"Yeah, I can fly."

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2009)

My Take: Robert Downey Jr. is the real treat here.
Comic-book movies are growing up! After the success of a revamped BATMAN franchise and the SPIDER-MAN pictures which successfully venture beyond its basic premise, it's about time Marvel's metal-suited action hero to get his share of the spotlight. I'm talking about IRON MAN, of course. And it's quite a surprise. Thankfully, IRON MAN doesn't fall on the tragic path of cheesiness and artificiality like the FANTASTIC FOUR pictures. Instead, IRON MAN is nearly as potent and mature as the SPIDER-MAN pictures, although not as dark or sinister as the new BATMAN pictures.
That's fine however, since IRON MAN aims for a different approach. It's a comic book adventure for adults. It's mature and geared more to adults than on the little tykes, yet it still has the feel of a comic book movie. It's got flashy action sequences that are lighter than those in Chris Nolan's new BATMAN movies, including a rock 'em sock 'em battle between Iron Man and a larger metal-suited behemoth. It tackles deeper issues than most superhero/comic-book movies (maybe even deeper than the SPIDER-MAN movies), but it never forgets to be fun, even in the forgettable sense. Robert Downey Jr. makes an eccentric Tony Stark, a weapons industrialist and a genius, not to mention a playboy. Think Bruce Wayne meets Nicolas Cage in LORD OF WAR. Ironically, he's a superhero's own worst enemy. He sells nuclear weapons of the best quality. But after being captured by a underground terrorists asking him to re-build a weapon of his to be used against the Americans, he suits himself up with an artificial "heart" and a metal suit armed to the teeth to blow you apart.
From eccentric weapons engineer, Stark finishes his advance armored suit and turns himself into a real man-of-steel of the title, much to the dismay of his superior Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges, who looks exactly like William Hurt in another Marvel-based movie of the year THE INCREDIBLE HULK), who wants Stark Industries to continue producing the latest in weapons technology. Gwyneth Paltrow also stars as Pepper Potts, Stark's assistant. But the real star is Downey Jr., a superb actor who gives deeper dimension to the typical superhero alter-ego. If the explosions and eye-popping special effects will be gone the moment you step out of the theater, the character of Tony Stark will stay with you like a person you just met. The character is funny, eccentric but most of all, memorable. Director Jon Favreau may not stage the action as good as Christopher Nolan's BATMAN pictures or like Sam Raimi of the SPIDER-MAN films, but he handles the characters real well. IRON MAN is a good start for the summer movie season, but it isn't just a while-you-wait blockbuster for THE DARK KNIGHT (arguably the summer's best picture).
Rating: ****1/2 out of 5.