Opinion: Let's be Honest, Robert Downey Jr. should have won an Oscar for Civil War |
| Source - Vincent Zafra / Illusion Story [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)] |
LBH... RDJ is the rock in which the MCU was built
Who would have guessed that creating a movie in 2008 would have launched a film dynasty that continually reinvents itself and delivers on content that is both satisfying for the casual movie goers and loyal comic book fans? What is even crazier is they picked a superhero from the Marvel world who is kinda quirky. Fans immediately know the X-Men and the Fantastic Four and even Spiderman, but Iron Man tends to be a little overlooked when we think about the breakout characters from Marvel.
Why? Because Tony Stark is a bit of a megalomaniac and a playboy with a pretty strong history of drinking problems. He is not exactly as family friendly as the friendly neighborhood Spiderman or the Boy Scout that is Reed Richards.
Yet, the film still went through and Robert Downey Jr. was brought in to perfectly capture what Tony Stark would be like if he were:
- A real person
- Living in our actual universe
- Still with a similar backstory as the comic version
He really has been great in every film
It must be said that RDJ has been amazing in every single role as Tony/ Iron Man, but there never really was the same emotional intensity in the base script as there was in Civil War. In all of his stand alone films, we see the evolution of the character and how he grows into what we ultimately see in Infinity War/ Endgame.
Iron Man 3 (regardless of what others may say about the film) pushed our hero into an emotional realm that has him coping with going through a worm hole and negotiating what is personally important to him, Pepper Potts. But, there was too much of a focus on creating this different type of film for the MCU, this spy thriller/ comeback story. So much of the story is based around him getting back to his normal reality and getting the backstories of the various villains, that we don't really get too much time with RDJ/ Iron Man to let him work through these issues effectively on screen.
Let us also look at his work in the Spiderman films, which again stem from Civil War. There is this beautiful dynamic of him acting in the role of a pseudo-father to Peter Parker. This situation is a wonderful experience for him and us as an audience because we get to see two beloved characters fitting into this awkward mold. It is also enjoyable to see Tony catch himself being too much like his own father with the tough love and then walk things back with his witty sense of humor.
Can we talk a moment about the pure performance?
Simply from an acting stand point, Robert Downey Jr's performance in Civil War is breath taking. The reason being is he conveys every emotion he as the character is experience perfectly with his facial expressions, body language, and line delivery. Look at the image below, where he is cradling War Machine after being blown out of the sky and who should be dead. The look in that image alone conveys both, "I can't believe it has come to this," and "It is on," at the same time.
 |
| Source - "CIVIL WAR TRAILER IS HERE" by AntMan3001 - Under Creative Commons license |
Every moment of the film is an emotional roller coaster
Civil War starts with RDJ using the BARF as a form of therapy to go back and relive his last interaction with his parents. This is the lead in for what will ultimately be the finale of the film (although we didn't know that at the time) and the de-aging CGI helps to transport us and RDJ back to his youth were he was still a plucky rebel, yet we still see that foreboding look in his face, because he knows this is the last time he will see them.
Then we get the interaction in the halls where he is confronted by someone who lost a loved one directly caused by the actions of the Avengers (which sets up the plot to the whole film) and he is defensive then crushed by the story which he later retells. Tony Stark has gone full circle, from arms producer to superhero back to a cause of destruction, and he is struggling with this.
Robert Downey Jr tells his character's whole story with one powerful tool
Throughout the entire film, one only needs to look at one component of RDJ's performance to understand Iron Man's whole story and how is struggling with these emotions... his eyes. He uses his eyes to send these powerful messages of what he is experiencing and how he is struggling, but also to confirm his decisions.
 |
|
I'm pretty sure the image above is right around the moment he says, "He killed my mom." look at the intensity in his face and his eyes. This is the breaking point between them, truly. The decision has been made, this guy killed his parents and he is done. As an actor, it cane be difficult to convey emotions to an audience, but Robert Downey Jr does so throughout this whole film with the expressions he uses in his eyes. His intensity and focus during this moment and the War Machine moment are in direct contrast to the look we see when he is young Tony in the BARF and even the, "come on guys," moment when he wants the team to sign the accords.
The beauty of this film and RDJ's role in it, is the question, "Who is the bad guy?" The struggle we get from Tony Stark is he starts to think that maybe he is the bad guy and at the end he makes the choice that Bucky is in fact the bad guy, and so is Cap by association. Overall, the film took one of the greatest story lines in Marvel history and did it justice in the MCU.
It is a shame, but things are changing
While I still believe it is a shame that superhero films aren't looked at closely enough for award consideration, things are changing. There still may be hope for Robert Downey Jr. to receive a lifetime achievement award, but I think that undercuts his amazing performance in just this role and just this film.
Anyway, rant over... thank you for taking the time to peruse this post and feel free to reach out at contact@jaygarzone.com to provide feedback or reactions. You can also subscribe to the blog in the header.