In his workshop, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) works on a prototype gauntlet for his suit of armor.
Iron Man may not pack a dark, brooding existential punch like Batman nor have the pop cultural zing of Spider-Man, but it has a great compensatory feature: Robert Downey Jr., who, as the frontman for this enjoyable orgy of special effects and fantasy, deserves to finally catapult himself right up there alongside Johnny Depp as a Hollywood go-to guy for hip charisma, quirk and good looks. The Marvel Comics production features Downey as Tony Stark, a glib, cold-eyed, insanely wealthy weapons magnate and womanizer (Howard Hughes was an inspiration for the character originally hatched in 1963) who rises from the ashes of a kidnapping by Middle Eastern terrorists radically changed inside and out. With occasional assist from his slinky assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his air force officer best pal Lt. Colonel Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), he builds himself a cool, impregnable suit and embarks on a crusade to end warfare, putting him in conflict with Afghani bad guys as well as his shaven-headed benefactor and business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges).
The evil Iron Monger confronts Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).
It's an origin movie, always a challenge, and though its energy peters out after an exhilarating first-half buildup to the construction of the iron suit, director Jon Favreau's flick at least bristles with wit, at its best giving Downey the floor to be intense, hilarious, heroic and self-deprecating. With its rushed, Transformers-esque battle-of-the-giant robots finale, too much of the movie has a been-there, done-that feel. Iron Man isn't quite the full-on blast fans hope it will be, but with its star in peak form as the droll, complicated superhero, it makes a perfectly decent warm-up for what could be a much better sequel.
Photos: Zade Rosenthal/©2008 MVLFFLLC. ™&©2008 Marvel Entertainment. All rights reserved.
