Invincible

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2010)

FINALLY! A superhero movie comes along that perfectly assembles all the qualities of a Marvel Comic book and neatly transfers them from Comic to Cinema. While Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) was a fun and glossy roller-coaster of a movie it didn't quite capture the danger of Spidey's world and the character himself wasn't the heroic comedian the way fans love him. Bryan Singer's X-Men movies offered up the right quota of the mutant's dangerous and hunted lives but lost a lot of the hallmarks of the characters in terms of the iconic costumes, character trademarks and the multi-coloured qualities of a dark world. What Jon Favreau did with Iron Man is on a similar level to what the great Richard Donner achieved with Superman The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1980), and it is very simple : he made a movie faithful to its source material AND fresh and original with enough of the hallmarks of a successful summer blockbuster and everyone left the cinema satisfied. There is real heart in what Favreau did. The way he didn't shirk the icons of Iron Man as character, lovingly showing first the bulky Silver armour and then being bold enough and not in the least embarrassed to show the beauty of the Red and Gold armour in full flight. He really gets a good sense of Jack Kirby into his movie, and while it might seem petty of me to point to Iron Mans armour being correct as a sign of the movie being a success, its things like that that makes us all fans in the first place and its great when a director like Favreau or Richard Donner comes along and isn't embarrassed by the material he is working with. The casting of Robert Downey JR as Tony Stark/Iron Man was a true master stroke of genius on Favreaus behalf. I've always loved Downey's performances from Chaplin onward and i always thought he was a superstar in waiting who just needed to sort his turbulent life out and find the right role that would ignite him into super nova. With this movie he found the perfect character and he gives us one of the truly great Superhero performances, up there with Christopher Reeve as Superman in my opinion. Downey is everything the character needs to be and maybe wasn't on paper. Unlike the cliché of a brooding millionaire type it could of become ala Bruce Wayne, Downey makes Tony Stark a fun guy who lives life to the full, who is funny, a man you would like to hang out with, who enjoys life and its truly refreshing to see him take flight in the character. Downey makes the armour real, makes it come alive in the same way Christopher Reeve made you believe a man could fly. He is backed up by a great ensemble supporting cast, just as invigorating as watching Downey have fun with his character it is the same watching Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts: Supportive, warm and sexy you never for one minute doubt that she cares about Tony Stark. Jeff Bridges is an absolute sensation as Obidiah Stane. I've been a big fan of Jeff Bridges since childhood, loved him in Tron (1982) and Starman (1984) and it is great that with this movie he finally found a huge blockbuster size audience and im sure his popularity in this movie payed dividends in his winning the Oscar for best actor for Crazy Heart two years later. My only irk with the entire movie is that the plot is waiffer thin, but the great atmosphere generated by the cast and direction makes up for that. The action scenbes and special effects are fantastic and the whole pace of the movie is fun and flowing. Iron MJan is a movie that is proud to carry the name Marvel and as a representation of the Red and Gold Armour clad hero, a more faithful adaptation could not have been made. Well done to all concerned.