Iron Man Advance Screening

I’m not even going to attempt to write a critical review of Iron Man.

I love comic books.
I love Robert Downey Jr.
I love action films.

Objectivity? Yeah, right!

Iron Man rattles along from the word go. Attention deficit disorder kids high on Coca-Cola will have no trouble following this film. Audiences literally aren’t given enough time to get bored, and the plot is typically Summer-Blockbuster-Lite.

Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast as Tony Stark, the alpha of alpha males. One imagines only Downey Jr. and his infinite charisma could make the arrogant swagger of this genius billionaire remotely lovable.

Gwyneth Paltrow comes off well as Tony Stark’s loyal secretary, Pepper Potts, despite some fanboy apprehension about casting her.

Jeff Bridges is equally on form as Obadiah Stane, the number two executive at Stark Industries. He fills the role of the elder statesman of the weapons company easily.

Sharing the billing with Tony Stark, is of course, the suit itself. Some of the film feels like a high tech version of the A-Team, as Tony Stark builds the Iron Man suit. However, this only serves to fuel the anticipation of when Stark dons the red and gold armour of his Mk II suit.

For those who don’t have comic book credentials – Tony Stark is a genius weapons designer. He is quite literally a merchant of death. In the original comic the action took place in Vietnam, but the film has been updated and ret conned to take place in Afghanistan.

However, when Stark finds his weapons falling in to the wrong hands he gains a sense of accountability. This is by no means a meditation on the ethics of global weapon sales, nor is it Shakespeare. It is a hell of a lot of fun. In fact, I was surprise how much comedy they smuggled into the film. Although the set pieces are few, they are very satisfying and the path is wide open for some big budget sequels.