I don't read many comic books today -- a few, select ones, but my addiction days are a thing of distant past now. But Iron Man is one of the characters on which I cut my teeth, both as a reader and as a comics fan. The stories, such as I can recall (early 1970s), were okay, but it really was all about the suit. That magnificent suit and all the cool things it could do -- fly, protect, heat, cool, blaster rays ("repulsors"). And of course part of it was keeping Tony Stark alive as well, making it his curse and his blessing, in the standard Stan Lee/Marvel manner. One would think transistors could do anything.
CGI technology has finally caught up to what an Iron Man film would require, because it is, and it has to be, all about the suit. And it delivers hugely.
Munitions billionaire and engineering genius Stark gets kidnapped after demo'ing his newest product in Afghanistan. Builds a prototype suit from his own wares in order to escape, and does. He undergoes a change of heart when he sees what Stark Munitions have wrought around the world, and determines to build a better suit to use in making the world a better place. But other stockholders don't want the entire company repurposed, and co-opt the original design for a new military product. And we get a showdown between Iron Man and the alternative Iron Monster. Bang, zoom, pow!
Lead actor Robert Downey nails his part, and is much better in an action role than would be expected based upon his past body of work. Stark is smooth, damn smart, a smartass, and a fighter both on paper and in action -- not an easily-portrayed character. Downey brings it off very well.
Four stars out of five.
Marvel is building a movie-based universe analogous to its comic universe, and is doing it very, very well. I can't wait to see The Incredible Hulk in a few weeks.
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