Whiz-bang!

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2013)

This may turn out to be one of the summer's better blockbusters: a stylish superhero thriller in which the special effects don't quite swamp the story and the acting. With the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Rebecca Hall in the 'Bond girl' roles, we are clearly in a different ballpark from SPARTACUS on TV (not that I don't get a kick out of SPARTACUS!)
The film starts a bit slowly and, as seems to be the case in all superhero stories nowadays, Iron Man is going through a 'long dark night of the soul'. Once we get past this guff and the mayhem begins, this third episode delivers the goods that teenage viewers have paid to see (in 3D). Marvel comicbook fans seem to be unhappy with liberties taken with the source material, but I thought it was terrific fun. As whiz-bang popcorn movies go, this one goes with a - well - with a big whiz-bang.