Flicks, Andrew Hedley
Iron Man is good but not great. Some inspired casting and snappy dialogue help enliven what is otherwise a run-of-the-mill superhero movie.
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Iron Man
The latest Marvel/Stan Lee superhero adaptation, intriguingly directed by the multi talented Jon Favreau (Swingers, Zathura). Robert Downey Jnr. (also an interesting choice) plays Tony Stark, a crafty, womanising drunk of a billionaire industrialist...
Stark is in Afghanistan introducing new missile technology to the US army when he is captured and taken hostage. His captors lock him in a workshop and order him to make a badass missile for enemy. Instead, Stark makes himself a fully armoured & bulletproof suit in which he escapes in. When he returns home, he can’t put the suit down, and becomes the uber-advanced Iron Man. Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane, Stark’s mentor & rival who becomes – wait for it – Iron Monger – Iron Man’s nemesis.
2008Rating: M126 minsUSA
ActionAdventure
- Director:
- Jon Favreau ('Made', 'Elf', 'Zathura')
- Writer:
- Arthur MarcumMatt HollowayMark FergusHawk Ostby
- Cast:
- Robert Downey JrTerrence HowardGwyneth PaltrowJeff BridgesLeslie BibbShaun ToubFaran Tahir
Iron Man / Reviews
Vulture
Loyal assistant, Pepper Potts, isn't much of a part, but Gwyneth Paltrow is a presence. She stands around looking amused and flabbergastingly pretty, slinging wisecracks with serene aplomb.
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Variety
Ever-eclectic director Jon Favreau, who briefly pops up onscreen as a Stark minion, maintains a brisk but not frantic pace, and, in concert with lenser Matthew Libatique, production designer J. Michael Riva and the first-rate visual effects team, has made an unusually elegant looking film for the genre.
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Rolling Stone
All praise to acting dynamo Robert Downey Jr., who brings so much creative juice to the party that Iron Man achieves instant liftoff.
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Newshub
Iron Man is not a classic, suffering a little from first-in-the-franchise set-up blues. And of course, this is a comic-book superhero movie after all, so remember not to take it too seriously.
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Empire Magazine
It's not sure where to go once the final Iron Man suit is constructed, and seems in a rush to get there, but Downey Jr and the supporting cast are so perfectly placed we're already looking forward to the bound-to-be-better sequel.
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Dominion Post
Only Downey Jr is allowed to bring an occasional flash of individuality to his character, but that is soon buried beneath the ceaseless avalanche of computer-generated imagery and violence.
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