Pretty dire

Rating: 3/10 (7 May 2008)

I'll start by saying I know NOTHING about Iron Man the comic or cartoon so I don't expect to get any in-jokes or subtle references.
I'm not going to score it on the very over the top special effects. I'm also not going to score it on the cast (with Jeff Bridges looking so much like Kris Kristofferson & Terrance Howard looking so much like Cuba Gooding Jr that they may as well have cast them both or did they turn those roles down?).
The beginning of the film is FAR too disjointed. To be honest it got to the point where I thought he'd been blown up & kidnapped twice. I totally didn't trust the guy working with him in the cave & thought he was a plant to gain his trust even if he didn't turn out to be so.
The whole "shrapnel in your heart so we've given you this implant" idea? Utterly awful as anyone whose ever seen a single episode of MASH will tell you. It was a very bad idea & an incredibly weak one to try and drive an entire story on.
It's a very A-Team/Macgyver based idea that he can build a bullet proof killer robot style suit in such a short time (not even the movie can decide if its a few weeks or 3 months) and most people would say that he'd killed the leader of the Afghan Terrorists & his 2nd in command (the bald guy & the guy with the beard) but both of them turn up alive & well later in the movie.
Basically its a tale of betrayal, under the counter arms dealing & more betrayal with a couple of good robotic suits (though 1 looks so much like The Iron Giant its unreal). It has an incredibly weak ending (why he wants to reveal he's Iron Man is utterly pointless & kills any idea of a sequel as his identity is known, most of his factory is destroyed & his evil business rival is dead.
Worth a look for the pretty effects but low on story and not very helpful in explaining things to those who know nothing about the comic or cartoon before watching this movie.