Who is the real Iron Man?

Even the most reckless estimations of Iron Man's weekend grosses failed to hit the mark. No one thought Marvel Studios first big production on its own two feet featuring a little known human-cum-suit of awesomeness superhero played by a recovering drug addict would break into the hundred mil winner's circle. The movie, including Thursday previews, raked in an impressive $104.2 million domestically. In the week leading up to its opening, I obsessively checked Rotten Tomatoes for early reviews. For awhile, the tomato-meter had the film at %100, stoking the excitement and desire to see it opening night for me and many of my friends. In trade pubs like Variety, Defamer, and Nikki Finke's blog, writers consistently referenced rottentomatoes or metacritic to comment on the blockbuster's unusually high rating. Granted, in this case, Jon Favreau's film was arguably critic-proof, but more importantly no one can deny the taste- and profit-making influence of reviewers who pushed moviegoers into an Iron Man frenzy. The success of Iron Man is proof that the undertaker has been overhasty in writing the epitaph of the movie critic. Even if artistically, Iron Man hadn't lived up to the reviews (which it did), critics are still the ones with the ability to make or break a film's opening numbers. Take a look at the numbers for Eyes Wide Shut, for instance. Prior to its opening, critics were salivating at the thought of Tom and Nicole gettin' jiggy on screen. Their verbal orgasms led to a huge opening weekend for what was essentially an arthouse pic that, without all the critical buzz, would never have seen the money it did. Yes, it did take in about $1 million less than Warner Bros. expected opening weekend, but their estimates were based mostly on critical hype, as Kubrick refused to screen the movie for critics or industry folk before its wide release July 16, 1999. To quote Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo: "I think what really happened was that Eyes Wide Shut had a strong core audience who had to see it opening day, resulting in that low Saturday bump up." Critics still have the power of the pen to raise or bury a film. Iron Man proves it.