Shiny, entertaining and a great cast, but this is nevertheless a disappointing experience.

Rating: 5/10 (7 May 2008)

IRON MAN is the latest superhero-movie in cinemas, and it's another round of man-turned-into-amazing-powerhouse with CGI, love interests, a full on CV-cover-up and mayhem. And this is the first Marvel-child that's fully financed by Marvel Studios, and being a blockbuster it's surprising how they've chosen such a bold casting and choice of director; surely, casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is interesting even before you've seen the teaser, Gwyneth Paltrow as the smart and sexy assistant Pepper Potts and Jeff Bridges villain Obadiah - and director Jon Favreau seemingly came out of nowhere.
The film opens up with twinkling ice-cubes in whiskey, and soon the high-flying main character Tony Stark gets blown up by his own weapons as he gets locked-up for three months by Afghanan guerrillas to build a missile, instead he and his temporary sidekick makes Stark RoboCop 2: the Rusty & Deserted Sequel, as Stark shoots his way out of danger and returns to his glossy everyday - but now, as a changed man. The near-death experience kick-starts his goal for becoming Iron Man - but as soon as Stark adds the hot-red colors to his suit, the movie loses momentum; this is where Iron Man actually starts, so we're expecting something spectacular, but instead we get messy. Director Favreau is funky, and he knows how to squeeze every little drop of cool and swagger from Downey Jr., but as the action-bits starts coming, they're too brief and feels like a lackluster. IRON MAN's surely got potential, and the soul of the movie is surely in here, but a sequel that's right-on explosive is surely the right way to go from here.