Monday, May 12, 2008

Iron Man ... the Catholic Batman?

Or so Enbrethiliel's pal points out ...
"I guess I was never interested," my friend continued," because he has no innate superpowers. I read a description of him somewhere that fits perfectly: the Catholic Batman. I mean, like Bruce Wayne, he just built everyth--"

I practically knocked Skairuz's glass over in my excitement. "The Catholic Batman??? Why? How? Speak!"

"Well . . . his motivation to fight crime is based on his discovery of how his past actions have caused others, including innocents, to suffer. He's trying to atone for his sins, do penance, as it were."

As you can see, Skairuz got the best out of fifteen years of Jesuit education. ...
She's not alone. Well, The American Culture doesn't go so far as to call Iron Man a Catholic Batman, but it does a very nice piece on the redemptive quality of the movie and concludes:
It's no surprise that Iron Man benefits from impressive special effects and action sequences, but it is somewhat surprisng and pleasing that it has some truly serious ideas and characterizations and explores them with sincerity, wit, and sophistication.
Decent Films concurs:
... Here is a popcorn movie with a will to entertain, at turns evoking James Bond, Batman Begins and Transformers; if it’s not in the same league as Batman Begins, it’s better (and shorter) than Transformers, with a redemptive angle foreign to James Bond.

Directed by Jon Favreau (Zathura), Iron Man is a rare superhero origin story that is also a conversion story. ...
I have been trying not to read reviews because I really want to see this in the movies and not know every turn of the plot. However, even a cursory scan of these reviews shows that this is a superhero movie with a lot of heart. Do go read them all for a good look behind the standard superhero story.

Oh, and to answer Enbrethiliel's question ...
Is there anything more embarrassing than having Barb Nicolosi beat me to posting about a superhero movie?
No, no there isn't. As I can say from experience right now.

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