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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
 Starring Robert Downey Jnr, Jeff Bridges; Directed by Jon Favreau
When billionaire playboy and arms manufacturer Tony Stark is kidnapped in Afghanistan thanks to – oh, cruel irony – his own warheads, he learns a lesson in collateral damage. He also learns how to build the ultimate defensive weapon; a flying suit that, once refined with Stark technology, leads him on a righteous path into direct conflict with his own company’s board.
The fight between good and evil becomes a many-layered thing. Even though director Favreau frequently ignores fundamental laws of physics (Stark’s suit, not his body, is the stuff of super-heroes) Downey Jnr’s charisma is more than enough to paper over the cracks. His performance is one of the most exciting since Christopher Reeves donned a cape; and ignites a sparkling chemistry when paired with zealous laboratory robots or the unexpected villainy of an unrecognisable Jeff Bridges.
Cut with fashionable frenzy by an over-caffeinated editor, Iron Man is not the most elegant of films, yet it’s a stimulating and exciting one. Penned by the screenwriters of Children of Men, it’s packed with an urgent moral tone and a mischievous sense of humour that earns extra points. In a world sorely needing new action heroes, Iron Man is da man.
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