Rob't Downey hits one out of the park - with a lob from Jon Favreau

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2008)

The bad news? The movie lurched to an unsatisfying ending, I thought. But, don't worry, by then it's all anti-climax anyway. 7/8ths of this film is pure joy, straight out of the best comic book experience you ever had. Somehow (director) Favreau's captured it all on film with Downey's and Paltrow's and Bridges' help, all of whom are dead on. I especially liked Downey's portrayal though Paltrow is pure million-dollar assistant. And Bridges makes a wonderful Obadiah Stane, genius Tony Stark's greedy chief executive. Out of the leads, it's only Terrence Howard who seems a little out of step, but not enough to get in the way. The middle eastern bad guys, on the other hand, are wonderful without the slightest condescension.
The special effects are beautifully done with only a couple of minor exceptions. But it's the story's unfurling in its own time that made the movie especially delicious in my opinion, and that must have been the scriptwriter's and director's doing. Best of all, as the whole smartly executed mess starts to come in for a landing, you know as surely as you know the sun will rise tomorrow that there will be a sequel and, for once, you can't wait. Is this a guy's movie? I really don't know. I saw it at a matinÃ©e with about 6 guys and one woman and she was inscrutable. I suspect she was a bit out of her element. There is a lot of shooting and flying and tech stuff, not the usual female bill of fare.