Featured Films
Iron Man (12A)
WITH great power
comes great
responsibility -
and an equally
great temptation to
abuse that power for significant
personal and financial gain.
The tug-of-war between altruism
and materialism is at the
heart of Iron Man , Jon
Favreau's marvellous nuts and
bolts realisation of the red and
gold armoured Marvel Comics
superhero.
Following the lead of the
Spider-Man and X-Men franchises,
Favreau devotes the
majority of the opening hour to
the characters.
He fleshes out their personalities,
insecurities and the
underlying tensions (attraction,
jealousy, irritation) which light
the fuse on an action-oriented
second half, awash with spectacular
visual effects from the
technical wizards at Industrial
Light & Magic.
The central role of a billionaire
industrialist, whose conscience
is pricked after a brush
with death, fits Robert Downey
Jr like a titanium-plated glove.
He's charming
and roguish yet reckless
with other people's emotions,
and he galvanises a sizzling
screen chemistry with Gwyneth
Paltrow as the personal assistant
who barely flutters an
eyelash at the endless array
of one-night stands who
parade through her employer's
cliff-side mansion.
Brilliant inventor and consummate
playboy Tony
Stark (Downey Jr) is
held hostage in
Afghanistan by
insurgents
under the
command of
Raza (Tahir),
who
demands
that he
builds a
devastating
Jericho
missile
for use
against
American
forces.
Instead, Tony and fellow prisoner
of war Yinsen (Toub) use
the time in captivity to fashion
an ultrastrong
suit of
armour and
orchestrate a
daring escape.
Found wandering
the desert by
his good friend,
Lieutenant Colonel James
Rhodey' Rhodes (Howard),
Tony returns to America a
changed man.
"I saw young Americans killed
by the very weapons I created
to protect them," he tells a
crowded press conference.
He then announces the
immediate shutdown of the
weapons manufacturing arm
of Stark Industries, to the
shock and surprise of righthand
man Obadiah Stane
(Bridges).
Unfortunately, members of
the board freeze out Tony and
soon he is fighting for control of
his own company, aided by his
feisty assistant, Virginia
"Pepper" Potts (Paltrow).
Iron Man is terrifically entertaining,
fuelled by Favreau's
kinetic direction, strong performances
and some thrilling
action sequences.
Downey Jr relishes the comic
asides of his character before
the transformation into his
eponymous alter ego.
Repartee with Paltrow
promises plenty of laughs, like
when Pepper stumbles into the
lab to find Tony's robots
struggling to remove his
armour.
"Let's face it. This is not the
worst thing you've caught me
doing," he grins.
Bridges adds plenty of bombast
but Howard is almost surplus
to requirements.
Potential for a bigger role in
the sequel is made explicit
when Rhodey stares at a spare
Iron Man suit and sighs,
"Maybe next time."
Tony's initial tests in his laboratory
are a hoot, investing his
robotic assembly line with
almost human qualities (especially
the fire extinguisher).
Keep your eyes peeled too
for the obligatory cameo by
Marvel Comics legend Stan
Lee (who Tony mistakes for
Playboy legend Hugh Hefner).
1:58pm Saturday 3rd May 2008
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