Downey's the man!

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2008)

Its Robert Downey Jr.'s day in the sun as he absolutely nails the character of Tony Stark! The playboy billionaire who develops a conscience seems to be the part that Downey was born to play. Often, a problem with first super hero outings is that the backstory establishing the origins of the hero gets cumbersome. As a result, action is compromised and one waits for the sequel which one hopes will hit the ground running. While an elaborate backstory is depicted in Iron Man as well, it never gets tedious. The action, when it arrives, is all metal & testosterone and while the climactic battle could have done with a bit more flair, there really isn't much to complain about. The always reliable Jeff Bridges as Iron Man's nemesis is excellent & so are Gwyneth Paltrow and Terence Howard as the allies. Despite the predictability that inevitably plagues the comic-book-superhero genre, director Jon Favreau injects a freshness into proceedings & never loses his grip on the pacing. A couple of hours well spent!