A Strong Film! (Iron Man (DVD))

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Iron Man (DVD)
Date:	10/09/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great special effects, fun to watch, good cast

Disadvantages: Lacks a bit in the middle

Tony Stark is president of his own weapons company that provides many weapons to the American Army. However, he seems naive as to hwo they are being used and when he is kidnapped and forced to recreate a devastating weapon, he decides to rebel. He creates an Iron Man suit to break out and succeeds. But when he arrives home, he decides to stop the weapons manufacture and create an Iron Man that will last and keep him and the Army safe. But Tony doesn't count on people being against him, and realises he may be working against more than 1 enemy... and that the suit might have to be put to use quicker than he planned.

Now, I'm not a fan of this sort of film at all if I'm honest, but my fiance loves superhero films so this one was his choice! I'm not very fussy when it comes to movies and I'll pretty much watch anything so I decided to give it a go and not judge it based on the fact its another "comic book film"! I've never actually read anything about Iron Man and I didn't know anything about it before the film started so I was intrigued to see how they would explain the back story to this film yet not bore fans of the comic who would of course know it all!

The cast is headed up by Robert Downey Jnr who stars in the main role as Tony Stark. I have seen him in a few comedy roles so I was curious to see how he would approach a more serious role and pull it off. The character of Stark is a womaniser and quite arrogant, he's good and he knows it. Downey Jnr is actually very good in this role, he delivered some of the comedy one liners with deadpan perfection, and made me and my half laugh, and also believe in him as Stark too. He's gritty enough to make the character of Stark work yet approachable for a younger audience too so I think that was a good choice by the casting people.

The role that didn't impress me so much was Gwyneth Paltrow in the role as Stark's assistant Pepper Potts. I've never been Paltrow's biggest fan, I think she's a bit bland and boring, and she certainly doesn't add much to this movie at all. She pops up every now and then, but you don't actually notice when she isn't on screen. Her character doesn't seem all that central to the plot and I wasn't at all riveted by her. Terrence Howard was good in his role as Colonel Rhodes, friend to Stark and some of his scenes were very good and his embraces the army role fully. Finally I have to mention Jeff Bridges who is Obadiah Stane, Tony's friend and advisor. I felt Bridges was enigmatic and very watchable, I enjoyed his role and feel he worked very well on-screen with Downey Jnr.

You just can't review this film without mentioning the special effects. I don't claim to know anything about how they do the effects in this film, but I was very impressed with what I saw! The scenes in Stark's office with all the hi-tech computer equipment and the Iron Man suit were brilliant, and the animation effects used seemed flawless, and Downey Jnr has done a good job making these effects seem real and believable on screen. The scenes with Iron Man himself were fantastic, and I was excited by the pace of the action sequences.

My only complaint in this film was its pace. It started off very high energy and fast paced, and I think it was a great opening sequence that set the film up in a good way for the viewers. However, after this it seemed to sort of tail off for a long while and there was a distinct lack of action too. My fiance and I both said we were waning in our interest but luckily for us the film did pick up again and stayed that way until the end but the bit in the middle was a bit too long and slow paced for me. It was the beginning and ending sequences that made it fun for me, just a shame it had to wane in the middle for a while.

Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I expected to. It held my attention for the 2 hours plus duration (which does feel it at times!) and I think for the most part the cast do a good job in the roles they have been given, especially Downey Jnr who I feel was great as Stark. It has a certificate of a 12 which surprised me as I think some of the scenes, particularly at the beginning could possibly be a little frightening for younger viewers, so do use your discretion when watching this with younger children. I enjoyed it a lot, as did my fiance and its a superhero, comic book film I would recommend.

Directed by Jon Favreau
Written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby (screenplay)
Running Time: 126 minutes
Certificate: 12

Main Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. ... Tony Stark
Terrence Howard ... Rhodey
Jeff Bridges ... Obadiah Stane
Gwyneth Paltrow ... Pepper Potts
Leslie Bibb ... Christine Everhart
Shaun Toub ... Yinsen

Thank you for reading!

Summary: A fun to watch superhero film