Iron Man | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

I think one of my biggest surprises when I saw this year's bucket list was that it had a bunch of superhero movies on it, including 3 MCU movies!

I'm such a huge fan of the MCU, and the bucket list picked 3 great movies, so what better to start with than the OG?

I love this movie.

It wasn't my introduction to the MCU, but it was maybe the third MCU film I saw, and seeing this after watching a team-up movie was a great way to learn more about the characters.

As far as origin stories in superhero worlds go, this is one of the best, both inside and outside of the MCU. Being able to take a lesser-known character like Tony Stark, create a complete character arc with great development, and use that arc to fuel a franchise that currently has over 30 movies is a feat that hasn't yet been replicated to this level of success.

And there's a lot of reasons why this movie works so well as a standalone, before taking the rest of the franchise into account.

The main reason for this, is of course, the casting. 

I don't know if there's ever been a more perfect casting choice than Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. He completely embodied the character in a way that made him feel real and grounded, and set the tone for the franchise moving forward.

But less on the impact and more on the film itself.

Taking everything else out of the equation, I think this is a great movie. It's a mix of drama, thriller, action, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and it does all of these things really well.

You're invested in the story and the characters immediately and this interest remains until long after the film ends.

It's extremely well written and directed, particularly the first 40 or so minutes which are so engaging and entertaining that you're completely locked into the rest of the movie.

I've already mentioned how perfect RDJ was but the rest of the actors also did a great job with their characters, and it's really interesting to see the way they, despite being side characters, changed and evolved over the years.

So I'm really glad this film was on the bucket list, even though I definitely would have watched it again anyway. But it's a great film, a great start to an amazing franchise, and I can't wait to watch the other two MCU films on the bucket list!