Making my rounds…

Iron Man, another superhero franchise kick-off from the Marvel stable, has the privilege of being the first in line at the summer box office. It sets the bar high. Helmed by Jon Favreau and starring a buffed-up Robert Downey, Jr., the film is strong where most other blockbusterly films are weak: in its pacing, wit, and character development. The storyline and moral questioning are comic-book simple, yet the film craftily manages to critique America’s penchant for slaughter without succumbing to liberal piety. And the action is genuinely thrilling—the benefit of patient characterization.

David Mamet’s Redbelt functions as a rebuke to the traditional Hollywood martial arts picture, taking the well-trod theme of the moral hero tested by corrupt influences and finding fresh meaning in it. The film is full of the pleasures of Mamet—his rhythmic, precise dialogue, honed to near-perfection and spoken confidently by a well-appointed cast; his patient, temperate, invisibly intelligent direction which rarely (if ever) calls attention to itself; his ability to take clichés and make them seem as new. If all of this seems to indicate an action film for snobs, that’s because it is. But it also provides a lot in the way of fun. The buildup to the final confrontation, and the wordless, final ten minutes, are as satisfying as anything found in Rocky and The Karate Kid.