Heavy Metal

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2008)

Tony Stark - playboy, technological genius, and CEO of the world's largest defense contractor - is about to have a major change of heart. Inexperienced in the reality of war and arms trading, Stark is about to become a prisoner of of a terror cell in Afghanistan. The experience will change everything for him. To escape, he must exceed his greatest technological achievements, and in so doing, he envisions a new way to live for him and his firm.
Iron Man is, far and away, the best film adaptation of a comic book 'origin story' that I have seen adapted to film. Marvel is certainly on a roll at the movies, but the real genius here is not just in the original material. The casting, script and directing make Iron Man a thorough-going success. The film has the pace of a military thriller (though it is more of an action film), the visual appeal of a well-crafted sci-fi spectacular (though it never sacrifices story to spectacle), and an abundance of talent (although star power does not drive this film).
Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges (Obie Stane) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper) own the screen, and are nicely supported by Terence Howard and a number of talented character actors. Downey is a perfect Tony Stark - flippant, too-smart-for-his-own-good, utterly dedicated and - at times - hilarious. While the film is far from a one-man-show, Downey's performance could have made this a great comics film even without the fine work by the rest of the cast.
I was also pleased by the appearance of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the film, and hope that their appearance is a foreshadow of things to come, not just a cameo.
Highly recommended for fans of the genre.