Iron Man (12)

Not another comic book action movie you may groan – but Iron Man (12) proved its mettle.

It would be hard to make a film which wrestles with the morality of weapons manufacturing light and fluffy and director Jon Favreau recognised this.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, the wealthy industrialist who uses his genius to perfect weapons of war. He is happy reaping the profits and living it large as the ultimate playboy, complete with pole-dancing air stewardesses.

But his profession comes back to haunt him when he is kidnapped and gravely injured using his own weapons.

During captivity he finds inspiration and friendship from a fellow prisoner Yinsen, played beautifully by Shaun Toub, and from his mind is born a suit of armour laden with technology.

He returns home a changed man and begins to fine-tune his suit, resulting in some scenes with truly impressive special effects. And that’s the first factor that sells this film.

While bubbling with childish delight at just how cool his red and gold armour is you never find yourself doubting its existence.

Favreau spends time building up an impression of a world where this kind of technology is achievable. So much so that instead of sitting wondering how, you just enjoy the spectacle before your eyes.

The only scene that leaves you puzzling is when Stark’s assistant has to replace his lifesaving power source and you actually see her hand reach inside his bare chest.

Speaking of bare chests, the other selling point in this film is Downey Jr., who shows off an impressive set of “guns” as he bashes his suit into shape.

He is the perfect choice to portray the complex mix of devil-may-care charm, dedicated intellect and wannabe good guy. Again he brings a real truth to the part, with no overblown dramatic pauses, eyebrow raises or ridiculous posturing that is frequently seen in other superhero films.

Gwyneth Paltrow is also surprisingly likeable as his assistant-turned-love interest Pepper Potts. While she is preened to perfection throughout, Favreau avoids too many obvious shots of her looking winsomely at the camera.

In fact, while Downey Jr. undoubtedly steals the show, the film wouldn’t be what it is without the rest of the cast.

Jeff Bridges brings his natural charisma and powerful presence to the role of Obadiah Stane and Terence Howard does just enough to make his mark as Stark’s best friend Jim Rhodes.

Like Iron Man’s suit, this film has been carefully thought out and every part has a purpose. There is some flashy showmanship and definite elements of narcissism as any good super hero movie should really have.

Favreau proves himself to be a director capable of handling an action blockbuster with intelligence and flair. He combines the elements of fantasy and humanity with subtlety and the result is a film with stronger metal than other recent film adaptations of comic book heroes.

The only thing that may have spoilt it for me was the closing line – but I’ll leave you to make up your own mind about that.