Does What It Says On The Iron

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2008)

Going into this movie with the problems of Transformers and Spiderman 3 fresh in my mind, I was dubious as to how well this film was going to entertain me, based largely on the fact this'll be the zillionth comic book adaptation made in the new millennium. However, the mere fact that Robert Downey Jr. was attracted to the screenplay made me considerably more open minded, but still with that minor bit of scepticism.
I liked this film for two major things: it doesn't seem to hype up US might, and instead rather sets the argument out about its corporate weapon manufacture; and also because it is designed to entertain you, therefore it doesn't take itself too seriously - this shows in the screenplay. The jokes are good, and the playful relationship between Stark/Potts comes through. The opening of the film is also a wonderful entry to the movie (even if there are a lot of inaccuracies: you don't use heavy metals to construct a nuclear missile, and would take more than just a couple weeks to build), and the ending leaves you wanting more, rather than other comic book movies that just made more movies for the hell of it. Also, the characters and their interaction with one another are well developed - at least, for a Hollywood blockbuster.
Mistakes then. The action seems too recycled from other action movies, and some jokes that they use (the family in the car) are old and past their sell-by date. Whilst I'm not complaining about the casting of a beach babe as the "reporter with morals", I'm sure a lot of feminists would have walked out of the cinema within 20 minutes of the start of the film. But this fits in line with the film's self-awareness of its over-the-top-ness.
Overall, a decent film, and the first "big" film of its kind that I've afforded a score above a 7.