4 out of 5

Directed by: Vlad Yudin

Is there a lot missing from Generation Iron?  Sure.  Much of the psychology of bodybuilding isn’t touched on, and some glaring aspects – such as the over-the-top masculinity of the sport (and how that corresponds to its female competitors, momentarily glimpsed but not heard from in this doc) – are completely skirted.  And then there the issues that get a mention but that its offered in passing makes the decision to include that mention curious: Arnold’s beginning of questioning of the lack of proportion in the sport, which I’d say was triggered specifically by the bloated look of many bodybuilders from the year’s Mr. O competition featured in the film – 2012 – and onward; steroid usage – although I appreciate that Jim Stoppani talked by to propose legalized moderation, which I agree with; and the inherent selfishness of the bodybuilding pursuit.

Then again, there is an incredible amount onscreen, covering a small handful of extreme competitors, and it’s handled, by director Vlad Yudin, with an incredibly impressive balance that allows us to marvel both at the insane accomplishments of these individuals – for that’s what bodybuilding at this level is: an accomplishment – and also to see, to a certain extent, beyond the magazine covers and meathead stereotypes.  We can, for the most part, make our own assessments – which I admire in a documentary – and while you might still come out thinking that Kai Greene is eye-rollingly prosaic at times, or that Phil Heath is mighty full of himself, that judgment sits atop a better appreciation of these guys’ – and Dennis Wolf, and Roelly Winklaar, and etc. – humanities.  I kept expecting the film to break down into testosterone-fueled glory shots, but from Mickey Rourke’s gravelly, patient narration, the mostly sober music selection, and tastefully edited interviews (not masking personality gaps but not hanging on shots to overblow the same), my attentions were riveted.  Add into this the casual narratives that inform the film’s central focus of capturing the journey to the Mr. Olympia competition, and the result is a suprisingly sober, even-handed film that makes me proud to be a health obsessive, as the flick casts an accepting – with an appropriately incredulous tint – light on the industry and sport of bodybuilding.