Iron Man Review

Bottom-Line:  Modernized (the threat is now the ubiquitous evil terrorist) Iron Man has been brought into the 21st Century in grand intelligent style.

Iron Man, like most Marvel superhero characters sprang from the mind of Stan Lee and first made an appearance in 1963.  The movie directed by Jon Favreau begins in the here and now with essentially the same back story: genius weapon-maker Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) is visiting Afghanistan to show off a new weapon the military when he is kidnapped by terrorist led by Raza (Faran Tahir) and his heart is damaged by shrapnel.

My Viewpoint  

Where other Marvel hero's lacked personality, Robert Downy Jr. as Tony Stark breathes life in the man of iron.  It is rumored that he had to read several times for the part, but frankly I couldn't see anyone else in the part; he fit the mold so well. 

The producers of Iron Man did well in telling the back-story-albeit modernized-of Ironman, much like the story of Batman was masterfully crafted in Batman Begins (2005). However, Iron Man is a little short on action; if you've seen the many trailers for this movie you've pretty much seen all of the action it serves up.  Quite frankly we could have used a lot more action to go along with the human element. 

The chemistry between Paltrow and Downey Jr. was palpable and Ms. Paltrow looked adorable as usual.  More importantly Ms. Paltrow's performance is on par with Downey's.  The banter between the two characters makes for some of the best scenes in the movie.  

Despite the limited action sequences I enjoyed Iron Man due in large part to the performances of Downey Jr. and Paltrow.  Modernized (the threat is now the ubiquitous evil terrorist) Iron Man has been brought into the 21st Century in grand intelligent style. I can't wait for the sequel...