Booms Away: Review for “Iron Man”

He is the Man of Steel. Well, sort of. He is rich, powerful, and has brains. He is weapons designer Tony Stark. When in Iraq, he is held hostage and made to create an out of this world missile. Instead, he creates this crude predecessor to the Iron Man suit. It looks like the Tin Man on steroids. He is Iron Man. That’s right, Robert Downey Jr is back. First this action packed super hero movie and then his hilarious turn as the Method Actor in Tropic Thunder. The story is relatively simple; Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark is a weapons engineer, creating the best guns, missiles, and anything else possible that can blow up. He is apparently a very smart guy. While in Iraq, Stark is kidnapped and is made to create a super weapon for the enemy. Instead, he begins work on a suit that can withstand bullets and shoot rockets. What it ends up being is a very crude version of the Iron Man suit. Before he was kidnapped, he supported ignorantly the supply and business of weapons but while in captivity he realizes he no longer wants to create things that just kill or hurt, that he wants to make things that also help. This turn of events creates an air of ease throughout the film making it action packed without being mindless. Tony Stark begins creating the ultimate suit. It has a computer and a state of the art interface. It is the greatest of all weapons. The villain is actually a colleague of Stark’s. He wants to make an even better version. Stark’s assistant is Pepper Pots played elegantly by Gwyneth Paltrow. The character could have easily been a blond (or in this case red head) bimbo, but with her charisma, Paltrow makes Pepper cool without being too gushingly involved with Tony. Robert Downey Jr. is ecellent as Stark. He’s smart and cool and these characteristics are embodied into the character. The movie itself is probably the best comic-book film ever. The story isn’t too complex but at the same time, not too dumbed down for viewers. The action sequences are well choreographed and extremely entertaining and not too violent. The visual effects are quite amazing and the Iron Man suit is really cool. I am exceptionally impressed by this film and advise all those who love action movies or comic book films to see this movie.

Grade: A-