Iron Man, 4 stars
Watched Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, a film far better than the expectations as a generic summer blockbuster. Good enough to rank amongst the very finest of superhero movies (the two first X-Men outings, Hellboy and The Incredibles).
The plot, while not very complex, contains enough twists and turns to entertain. And contrary to the common fare in the genre, this time the biggest issues are not ones solved with a high-powered bout of fisticuffs. I don’t recall ever reading a single issue of the comic, thus having only been exposed to Tony Stark as a collateral hero in other superhumans adventures, I’ve no clear idea how much liberties have been taken with the original.
Robert Downey Jr., reliably as always, shines as the protagonist. He is very adequately supported by Jeff Bridges’ doublecrossing business partner (who has shed all amicability as the Dude from Big Lebowski). The other characters have such miniscule roles that one trick pony-performances are sufficient to clear the bar.
While there’s plenty of high-powered explosions and other mass uses of CGI, by far the most impressively designed sequence is the wearing of the suit - it by no means looks quick or easy, with multiple engines working in unison to wrap the wearer in the titanium armour.
Black Sabbath’s Iron Man gets played during the initial credit sequence, but staying put throughout is seriously advised, as a significant post-credits sequence sheds a bit of light what’s to come in the already greenlit sequels. Yes, two of them, first slated to land on May Day 2010.
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