When one thinks of the superhero you don't really think of the emotional complexity of say, a Magneto or (dare I say) Spider-Man. You think of big metal suit, flying around and shooting lazers. However, thankfully director Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. bring the hero into the spotlight delivering one of the best superhero adaptations since Spidey 2.
Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, billionare playboy and industrialist who finds himself with an electromagnet strapped to his chest after his convoy is attacked after a weapons demonstration in Afgnistan. Stark escapes his captors by building a crude suitof armor, upon returning home he announces to the press that Stark Enterprises will stop making weapons. This puts Stark at odds with father figure Obediah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who founded the company with Stark's father. Stark becomes obsessed with building another, more refined, suit of armor and from there on out the movie goes into autpilot.
The casting of Downey Jr. to play Stark is where the movie truly shines. Downey gives the character a type of depth that noone else could have, he pulls off the millionare playboy vibe with a sarcastic wit that without, would have made him look like a tremendous asshole. Every time we read a comic now, Downey's voice will come out in our heads while reading the word-bubble, and that is truly something to be said.
Bridges does a good, but predictable job as the main villian in the movie albeit some hoakey lines. And Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts nails the role of the potential love intrest and anchor for Tony to hold onto.
Iron Man reminds me of the first Spider-Man movie. A great base for a franchise with a few small hitches along they way. What Favreau and company need to do is exactly what spidey 2 did, grow up a little. What the audiences want to see in the next movie is the refinement and overall improvement of this great character that they have lovingly paid homage to....and maybe give us a little Mandarin action while your at it!
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