Heath McKnight: Obsessive Iron Man fan
Before I start my little op-ed about Iron Man and The Dark Knight, I want you all to know that Iron Man is indeed my favorite character. I had him tattooed on my right forearm almost five years ago, and Entertainment Weekly even featured me as their “Obsessive Fan of the Week” last year! I write for Advanced Iron (the #1 Iron Man fan site on the planet), and my love for the character stretches back over 20 years.
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That said, Batman is my second favorite character (tied with Captain America), and Batman Begins was, for the longest time not only my favorite comic book movie, but one of my top 20 favorite films of all time. The Dark Knight somehow topped Batman Begins, and completely blew me away. It deserves all the money and (hopefully) awards it has (or will) earn.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I want to spend a little time talking about why, ultimately, I love Iron Man more than The Dark Knight. Understand that while I think TDK is a magnificent movie, and the musical score is infinitely better than the pedestrian soundtrack of Iron Man – ol’ Shell Head’s film wins the race (but only by a little bit).
So why do I love Iron Man more? I recently sat down, and thought about the best movies I’ve seen this past summer, and I was hard-pressed in deciding whether Iron Man or TDK was better – or if they were a tie for me. Due to a busy work schedule this summer, I could only see each movie once, but you know I’ll wear the DVDs out when they’re released. I could also watch only a handful of films, but I hear that Indiana Jones 4 stunk anyway.
So after thinking about both, even going so far as comparing stories (both are aces) and direction (two veteran indie filmmakers doing their best work).
- Acting: Tie – you can’t get better than Robert Downey, Jr. and Heath Ledger.
- Visual FX: Iron Man.
- Music: The Dark Knight.
- Villains: Sorry, Iron Monger, but Heath’s Joker scared the crap out of me, and he deserves an Oscar.
- Cinematography: Matthew Libatique (Iron Man) and Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight) are both tops in their field, but I give the slight edge to Libatique.
- Overall fun factor for me: Iron Man wins by the narrowest of margins.
After all that, I came to the conclusion that Iron Man was the best film.
What ultimately got me to that conclusion was my good friend, comic book creator Rich Koslowski. He is the creator of The 3 Geeks, and he recently commented on his blog:
“I did love it [The Dark Knight, but] I still liked Iron Man better. And the one main reason I think is that Iron Man was more well-rounded. Iron Man had the one thing the The Dark Knight did not… joy.”
That’s exactly what I was mulling over: joy. Don’t get Rich or I wrong, we both love the dark aspects of Batman (don’t EVER lose that and don’t EVER hire Joel Shumacher EVER again!), but we went for the “light” with Iron Man.
So there you have it. Even though I am a big-time Iron Maniac, had the movie stunk, or had it been just decent-to-good, TDK would’ve won, hands down. Trust me, I love Iron Man the character, but I don’t love being let down. I learned that years ago, when I’d get excited for upcoming movies, much like sports fans would get pumped up for the big game, only to be disappointed when the film opened (Jurassic Park being the exception). And believe me, I was obsessing about both of these films.
For me, ultimately, I just loved watching Iron Man fly around, dispatching bad guys. But don’t forget that I absolutely loved The Dark Knight. It and Iron Man are the top two best comic book movies I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to watch both films at least two dozen times on DVD before the year ends.
And one more thing: I think it’s great that TDK made over $520 million, and Iron Man, a minor, not-as-well-known Marvel superhero made more money than Indy 4. No one expected Iron Man to do as well as it did, but it certainly did.
I can’t wait for the next Iron Man and Batman films.
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201 Comments
TDK was all about Batman hoping to retire because of Harvey Dent (pre-Two-Face, of course).
heath
I agree that the tone of TDK is more pessimistic and morose than that of IM. But I still I felt exhilarated at the end of TDK. I don’t think I have felt that surge of pure pleasure at the end of any other movie in recent time.
My favorite comic book movie used to be Batman Begins and then it was Iron man for a couple of months and then came The Dark Knight and blew them all away. I think I would need a revision of Iron man to even think of comparing it to TDK at this point.
i agree with you Heath.
i personally liked Iron Man over TDK as well. For me the fact that the origin movie was able to be so innovative and at the same time respectfull and true to the comics its what we all wanted. I wanted iron man to establish the character, to let people like him for what he is, what he wants and what he does. Iron man now has the potential to take off into any path that it wants, and enlighten us with one of the best stories ever made on comics.(hopefully, and i am sure favs will do it again)
TDK was an awesome movie as well, i cant say enough of heath’s acting, that guy was the best! but TDK was more complete to the sense that its an established character that went all out and achieved a great blockbuster.
the fact that we are sitting here debating wether IM or TDK is better is alone the sole reason why IM has the slight edge on TDK. I see it the following way. both movies achieved a score of 100 based on aspects that were done during the movie. each aspect has a weight to it, and in IM, they had a bigger weight IMO.
Nothing screams biased than screaming I’m not biased 5 or six times over and over. TDK was by far a more complex film with a much deeper plot. Iron Man was basic and very simple. If your don’t like complexity sure I guess Iron Man might be the better film for you. I think RDJ did a great job, but to put his performance as being tied with Heath is laughable. At the end of the day he was still RDJ where heath seemed to have become the Joker. TDK was by far the better film. Better performance, better music, deeper story, far far more complext, and better villain.
Great tatoo !!
@Daniel Fenwick
All valid points, but notice that the comparisons are focusing on RDJ vs Heath Ledger. One big weakness of TDK is that it was about the Joker and Harvey Dent much more than it was about the guy who is supposed to be the hero: Batman himself.
Vic
I never really saw that argument I think it was just as much about Batman as it was the Joker and I thought it was less about Harvey than either of the other two.
Dude what happened to story? Dialogue? I don’t think Wally can be beat on the cinematography front either. The shots he creates are just wonderful. Also just because Robert Downy was great doesn’t mean the rest of the cast gets a pass. TDK clearly has a better all around cast and their performances are all top notch. Kinda sounds like you were being generous to Iron man cause you love the character so much. Even though hes kinda like Marvel’s less interesting Bruce Wayne.
i am a hardcore batman fanboy and i love TDK with my whole heart and soul, but i don’t blame people for thinking IM is better. To me, it’s really just about a preference of style. TDK is amazing if you like that kind of thing, but i understand how it could turn people off.
i really didn’t like IM because it was just not my style.
Daniel Fenwick,
Ok while Joker is the #1 villan on most peoples list…
i think its true that Joker is the the mirror opposite of Batman. As much as Batman fights for order, Joker battles for chaos.
But when i think of batman i think of knight Fall and BANE…
not only did he brake batman’s back he broke his will…(no spoilers)
and that my friends is the key. Batmans will the problem with TDK IS the FACT that Joker stole the show from batman.
I never said I wasn’t biased, I said I was an iron Man fan first, and a Batman (and Captain America) fan second. I’ll say this, though, I haven’t truly enjoyed the Iron Man comics in years, more than a decade now. Good stuff here and there (like John Jackson Miller’s run, the new Invincible Iron Man, esp. anytime Micheline and Layton returned), but it hasn’t been consistent since Len Kaminski left.
heath
You are entitled to the opinion- “The things that keep The Dark Knight from being great are some of the stupid crap like the bat sonar among other things and about 30 minutes of fat that could have been cut.”, what about Iron man flying around in a suit, I mean TDK was
purly based on a real world batman. You can’t make a hero more factual than that, especially one does not use guns. And Iron Man has missiles in his suit and actually kills people, with mini-warheads -implied in the movie anyway.
@Vic
I could NOT agree with you more, Vic. Aesthetically and cinematically, The Dark Knight was a better film. It deserves all the accolades it is getting. I have been a Batman fan for MANY years and only a casual fan of old Shellhead, but I ENJOYED Iron Man more than TDK also. I felt that TDK was too long and didn’t interject enough humor (such as Alfred’s Lamborghini comment) to take some of the pressure off. THAT is what I like about IM more. The irreverance of Tony Stark and the way it was portrayed by RDJ.
Will I own both movies on DVD and watch them repeatedly? Of course. I bet I end up watching IM more, though….
I liked both Iron Man and TDK. Going into Iron Man I didn’t know what to expect, I thought the trailer looked dumb and I was basically skeptical about it. The movie rocked, but it was not revolutionary, not to me at least, it was pretty much the same old comic book movie, only done right.
TDK on the other hand was revolutionary for a comic book movie. It raised the bar, it gave comic book movies a new image and even a new universe to explore. The movie to me did not feel like a comic book movie, it was a crime saga and a thriller.
No, the movie was not the most joyful, but you know what, I have seen the movie at least 6 times and every single time I see it I am as excited as I was the first time I saw it. When it is over I want to see it again, I love TDK. I just did not have that same feeling with Iron Man. It was a great movie, don’t get me wrong, but TDK blew me away, it is easily one of the best movies of all time (And I mean of all movies, Iron Man is definitely a great movie, but when compared to other non-comic book movies it is just a movie, TDK on the other hand is a classic.)
Oh no, if you say that there is anything you didn’t like with TDK, it MUST be because of your bias, not because that’s your OPINION or anything…. [/sarcasm]
I find this utterly hilarious that there are so many people attacking this guy for expressing an opinion… Sad how simple some peoples’ minds can be…
@Ken J
That’s odd. It seemed like most people were simply stating their opinion in response to Heath’s, rather than resorting to name calling or alluding to his intelligence level. Hrm, I also can’t help but notice that Heath agreed he was biased to Iron Man, what with the tattoo on his arm and being covered by EW as the biggest Iran Man fan. Finally, everyone agrees that the issue of looking for joy in a flick is a matter of personal preferance, and little to do with fact. All told, the people who disagree with Heath and favor the Dark Knight seem to be respecting his opinion but pushing their own… WEEEEEEEIRD.
I would love for everyone to come to agreement with me in saying Ken J is a Simple Minds fan. Snitchy Bitchys, PACE OUT!
All of you weakling humans are petaQs!! No human film can match Aktur and Melota!!
I think we all respect Heath’s opinion, Ken, we’re just expressing our own.
Fair analysis, tho i may not 100% totally agree..I respect your opinion tho..but for all those people that keep complaining TDK was NEGATIVE and SAD..ummm..”THE DARK KNIGHT!!” is the name of the movie and remains true to batman character..people should have easily seen some sort of spin on “DARK!!” coming. TITANIC was very SAD and DEPPRESSING but wooppee dee doo ..people suddenly accepted the greatness of this movie..and it was great..but damn.
Robert Downey did outclass Christian Bale, but Christian isn’t the reason to watch TDK. It’s all about the Joker.
But if I had to choose between Batman vs Two Face in TDK or Iron Man vs Iron Monger, I’d go with Batman vs Two Face. The last fight in Iron Man was rather generic.
@Ken J
“I find this utterly hilarious that there are so many people attacking this guy for expressing an opinion… Sad how simple some peoples’ minds can be…”
Ken, you do have a knack for being inflammatory.
Although I realize you’re trying to defend Heath, that last bit was completely unnecessary.
Vic
Batman Begins was a great movie,I really liked the way the story went…TDK was not,it was over hyped and over all i was bored half way through.Iron Man was excellent…a whole new Marvel star who lit up the big screen with some amazing flying effects which I think needs praise…all we had before that was Superman flying through the air.
The Incredible Hulk was fantastic too and was a success as far as i am concerned despite the lack of hype.I like to see my superhero movies do fantastic action and Batman is just James Bond with a great suit…other than that he does sod-all.
Braveheart,
Uhm… Lets just agree to disagree? On everything you said, except Superman flying around, which is true, he did fly…
Incredible Hulk…. fantastic? yeeeeeeeeeah….
To be honest, I found the Dark Knight to be tedious. It was a good movie but about an hour too long. There was nothing that blew me away either.
Iron Man wasn’t a cinegraphic masterpiece, but it’ll get watched repeatedly as it’s fun, funny and overall enjoyable. I don’t have to invest my entire day to the movie.
If you plopped both movies in front of me right now, I’d watch Iron Man. Is it a better movie? Dunno. That’s just what I’d watch.
There are people who are simply stating their opinions, but when you get the few responses like “clearly TDK was a better film” or “TDK is the greatest comic book movie of all time and that’s that” or “Nothing screams biased than screaming I’m not biased 5 or six times over and over. TDK was by far a more complex film with a much deeper plot. Iron Man was basic and very simple. If your don’t like complexity sure I guess Iron Man might be the better film for you.” That last one was clearly an attack on Heath, even if Heath admits to be biased, he’s allowed to admit it himself, it’s not someone else’s place to say “oh, you’re definitely biased.” Funny how that statement made the same “simple minds” statement but in a different, less direct, way and got away with it without any repercussions right?
So sorry I responded to attacks with an attack, I guess it kind of makes me mad when people do that unprovoked, I apologize. But maybe it’s about time the few of you see how it feels. The majority of the people here are not doing so, most are just stating their opinions, some agree, some don’t, and that’s fine, my comments were not at all directed at you guys, just the few that have made personal attacks on Heath for expressing his OPINION.
Anyway, in case it’s too mixed into that big post, I do apologize for letting it upset me, but it does bother me how someone like Heath wants to express an opinion but feels like he has to be on the defensive from the very beginning. But it wouldn’t have bothered me at all if the responses disproved Heath’s concern of a backlash, but there were those who proved his need to be on the defensive.
Stating your opinion is one thing, stating it in a matter-of-fact manner that clearly is trying to imply that the person you’re disagreeing with doesn’t know what’s better if it bit him in the butt, that’s rude.
Heath should have been able to type up that entire thing, without having to repeat praises for TDK, and not have anyone be so rude about their responses. Albeit it is the minority, the people here seem to be very civilized and polite, there are just a few examples that bothered me. So sorry again for not setting the example for the right way to respond to it, I guess I could have simply explained this point of view without it turning into direct insults.
Ken,
I think the reason this article was posted was to create a place where readers of Screen Rant could/would post their objective/subjective opinions of TDK & IM. Heath specifically mentioning both with equal merit then giving his own personal take on it was just to start it off–what other reason would make this article valid? A news article about an opinion that most regulars already knew? ( No offense, Heath–I have much love for you true Shellheads ).
That isn’t to say if he’d brought up IM and IH a good percentage of the posts wouldn’t have been ‘TDK > all’, so writing about these films by name sort of set the theme: IM or TDK?
Sorry if this sounds snarky or anything, just my opinion on the article, rather than my opinion of the opinion in the article =P
Rev
@Ken J
“I guess I could have simply explained this point of view without it turning into direct insults.”
Yup, that was my only issue with your comment. I refer you to this:
Rules: No profanity or personal attacks.
Vic
This is the internet don’t expect to express your opinion and have everyone agree with you and praise you for being brilliant. Just grow a set express your opinion and deal with what happens. I think it says a lot about this guy that he overly tried to praise TDK just because he was afraid of a little internet backlash. Who cares?
It’s pretty hard to argue that Ironman wasn’t simple minded. From the first five minutes of the movie you pretty much knew how everything would end. Look I enjoyed Iron man but lets not kid our selves. There was no complexity in this movie. Straight forward action film with lots of comedy. I can understand people saying I enjoyed Iron man more, but to actual say it’s a better film doesn’t make sense. Not only was TDK a better film, but I personally enjoyed it more. How could people go in to a Batman film with the title TDK and complain there was not enough Joy? Did you actually expect an uplifting movie ?
@Daniel Fenwick
“This is the internet don’t expect to express your opinion and have everyone agree with you and praise you for being brilliant.”
Of course not, but unlike most other sites on the internet, here I enforce that even you disagree, you need to be civil about it. The problem with “the internet” is anonymity: People will say the most outrageous things to others online that they would NEVER have the balls to say to that person’s face were they in the same room. It breeds a false machismo which frankly, I find disgusting and pathetic.
“I think it says a lot about this guy that he overly tried to praise TDK just because he was afraid of a little internet backlash.”
Yeah, it says he REALLY LIKED The Dark Knight. A lot.
Chill out.
Vic
Chill out? I’m not yelling or coursing there is no need for me to chill I’m as cool as an ice cube.
It dosn’t say he liked TDK alot it says he is so afraid to get bashed that he overly praised TDK while saying that Iron man was better simply so he wouldn’t get bashed as much. My point was he shouldn’t be so afraid of what a bunch of internet people are going to say to him and just grow a set. Tell it like it is.
I agree that a lot of people on the internet say things that they normally wouldn’t say in person. The internet gives some people the balls that they normally wouldn’t have. Personally I try not to talk much differently on the net than I do in real life though I must admit on the internet I’m a little nicer and more respectful. In real life I’m very blunt very honest and don’t care even remotely who’s feelings get hurt. On the net I pretend to care.