Iron Man

Tony Stark is a Bill Gates type figure in arms manufacturing. A young genius, he became the head of the family multinational business, developing and selling high tech weaponry, as well as being a sort of rock star/playboy figure in the world of commerce.

He gets captured in Afghanistan and realises that - shock, horror - some of his weapons have got into the hands of the baddies, i.e. non-US forces. He escapes, has his epiphany and decides he wants to 'make a difference.' As part of this he develops an Iron Man suit to fight for good and justice etc. etc.

As popcorn films go this is pretty good - the special effects are excellent, there is the semblance of a plot, and there is good use of humour. Robert Downey Jr is excellent as the lead - funny, vulnerable, strong when needed. To be honest, he pretty much carries the film and is worth the price of a ticket alone. It would have been a lot worse with someone else in the role. He's ably supported by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges. The film does lose its way after about 90mins - it's well set up plot wise but then seems unsure where to take it, perhaps they had an eye on the sequel?

It's not a brilliant movie, but it's far better than any of last year's rather poor threequels and is a good 'popcorn' watch. I came out from it with two thoughts - how cool is Robert Downey Jr? And how hot is Gwyneth Paltrow?

For the excellent Mark Kermode's take on it see this review - this one has even intercut some of the good Doctor's vocal impressions.