This summers first blockbuster ‘Iron Man’ is Marvel’s latest comic-to-movie venture; and with the success of the recent X-Men and Spiderman trilogies, it had a reputation to uphold.

Iron Man tells the story of Tony Stark (portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.), a man who at the start of the film has just about everything going for him; he’s a billionaire industrialist, a playboy, and has one of the coolest goatees in the world. That all changes when he is taken hostage by a terrorist group in Afghanistan (ooh, how topical), and forced to build them high-tech weapons. Instead of building them weapons, he builds an advanced suit of armour and escapes. As the story develops, Stark discovers the backstabbing intentions of his business partner Obadiah StaneΒ  (Jeff Bridges) - who has been “dealing under the table” and selling weapons to terrorists - and becomes Iron Man, to “protect the people I put in harms way”. While not particularly original, the plot is solid and easy to follow, and it’s definitely one of the best comic-to-movie storylines there has been so far.

The highlight of the film is definitely Downey’s performance as Stark, which is absolutely superb. His ability to subvert every other character with even the slightest raise of an eyebrow is fantastic, and the sense of humour that Downey has brought into the script is brilliantly sarcastic and witty. The director, Jon Favreau, chose Downey based on his own personal experiences, and it really paid off in the film. As well as Downey’s performance as Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance as Pepper Potts (no, really) is also fantastic; and the interaction of their two characters is some of the best in the film. It’s a very good performance from the entire cast, but those are the two that really stood out for me.

Another brilliant feature of the movie is the stunning visuals and sound. There is some fantastic CGI on show, and the scene of Iron Man being chased by two planes is great to watch. The suit itself is excellent, and old fans will love the way every individual part of the suit moves. The sound is also superb; every explosion, boost, and engine sounds excellent, especially when I was watching it on the huge cinema screen.

The only problem I had with the film is that the ending felt a little rushed and the character villain, Stane, was never really explored. I felt a bit more depth in his character would have made the ending a little more powerful. I also felt that James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) didn’t feature enough, but I’m sure he will be explored more during the next two films.

Overall though, Iron Man is a very good film for what it is. You’re not going to get anything really original, but you are going to get a film that is funny, exciting, fast paced and brilliantly acted; old fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed. It’s still not as good as ‘Batman Begins’, but it’s definitely giving it a run for it’s money. I’m really pumped up for the next two films in the Iron Man series, and the other spin-off film that have been hinted at. Oh, and if you do see Iron Man, stay after the credits. It’s worth waiting, especially if you’re a Marvel fan.

4/5Β