“Iron Man” has everything a summer blockbuster should have.

• Charming, yet flawed hero? Check. Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is the guy all the ladies love and the guy all other guys wish they could be.

• Several awesome action sequences that just get better as the movie goes along? Check. Stark’s escape from a terrorist camp in Afghanistan with a crude version of the Iron Man suit is great fun, but once he starts to build the real suit, every sequence improves upon the last one.

• A nasty villain? Check. Jeff Bridges with a bald head and a bushy beard plays Stark’s business partner Obadiah Stane. At first you think he is an ally, but you soon find out that Stane is like a baddy out of a Shakespearean drama. He is a father figure out to possess all that belongs to the young man he mentored.

• A solid cast around the stars? Check. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark’s girl Friday, Pepper Potts, and does a great job walking the line between business colleague and love interest. Terrance Howard plays Jim Rhodes, Stark’s friend in the Air Force, and is great as the guy who frequently has to cover for Stark and his antics. Leslie Bibb does a fine job as the reporter that triggers Stark’s conscience and Clark Gregg is perfect as a government agent who will undoubtedly turn up more in the sequel (which is inevitable).

• A kicking soundtrack? Check. From AC-DC’s “Back in the Black” in the opening to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” at the credits, the music in this film rocks and fits perfectly.

In addition to all of these things that help make “Iron Man” the year’s first blockbuster, it also has a great story, a terrific screenplay and a good sense of humor. Unlike superheros who are born with their powers (Superman) or get them by accident (Spider-Man), Tony Stark uses his considerable skills to make himself a superhero. He chooses to right the wrongs that were done in his name and he doesn’t hide from what that entails.

Enough can’t be said about Downey’s performance either. He is the movie. There are stretches where he is the only one on screen, and it is supremely entertaining. He makes a great Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy who grows up when necessary, but still knows how to have fun.

Director Jon Favreau has proven himself as a big picture director after directing some small films to success (“Swingers, “Elf”). Every choice made with “Iron Man” was correct and hopefully he’ll be at the helm for part two, which I hope is being written at this moment.

The film is rated PG-13, but “Iron Man” is fine for the kids who saw “Transformers.” They won’t be seeing anything new or worse here.

***1/2

login to post comments