Film review: Iron Man

Iron Man @ IMDB

I love comics. I love movies. Therefore, I love comic book movies.

So if we go from Blade (taking that as the beginning of the renaissance of the comic book movie genre) it would have to go 30 Days of Night, X-Men 2, Sin City, Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2 in ascending order. Where does Iron Man fit in?

So, weapons manufacturer x war zone + sharpnel in heart = painful dose of reality.

Alright, that's too simple. Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark of Stark Industries, the weapon manufacturer for the US military livin' the high life. Until, when showing off his weapons in Afghanistan, he gets attacked by terrorists using his own weapons leaving him with his heart powered by a car battery. One big pile of spare parts later, we get Iron Man.

First off performances: Robert Downey Jr is the best casting in a comic book film since Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. He fills Tony Stark and holds the film together. The character could easily have come off as smug but Downey Jr adds a streak of humor that keeps everything going. Gweneth Paltrow as the love interest does her best with an underwritten role, the scenery is only there so Jeff Bridges can chew on it so well.

But that's not what we're here for. We're here for a man in a robot suit beating the crap out of stuff. And in that respect, the film does not fail. Remember Transformers? The best special effects ever?

Beaten. The film looks so real, all the lines are blurred, it's faultless. It's amazing.

So it works. The story is great, the scenes when Stark is refining the armor are great, the dialogue is great. It's great!

Does it beat Spider-Man 2 as the best comic book film ever?

In a word? Yes.