Its been a pretty hit and miss affair for Marvel Studios when it comes to superhero movies. They scored big with the Spiderman and X-Men franchises but also delivered dross like Daredevil, The Hulk (who is undergoing a reboot with Ed Norton in the lead-role as we speak) and the godawful utter crap that was the two Fantastic Four movies.
So where does Iron Man slot in? Well, its definitely in the hit department I can assure you! I was lucky enough to score a couple of tickets to the Melbourne Premiere and was very much looking forward to seeing this flick. I’ve always had a soft spot for Robert Downey Jnr. and have followed with interest director John Favreau’s fanboy passion on creating this movie.
Alongside Downey Jnr comes a stellar cast featuring Terence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow but it is really Robert’s movie. Full of charm and wit and a downright rascally attitude that steals nearly every scene within and without the amazing Iron Man suit, this is a welcome return to form to one of Hollywood’s fallen stars and he nails the Tony Stark character perfectly.
It will be interesting to see if future Iron Man movies (trust me, there’s gonna be at least another couple more going on the strength of this one alone) will tackle Tony Stark’s vulnerability and ultimate demise into acute alcoholism and other personal difficulties.
But for now and as expected, this movie deals with Iron Man’s origin which has been updated to tie in with Bush’s ‘War On Terror’. (ahem!) It’s based in Afghanistan where Stark is critically injured and captured by terrorists. In the comic books Iron Man’s origins have been re-written several times. In the original 1963 story it was Vietnam. In the 90’s it was the Gulf War and now in the movie, Afghanistan.
There’s plenty of action and some wicked gadgets to get every geek, nerd and fanboy salivating at the bit. This is a true blockbuster in every sense of the word and a highly entertaining romp into superhero geekdom! I loved every single minute of it!
Oh, and word to the wise… don’t leave till the credits finish ok?
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