Iron Man has a very doglike robot


Posted on May 21, 2008
By Julia Szabo

In the new movie Iron Man, based on the Marvel cartoon, Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark: weapons manufacturer, U.S. defense contractor, extremely entitled son of privilege, world-class playboy. He's a cocky alpha dog if there ever was one.  

But a visit to Afghanistan, where he's injured and taken captive after one of his company's own missiles totals the army vehicle he's riding in, transforms Tony into a crusader for the underdog. There's no actual dog in this movie, but here at FetchDog we notice canine references, no matter how subtle. And this movie has a great one.  

Tony travels too much to have a dog, of course - but that doesn't stop him from programming a trusty robot to display all the traits we love most about dogs: loyalty, smarts, and heart. This very doglike robot wordlessly helps Tony assemble the ultimate superhero suit. And when robo-Fido comes through for his master in one particularly excruciating, nail-biting scene, Downey says "Good boy" (as well he should).  

The characters and plot of this hugely entertaining movie reference many legendary figures of classical and contemporary mythology (without ever feeling derivative), and it's great fun to call them out. Here's my list (please post a comment and add your own): Icarus, Shakespeare's Henry IV, MacGyver, Superman, Batman, Syndrome (the villain that plagued The Incredibles), X-Men, Oscar (the gold statuette of Academy Awards fame), Bond - James Bond, The Aviator (a.k.a. Howard Hughes), Transformers, The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, even - OK, so it's a stretch, but there's lots of sand in this flick - Lawrence of Arabia.

To read about other dogless dog movies, go here.
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