One of the Best Yet!

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2008)

I watched the movie Iron Man this morning. I must admit that until a couple of months ago, I had not even heard of the name Iron Man. Since I had not watched a movie on the silver screen for ages, I thought I would risk it and watch the movie armed with the knowledge that the character Iron Man is created by the geniuses from Marvel Comics.
The thing about going 'blind' to a movie is that one does not have any expectations. There I was, seated, staring at the screen as the opening credits started rolling, hoping that I would be reasonably entertained.
What an entertainment I got! The movie is absolutely fantastic and the two hours simply flew without my realising it. When the movie producers paid mega bucks to get top-notch actors, they really got their millions' worth. Robert Downey Jr who plays Tony Stark / Iron Man, the billionaire industrialist, fits the role to a T. He is good-looking, drives expensive cars, lives in this ultra-chic home overlooking the ocean, flirts with women shamelessly and comes up with funny quips. The scene at the beginning where he is being driven from a test site accompanied by three army personnel is quite fun to watch. The three are obviously in awe of Stark, the hot-shot genius, and he breaks the ice ever so effortlessly.
Gwyneth Paltrow who plays Stark's loyal personal assistant Pepper Potts also does her role justice. Her duties as PA include showing the door to the many women that her boss takes home the night before. When one such woman asks her the morning after what her duties are, Potts smilingly looks at her and says "....... and occasionally take out the trash". I just had to smile when she said that.
Do not expect non-stop action in this movie. It is not like Transformers, a movie which I absolutely loved, which started with guns blazing and ended pretty much the same way. This outing serves as an introduction as to how Iron Man came about. Having said that, however, the few action scenes here are still worth watching. The bad guy will surely remind you of Robocop, albeit a bigger version.
There is definitely going to be a second and third Iron Man movie. Let's hope there will be more kick-a** actions in the sequels. Iron Man is one of the best movies in 2008. I give it a B+.