Iron Man

IRON MAN
PARAMOUNT
RELEASED 1 May 2008
So the 2008 Summer blockbuster season is officially opened with Marvel’s ‘Iron Man’ first out of the blocks. Can the mighty home of Spider-Man’ and ‘X-Men continue to keep the superhero movie ride going?
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.) is billionaire playboy and head of global weapons manufacturer Stark Industries. In Afghanistan to demonstrate the Jericho Missile, his latest rocket-propelled instrument of death, Stark is ambushed, injured (life-threateningly from one of his own rockets) and held hostage by a terrorist group. They demand Stark builds them their own rocket system, but Stark has other ideas, secretly constructing a metal suit that will save his life.
After a heroic return to America, Tony Stark turns his back on the weapons industry, and dedicates his energies to a better version of the ‘Iron Man’ suit, which doesn’t please his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Cue some superheroic smack-downs!
Robert Downey Jnr. was simply born to play Tony?Stark, and he lives up to all expectations here. His own personal history of drink and drug abuse and a playboy lifestyle give him the perfect charm and life experience to render Stark as a different type of superhero. Gwyneth Paltrow is sparky as his assistant Pepper Potts, and best friend Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) gets to play the straightman to his boss, although there are hints that he may get to do a lot more in a potential sequel. Talking of sequels, this is probably the modern superhero movie’s biggest problem. While ‘Iron Man’ is a good introduction to the character, you can never shake the feeling that the story is mainly that – introductory. Watching ‘Iron Man’, you just know there is an action-packed sequel waiting to happen, and it’s frustrating to be given tasty snippets of action when we really should be getting more, but we’ll have to pay again in a couple of years. Never mind, roll on ‘Iron Man 2’.
THREE OUT OF FIVE