Source: Paramount: Blu-ray, 2013.
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Action Stars:
Genre: Superhero film
Country: United States
Story Duration: 02:11:06
Act Duration:
1st Act: 00:40:12
2nd Act: 00:24:00
3rd Act: 00:23:32
4th Act: 00:29:20
Plot Turns:
1st: Tony Stark escapes
2nd: Successful test of Iron Man suit
3rd: Obadiah Stane revealed as the antagonist of film
ASD Ratio: 44%
AAD Ratios:
1st Act: 40%
2nd Act: 27%
3rd Act: 48%
4th Act: 60%
Action Structure: 2314
Action Scenarios:
Capture
Escape
Fall
Fight
Heist
Pursuit
Rescue
Speed
Total Action Moments: 24
Notable Action Sequence: Rescue Mission
Duration: 00:08:43
Act: 3rd
Action Scenarios:
Capture
Escape
Fall
Fight
Pursuit
Rescue
Speed
Description: One action scenario that is particularly showcased in Iron Man (2008) is the speed scenario. Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor is the principal reason for this emphasis that is not only weaponized in a variety of ways but is also fitted with arc-reactor-powered repulsors that allow Stark to travel at supersonic speeds. Out of all the action sequences in the film, it is the 3rd Act rescue mission in which the speed scenario is particularly highlighted along the x and y axes of action.
After watching on a news bulletin the Ten Rings terrorist group attack defenseless refugees, Tony Stark dons his new armor and heads over to Afghanistan to put a stop to the atrocities. The action sequence telling commences with a shot of Stark in his Iron Man armor streaking across the sky along the x-axis. In doing so he breaks the sound barrier, which is visually and auditorily rendered, providing powerful speed cues [Figure 1]. Just before a terrorist is about to shoot one of the refugees, with his son and wife looking on in desperation, Iron Man descends from the skies, this time with the speed scenario played out along the y-axis [Figure 2]. Iron Man takes out the terrorist with a powerful wallop that sends him flying into a wall. Next, Iron Man uses his repulsors to blast other terrorists in the area. In retaliation, the remaining terrorists hold refugees at gun point in an effort to dissuade further attack but Iron Man shoots at them with miniature mounted guns on his shoulders. After leaving Abu Bakaar, Stark’s previous captor, to the mercy of the rescued refugees, Iron Man takes to the skies again to target Jericho missiles that Ten Rings terrorists have used to dominate the region. But Iron Man is hit by a missile while in flight causing him to crash to the ground below, repeating the x-axis and y-axis staging of the previous speed scenario, but in a different form. Iron Man emerges from the impact crater, for the most part unscathed, but is promptly shot at by a tank. Iron Man avoids the passing shell and fires back with a miniature missile that explodes the tank. Soaring upward, Iron Man directs his repulsors at the Jericho missiles, triggering an explosion that blasts adjacent terrorists and their weapons depot, thereby limiting Ten Rings’ ability to mount another attack.
With his work done, Stark speeds out of the vicinity but is picked up on radar by the American Air Force. Soon two F-22s are scrambled and ordered to pursue and engage with the unidentified bogey [Figure 3]. The F-22 pilots shoot missiles and machinegun fire at Iron Man who avoids their attack through evasive manoeuvres, including clinging onto the bottom of one of the F-22s. In an effort to release Iron Man’s grip, the pilot rolls the plane, making Iron Man to clip the wing of the other F-22. With loss of control of the jet, the pilot jettisons but is unable to engage his parachute and tumbles towards the ground below. Stark, demonstrating his superhero credentials, comes to the pilot’s aid by diving downward along the y-axis [Figure 4] and yanks at the release handle, triggering the parachute to open and rescue the pilot from certain death. The sequence ends appropriately with Iron Man performing loops in the sky, demonstrating his flying proficiency, while heading back to his Malibu mansion.