A tried and tested conversion from comic to silver screen

Rating: 7/10 (8 February 2014)

Series -whether they're TV, comic, books - have a problem when they get made for the big screen. You have a hero, you have a villain, you have the love interest, and in a series the hero wins, but never destroys the villain (and like wise, somewhere in the story, the villain usually has the hero in a life or death situation, that they can get out of). When moved to the silver screen, the rich back stories and free flowing nature of the characters that makes them so long running ends up truncated for mass appeal, usually involving some family member or work colleague (Tomb Raider, Mission Impossible, Charlies Angels, S.W.A.T.), rather than expanding on a story line from the original series. Ironman is no different. You have the man in the flying metal suit, you have the love interest, you have a bad guy to stop, all tied up with plenty of amazing CGI and a thumping soundtrack. It's definitely the Robert Downey Jr. show, and he plays the flamboyant Stark with flair. The fact they cast a great actor like Paul Bettany in a none acting role (simply voice work) shows how much the team behind this film have invested in it.