I like this, and it's more subtle that you might think...

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2008)

I will of course start out by saying; grownups, go rent Robocop, which eclipses this film in almost every department except star quality. But Iron Man is a good solid film; it has bangs flashes and a nearly hypnotic performance from both male leads. I mean, Jeff Bridges with no hair; what's up with that? And his fantastic brand of avuncular menace; excellent! True to the comics? I'm sure that's right; Marvel have stamped on it, so the back story is great and the visuals perfect. All the suits from scrap to Ironmonger work beautifully on screen. Why only a 7, then? It's a bit of a between-two-stools film. The action sequences are fine but not quite long enough, and Rob Downey's anguish doesn't really work given the time scale it is supposed to have occurred over; the easy availability of all the material to someone of Stark's standing; and of course the fact that he is fantastically rich and famous and supposedly actually has something to do with the company he runs. Assume he's only a figurehead and the film works but his character doesn't; if his hands are dirty then the kidnap should really just have encouraged him to nuke the perps. Plus of course the rescue scene in the village raises the unpleasant thought; how many times a day is this happening all over the world with nobody being able to do anything about it? Bad taste in the mouth, there.