I am Iron Man ... shame about the plot (Iron Man (Blu-ray))

Member Name: mattman101

Product:	Iron Man (Blu-ray)
Date:	25/05/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant performance by Robert Downey Junior

Disadvantages: The plot breaks away toward the end and we're left with a cheesy fight-off, what a shame.

The Film

When I first saw previews of Iron Man in the cinema I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, hence only now getting around to watching it. I won't go too much into the plot but just give an overview. The films starts off with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Junior) being escorted by soldiers through the desert after a demonstration of Stark Industries weapons. As you may have guessed - he's a legal arms dealer. Anyway, the convoy comes under attack and Stark is injured and captured by terrorists. The terrorists inform him that they will let him live if he builds a weapon for them. He agrees, but instead of building the weapon, creates an iron man in order to escape (some what far fetched but I'll go into all that later). After escaping he realises the damage he's causing by selling arms and decides Stark Industries needs to cease selling arms. I won't go into the rest of the film but just say, he creates an Iron Man, intending it to do the opposite of the weapons he'd created - save lives instead of take lives.

Robert Downey Junior is perfect for the role of Tony Stark and gives us lots of witty lines throughout the film. I really enjoyed his performance. With Downey as Stark it kind of made the film a little more light hearted, enabling you to perhaps believe the unbelievable. However, I've never been one for over the top, outlandish plots and, in places, Iron Man certainly proves to have those qualities. I'd read some reviews before seeing the film, most saying how it's not too over the top and unrealistic. Although, I strongly disagree. It seemed in places the fantasy aspect was vastly over played in an attempt to make the film work. For example, shortly after creating his Iron Man, Tony Stark decides to fly from the US to Afganistan and kill a few terrorists. The way it fitted into the film just didn't feel right. It was as though someone had come along, decided he was going to kill some terrorists and provide some good visual effects and then remembered afterwards that there was a problem - it didn't fit into the plot. I can't really ignore those elements of the film as they really seem to let it down. The ending, featuring a fight between the 'good' Iron man and 'evil' Iron Man also seems a bit repetitive, like Transformers all over again.

We started off with a funny and seemingly intelligent film, but sadly by the end the plot had died and the whole thing kind of drags. The plot falls apart and therefore the whole thing becomes unrealistic and slightly boring. Finally, even though many of the CGI scenes are pretty good, there are a few that are pretty disappointing. Most of these disappointing scenes were near the end of the film. Overall, I'd say the film wasn't as good as it was hyped up to be and I was quite disappointed. Although, I'm not saying it's not worth watching, it's worth watching if just for Downey's performance. I'd give the film a 7/10, but if it weren't for Downey's performance and the strong first half, it would have been much lower.

The Blu-ray (viewed on full HD projector)

Now the Blu-ray on the other hand gets a much better review. I'd heard that this one was great on Blu-ray and it didn't disappoint. The picture was very sharp, the colours bright and there was no visible grain. The colours on the Iron Man were particularly impressive. I'd give the Blu-ray a 9/10.

For the parents - The film contains the usual fantasy violence and fight scenes, comparable to Transformers. It's pretty much suitable for most mature children or those who aren't too sensitive.

£15.83 from blahDVD.com

Summary: Downey is a great Tony Stark. It starts of intelligent but loses it in the second half.