We went to see a movie this past weekend. The choice was between Iron Man and Speed Racer. Iron Man was getting better reviews, so that was the movie that we settled on. After all was said and done, I wish we had gone to see Speed Racer. On IMDB, Iron Man was rated 8.4 out of 10. Now I want to ask the same question that Bugs Bunny used to ask. What’s all the hub bub, bub? First of all, Iron Man definitely earns its PG-13 rating. If you are expecting the Iron Man from the comic book, you won’t find him here. The movie includes a lot of violent military battle scenes along with the off camera execution of a large group of civilians. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a heavy drinking womanizer whose family business is military weapons. Stark is indifferent to the destruction that is brought on by the products of his company until he makes a trip to the Middle East where his convoy is attacked and he is kidnapped by terrorists. Stark is tortured by his captors including a scene of simulated drowning. It is possible to take away an anti-war message from this movie. Some of the scenes in the movie made me uncomfortable for those families who brought younger children to the theatre. That includes a scene with Stark and a seemingly nude young woman rolling around in the sheets.

The iron suit was Stark’s ticket out of captivity, and once home, he perfected the design to provide the final Iron Man. The Iron Man armor does not get enough screen time. The movie gets bogged down in sarcastic dialogue from the main character and a weak performance from Terrence Howard who plays a military liason to Stark’s company. I’m not sure why this movie got so much hype, and it definitely doesn’t deserve all of the acclaim that it has received. I won’t buy the DVD, and you shouldn’t buy tickets to Iron Man. There is nothing special about this film. I knew that the Black Sabbath song Iron Man would be part of the soundtrack, but it only makes a short instrumental appearance during the credits. And if I haven’t convinced to skip this movie, make sure you stay until the end of the credits for a short bonus scene.