Watched yesterday - Iron Man

Billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is kidnapped in Afghanistan and builds an armoured suit to facilitate his escape. On returning to the US he tries to steer his company away from the arms industry and develops a new and more powerful version of the suit, two things that bring him on a collision course with his number two, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges).

The good stuff:

1. Robert Downey Jr is great fun as Stark. From the moment he appears on screen, drinking whisky in the back of a Humvee and wisecracking with awestruck marines, he totally has command of the audience. As Stark is in practically every shot of the film, Downey's performance had to deliver and he doesn't disappoint, ably assisted by a script full of dry humour that plays very much to his personality. Inspired casting.

2. Arguably, Jeff Bridges is even better as Obadiah Stane. It's only watching this film that I realised just what a huge guy Bridges is. He towers over those around him. Even his shaven, beared head is huge! His physical presence dominates every frame he's in. Combine this with his sharp suits and cigars and he radiates power. There's a very clever shot near the beginning of the film of a magazine cover, showing Bridges standing over and looking down at a football-sized Earth. It perfectly sets up the character. All this before he even starts acting!

3. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark's PA, the dubiously monikered Pepper Potts. It's not really a very demanding role, but Paltrow is noteworthy because she looks beautiful. She's slender, elegant, and looks great in a suit.



4. I can't review Iron Man and not mention Leslie Bibb, for she is my second favourite actress in the world! She has a small role as Christine Everhart, a reporter for Vanity Fair trying to expose dubious arms dealing involving Stark's company. She has three scenes, the most notable being the first one where she confronts Stark outside a casino and ends up shagging him. She looks amazing and gets to show off her truly fantastic legs. Hopefully, she'll be have a bigger role in Iron Man 2.

Cue gratuitous Leslie Bibb leg shot...



5. The CGI is pretty good and the scenes with Stark suited up as Iron Man often reminded me of the excellent f/x work in Transformers.

The bad stuff:

1. At 126 minutes it's a bit long, to be honest. The middle hour of the film doesn't actually feature that much action and some audiences may find themselves glancing at their watches. That said, this is clearly intended as the first film in a franchise, so it's inevitible that a lot of exposition would be required.

Overall, this is a good start to what will hopefully be a very entertaining franchise. I have concerns about that middle hour, but the sheer charisma of Robert Downey Jr carries the day - 4/5