Good but not THAT good

Rating: 7/10 (26 September 2008)

I was pleasantly surprised by this film despite being very dubious going into it after seeing a ridiculous trailer. John Favreau has done a really good job of handling the material and bringing it all together in an entertaining way. The story flows nicely and there is a superb balance between story, character background and action scenes. The film has its weaknesses however and is flattered by its current rating at the time of writing (around 8) The characters lack any real depth and their personalities are not really developed. I hate to compare this to the new batman films but that was an example of how a superhero film could allow for real character development allowing the audience to build a complete picture of the protagonists. I agree most people want to see films like this simply for the action and explosions but I think many others now expect a bit more from action films. I think most people could enjoy the film but I think given a year or two it won't be any where near the top 250 and will have been largely forgotten about (unless they bring out a sequel of course)