Solid Comic Book Adapation

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2008)

I have just been to seen Iron Man and I liked it. Iron Man is based on the the Marvel comic and is there first film they have done by themselves.
Iron Man starts with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was in Afghanistan to show his company's latest weapon, the Jericho, which was a missile that could fire miniature missiles. However, Stark gets captured by a terrorist group the Ten Rings. In the attack he is badly injured and a capture surgeon using a car battery an electrical-magnet to prevent metal from getting to his heart. However, instead of building a missile Stark makes his own Iron Man suit and uses the electrical-magnet to power it. After escaping from the terrorist camp he is saved by American troops and is returned to America. It was then that he declared that Stark Industries would stop selling weapons and many people within the company and the media worry thinking that Stark had lost his mind. After this Stark refines his design for the Iron Man suit and learns that his friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), was secretly selling terrorist Stark industry weapons. One the Iron Man suit was refined he goes off to Afghanistan to do battle with the terrorist and test it out. The terrorists also discover the original iron man suit and end up giving Stane it and he uses it to develop his own suit to become Iron Monger. At the end of the film Iron Man and Iron Monger do battle at Stark Industries and Iron Man becomes known to the world.
Iron Man is harder to make into a realist film to other superhero films but it works. What the writers and director do is set Iron Man in the near future with technology being very important to the world. Jon Favreau also updates the film from Stark getting captured in Vietnam going to China to being captured in Afghanistan. Iron is also more humorous then other comic book adaptations, but it works for Iron Man. Favreau also has a good cast to work with, Downey was good as Tony Stark and he will possibly develop the character from a billionaire playboy to someone more darker. Gwyneth Paltrow was good as Pepper Potts and had good chemistry with Downey. Terrence Howard was casted with the sequel in mind and become War Machine. Finally there was Jeff Bridges, an actor I like played the villain. Finally their were cameos from a number of people, including Jon Favreau as Stark's bodyguard, John Crammer as himself, Stan Lee and last but not less Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of the film. The special effects were impressive and needed because there was no other way of it being done. The action was great, especially the fight between as Iron Man and Iron Monger.
However, this film does have problems. It was made with sequels in mind and at time was predictable. However, it still a fun film.