Iron out a few wrinckles

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2019)

Before Iron Man and the Marvel cinematic universe there had already been many great superhero films. Batman Begins, Superman 78 and Batman 89. Not so many had heard of Iron Man so this gave a fresh look on a hero for people who hadn't read too many comics. The formula is similar to previous ones. Our hero is almost killed, shades of Robocop and then kept alive. Shrapnel about to enter Tony Starks heart is prevented by new technology keeping him alive. Robert Downey Jr was a fantastic choice to play Tony Stark and kick off the age of comic book movies. It had some competition in The Dark Knight coming out the same year. Tony Stark finds himself in serious trouble and in somewhat desperation comes up with a new plan to protect himself from not only his own weapons, but also to stop them weapons falling into the wrong hands. A terrorist organisation want Tony's latest development the Jericho missile defence weapon and he becomes their hostage until he builds them an exact replica. Robert Downey Jr is perfect as Stark charismatic, intelligent, arrogant and at times childish. An addict to his work with the flaw of not seeing the dangers Stark industries could have on the world, if in the wrong hands. Once this reality comes to light he'll do anything necessary to protect the people of the United States. Jeff Bridges plays Tony's business partner Obadiah Stane and Gwyneth Paltrow is Pepper Potts his assistant. Both are compelling in their respective roles to support Downey Jr, but this is clearly a Downey Jr show. Rhodes is a close friend of Starks in the military and appears to work with Stark unofficially. Terrace Howard doesn't have the longest screen time but what he has is effective. The locations are intriguing and relevant to terrorist issues of our time. Afghanistan terrorist organisation want power of these weapons, the weak point of this movie would have to be the villains. Although weapons mean power and possession of them is everything. This is a comic book film after all and doesn't appear to have a memorable flamboyant villain to go with the well thoughtout heart felt story, of how Stark is willing to change for the good. He sees his company going in the wrong direction and embraces change!!! Iron Monger is standard really not enough screen time to make an impact.