Let me start this blog by saying that I am not a big fan of superheroes. Yes, I went and saw several of the Superman, Batman, and Spiderman movies, but it was never without a date. My husband made me sit through Van Helsing and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and they were okay. I will watch a superhero movie once without much fuss, but don’t expect me to ever see it again. It has just never been my thing and at the age I am now, I don’t expect that to ever change.
However, I am now convinced the superhero people are trying to outsmart me. I read that Edward Norton is going to play the Incredible Hulk in the latest installment of that series. Well done with the casting Universal Pictures – my chances of seeing that film went from 0% to about 95%. The same thing is true of Iron Man. When my husband said he wanted to go see it during a preview, I thought “ugh.” Then he said some magic words “You know, Robert Downey Jr. plays Iron Man in this movie.” Okay, I’ll go.
Actually, we have not made it to the theatre yet, but that hasn’t stopped droves of others from seeing the new flick. Iron Man hauled in a very, very impressive $100.7 million on its opening weekend. That makes its total $104.2 million since it opened on Thursday. Add in another $96.7 million overseas, and so far Iron Man has brought in over $200 million already.
I am actually glad to see this movie do well. I have liked Robert Downey Jr. every since I saw him in Weird Science back in 1985. I felt for him during his drug phase in the 90s. I usually don’t have much sympathy for celebs who abuse drugs, but Downey’s story seemed a bit different. He grew up in a showbiz family with his mom being a dancer and singer and his father being a well-known actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director. I also have heard that it was his dad that offered him his first joint at the tender age of eight. Now, I am not going to go on a rant about parenting, as much as I would like to, but when something like that happens to you, how much of a chance do you have to avoid addiction?
The one thing that impressed me is that no matter how many times he was arrested, no matter how great his addiction was, he always seemed to have been a consummate professional on the set. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992 for Chaplin.
Robert had some hard times during the 90s. He was arrested several times, even serving jail time for his offenses. He appears to have been clean and sober for several years now. And, while I would not have thought of his name when casting a superhero film, I am glad he is doing well now.