An Intelligent, Entertaining Superhero Movie

Rating: 9/10 (8 May 2010)

Iron Man was coming on TV today and since me and my friends are going to 'Iron Man 2' sometime next week, I watched it to recall the characters and see if I still liked it like 2 years back. I am very happy to say that the second time I loved it even more. John Favreau directed this amazing movie which is one of the best superhero movies ever. I am keeping my fingers crossed, that Iron Man 2 will be a truly worthy successor to this amazing gem. Also, if anybody has a lifestory to tell, Downey Jr. has the ultimate comeback tale to tell. After all those stints in rehab and prison, he came back revamped in a new avatar and 2008 and 2009 were his years. He has become on of my favorite actors now.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is rich, handsome, intelligent, quick witted, incredibly wealthy and a playboy. He is the owner of Stark Industries which specializes in making warheads for the US military. He is kidnapped by an Afghanistan terrorist group who forces him to help them make his new, modern missiles. But Tony Stark, along with another Afghan scientist who is kidnapped, builds a suit of iron and escapes from their stronghold. Unfortunately the scientist is killed and he returns to his home. He has now seen that his weapons are in the hands of the bad guys and wants to stop the production of the warheads. But Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) advices him against this, because the consequences will be too great. Stane was his father's best friend and a business partner and he is now a major player in the Stark Industries and a close confidante of Tony Stark. Will Tony Stark make a difference in the world with his Iron Man?
This is kind of a breath of fresh air to the superhero genre. It doesn't have all the baggages of other superheroes. Tony Stark is a man who enjoys life and he is a ladies man. I thought, what were they thinking by casting a middle aged man like Downey Jr, but that was before I saw the movie. After watching and being enthralled by the story, I accept that Downey was really born to play the role of Iron Man. The underplayed romance between Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Tony Stark works well for the story. Tony Stark changed his views about weapons after seeing what it did to other people who were in the line of fire. He wasn't a born justice upholder like other superheroes and he is a man behind all that metallic gear. This is what makes Iron Man so much more endearing. If the character of Obadiah Stane was played by any other actor other than Jeff Bridges, it would have been simply awful. I didn't even know who Jeff was before this year's Oscar, but I still remember hating his evil persona character back when it released. Terrence Howard plays Stark's best friend Rhodey, who is an officer in the US military and his character is under written. But, I thought he would get a chance to display his acting in the second movie, but they have put some other man in his part and it is so sad that he won't be a part of Iron Man 2. The banter of Stark with his robotic assistants, the freezing of the Iron Man suit and everything except the final battle is brilliant. The final battle is supposed to be like that, so I can't hate Favreau for that.
The background score is awesome and the cgi effects seemed insanely real. Iron Man 2 released here yesterday (so sad its releasing late here) and I hope it will be awesome :)
9/10