Last year’s superhero films were disappointing. Sequels, like Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Four : Rise of The Silver Surfer, paled in comparison with their predecessors. Transformers and Ghost Rider were, at best, special-effects monsters with no souls.
Just when all hope seems to be lost, a saviour comes in this year’s opening salvo – an armoured avenger from Marvel Comics’ second-tier heroes — Iron Man.
Created in the 1960s by the comic books superstar Stan Lee, Iron Man continues Marvels tradition of reluctant heroes.
In the movie Iron man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a gazillionaire industrialist who makes his money from selling high-tech military weapons to the United States government.
When terrorists capture him in Afghanistan and force him to replicate a missile he has designed, he creates an armoured suit to escape.
Seeing how his company’s weapons are being used by the unsurgents to bring suffering to villagers, Stark vows to use his newflanged toy to eradicate evil.
In his biggest role since his return to showbiz after drug rehabilitation, Downey is perfectly cast for the role.
Sporting a goatee, he carries the flamboyance of the rich, a la Richard Branson, and later guilt-ridden, convincingly transforms into a man of honour without losing his flair.
He will go down in pop culture history synonymous with Iron Man, the same way Christopher Reeves is Superman (1978), or Hugh Jackman is Wolverine in X-men.
The supporting cast is competent – Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges both have Oscar nods, and Gwyneth Paltrow as sexy secretary Pepper Potts is a Best Actress winner.
In Iron Man, Fanboys will be thrilled watching ol’ shellhead zooming across the skies in amazing CGI’s, but the bland final showdown may disappoint.
But director Jon Favreau of sci-fi adventure Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), a comics geek himself, litters enough easter eggs (cathc hints for a war machine appearance in future sequels) to titillate.
