac arrest. Tony then tries to make his way to his old device, but comes up just short and appears doomed until Jim shows up and helps him. An agent uses a small explosive to blow a door's lock. Government agents slowly enter Stark Industries with their guns drawn, unsure of what they'll find. As Pepper peers into the dark, eyes from Iron Monger suddenly illuminate and she then sees just how huge Iron Monger is. He then chases after Pepper while smashing and bashing those agents. Iron Monger nearly shoots Pepper with the huge gun on his arm, but Iron Man knocks him aside. The two then battle, with lots of resultant property damage as well as cars crashing into each other. Iron Monger then picks up a family in their car, with Iron Man blasting him backwards and then catching that car, saving the family. The two continue battling, with Iron Monger bashing Iron Man back into a bus, and then firing a missile into that bus, followed by an explosion. Iron Man and Iron Monger continue their battle, bashing each other about, with Iron Monger then crushing Iron Man. At the same time, and under command from Iron Man, Pepper sets a power supply below them to blow. With part of Iron Man's armored suit now off, Iron Monger fires machine guns and then many missiles at Tony, but misses due to a damaged aim control. Pepper then activates the explosion that then sends up a wave of energy that zaps Iron Monger, and he then falls down into a reactor that then explodes. Reviewed April 29, 2008 / Posted May 2, 2008