• Wide Release
• Director: Jon Favreau
• Written by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
• Running Time: 126 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Sayed Badreya, Bill Smitrovich, Clark Gregg, Tom Guinee, Will Lyman, Marco Khan, Kevin Foster, Garret Noel, Ahmed Ahmed, Eileen Weisinger, Fahim Fazli, Samuel L. Jackson

Is “Iron Man” the shock and awe event the critics are making it out to be or is it just another explosive but ultimately forgettable flick designed to kick-start the summer box office? I’m going to say that it’s a bit of both.

Since Marvel Comics has taken the creative reigns (as opposed to a big studio) it was a sure thing that they would stay true to the comic book source material, and in keeping, it has translated admirably. The film is well paced, and the action skips along merrily with the thickening plot. “Iron Man” is not perfect, as some of the characters remain under-developed and there is a PC attitude and a lack of blood that contaminates the films honesty, but there’s still plenty to hang your hat on. The notion that this film is setting up a sequel is ever-present, even from the first scene, but it's still a worthwhile affair. I like these cats, and even if this is just the first date before the screw, I don't mind.

Robert Downey Jr.’s character, Tony Starks, is living the American dream; fast cars, loose women and an endless supply of alcohol, more hi-tech crap than you can shake Patrick Bateman’s hammer at, and he unapologetically loves it. An inebriated jaunt across the war torn Middle East to show off his latest WMD unexpectedly lands him the clutches of some generic turban wearing baddies; the neo-realistic politically correct kind that have, apparently, no Islamic affiliation. Spiritual self-reflection comes during a hushed chat session with his physical saviour, Yinsen (Shaun Toub), where Starks grasps that, yeah, he’s got lots of material shit but nothing that really matters. Adding to this is the surprising revelation that his own company’s weapons, with Stark Industries emblazoned on the side, are being used to slaughter Americans, including those baby-faced kids he shared a ride with in the ‘funvee’. Developing a conscience is something the devil does easy, that is at least when he’s faced with the prospect of his own death. This apolitical war profiteer also suddenly develops a heart (albeit one that is hooked up to a car battery to keep it tickin' and tockin' right – insert Cheney joke here) and after a loud, bombastic jailhouse breakout, a scene that reads like a typical Michael Bay jack off session, Stark finds himself swaggering down rows of reporters at a press conference back on the safe shores of sunny America. A shifty-eyed Tony announces that he’s shutting down the arms division of the company until further notice, or at least until he can figure out why so many of his weapons are ending up in the hands of turban wearing-baddies.

With a renewed focus, Stark, instead of pissing his money away on art he doesn’t care about, decides to use it to construct a new futuristic state of the art Medieval knight costume; one that comes equipped with bombs, missiles and even a wickedly advanced to the point of ludicrous, propulsion system. A propulsion system accelerator that allows him to make round-robin continental trips in the time it would take most people to take a dump. Considering that we’re supposed to buy into the notion that a defence contractor could develop a conscience, I guess it’s not so much of a stretch to believe that the Tin Man from "Wizard of Oz" could fly. Anyways, after figuring out and perfecting the use of his over-sized metallic condom, Stark decides to kill some people. First up, those guys wearing the turbans. After a quick tour of sunny California, Stark decides to make a pit stop in Afghanistan where he dispatches the weapons cache of some baddies, thus saving a village under siege, before leaping off to get into a cat and mouse game with a couple of American pilots, a cat and mouse game that ends when Stark nearly offs one of those pilots by accident. Whoops.

There’s also a sub-plot that develops involving Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Shane, Stark’s bald-headed, cigar chomping partner in Stark Industries. Looking as if he stepped out of one of those gay bear-fetish videos, Bridges is subtle but obvious as the guy in charge of double-dealing Stark’s weapons. In keeping with the recent spate of disgustingly rich CEO’s attempting to outdo each other with bigger cars and bigger pads, power-mad Obadiah is determined to find out what Tony is working on… and outdo him. This sets up the mother of all dick-measuring contests. Feeling slightly over-baked and tacked on, the action-packed ending where Obadiah Shane (dressed in a totally outrageous over-sized manly metallic-silver costume) as Iron Monger, faces off against Stark in his now girlish-looking (in comparison) cherry-rouge costume, is quite fun considering how much it resembles the climax of "Transformers", another film that featured two over-sized trashcans battling it out on a bustling city street. I'd say that for sheer girth and size, Obadiah wins, but alas, Tony's got the mad skillz to make it all work. 

Robert Downey Jr. (2007's "Zodiac") brings a full and much publicized backstory to his role of the smug and alcoholic Stark, which works in the overall because less time is needed develop the free-wheeling playboy character-history. Casting Downey is pure genius in my opinion because everyone and their dog knows about his substance abuse problems and his various run-ins with the law, so when he appears, it's automatic. You know him and you know what he's about. However, in recent years, Downey has battled his demons and has come out a more hardened man the other side, a man happy to have a career. All of this seems to be reflected in his eyes when he returns from Afghanistan. He's a changed man, he's a man with a sudden and fully realized purpose. Downey's versatility as an actor is also remarkable and should be duly noted. Gwyneth Paltrow (2006's "Love and Other Disasters") as Stark's assistant Pepper Potts, looks great and, even though her character is mostly waifer-thin, her scenes with Downey sparkle. Her insecurities, the thing keeping her from telling her boss how much she loves him, translated in her sweet awkwardness, is the kind of thing that makes movies work. Terrence Howard (2001's "Glitter") as Stark's pal, Jim Rhodes, is a strange cat, with his stiff, militaristic demeanour and eyes that look as though they could pierce your soul, introduced here, almost in passing, it's clear he'll have a larger role the next go-round. Howard's character also seems to be exercising the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as his devotion and fondness for Stark, even at the expense of his own career, seems to suggest much deeper feelings than he's willing to let on. Also look for cool cameos from Stan Lee, mistaken for Hugh Hefner, and Samuel L. Jackson, as Nick Fury, appearing after the end credits scroll. 

In most 80's actioners, the bad guys were defined by the fact that they smoked, and here Favreau seems to be playing the same hand, having the film's only two villians as the film's only two smokers. However, something curious happens and I don't think it's by chance. In a brief scene, Jon Favreau, as Stark's driver Happy Hogan, he can be seen puffing away, causing me to wonder if this was some kind of subtle in-joke. It's as if he's saying to the fans, "Some of you guys are gonna hate this movie, hate what I did to the character, and, yeah, I'm the bad guy." I don't think Jon has to worry though as he did a great job bringing this mythic hero to the screen. I also appreciated that Tony was a badass, not in a Punisher sense, but his purpose was bad-ass. The scene where he leaves the villagers to decide the fate of the surviving thug, is so cool because you knew that those villagers would have probably torn the man limb from limb had the camera elected to stay there for an extra minute. Finally some super-heroes that aren't afraid to kick ass and take names. I have to say that I'm glad Hollywood is moving away from the Tim Burton notion of a super hero and moving more toward Alex Proyas' vision.