Iron Man
Well, the first summer blockbuster is here. I’m still not entirely sure why I went to see this, I love my superheroes as much as the next geek (excited yet?) but ‘Iron Man‘ didn’t really appeal to me, he’s not a character I particularly care for and Downey struck me as seriously miscast as, well, he ain’t exactly heroic is he? Still, I’ve been indulging in some serious and quite ponderous films recently so a couple of hours of fast paced American nonsense with fighting and explosions seemed apt to celebtrate some particularly good news - more on that later in the week.
Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark, genius inventor and playboy billionaire CEO of Stark Industries, the most advanced and profitable weapons company in the world. Following a presentation to the military in Afghanistan, jihadists ambush Starks convoy and he is critically wounded with a blizzard of shrapnel to the chest. After being saved by a medical inventor also in the clutches of the terrorists Stark awakes to find his heart is powered by a unique electromagnetic power source - should it ever run out of power he will die. Forced at gunpoint to build his weapons for the terrorists nefarious ends, Stark instead turns his intellect to the creation of a new model of battle armour, a design that should expedite his escape whilst incorporating his new cyborg organ and ensure his weapons are never used against his countrymen again…
It’s popcorn fluff and if that’s all you want then it delivers. Contrary to my expectations Downey actually pulls off the superhero persona and throws in a few laughs for good measure. Gwyneth Paltrow has always elicited a dismissive shrug from me but for the very first time in my experience she actually looks pretty damn hot but the real stand out co-star is good old Jeff Bridges as the unusually monikered Obiadiah Stane (spoilers if you haven’t read the comic), with his amusing beard/baldy interface. Director Jon Favreau was being a bit optimistic when he stated that he was aiming for a similar origin story to ‘Batman Begins’ as it is not in the same league, the whole ‘reap what you sow’ US foreign policy subtext is paper thin and the usual evil Islamic terrorist bad guys are tiresome, even if they are ultimately at the behest of another puppet master closer to Starks’ home. Still, it has a couple of nice set-pieces and impressive effects which keeps you reasonably entertained for a couple of hours if you let it wash over you. Look our for a post credit coda with an unexpected cameo from a certain eyepatch sporting super-agent - it looks like we may have another Marvel Comics team superhero franchise on our hands…
Just a quickie - Remember when I mentioned the ‘Withnail & I’ screening at the South Bank and Radio documentary interviews that were recorded after? Well, its finally been broadcast and you can catch it again here.
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