Iron Man v2.0 From Stark Enterprises: Gold

I was never a fan of Iron Man - the comic book was a bit, I dunno, off for me. The character was a bit wishy washy. Tony Stark was not as big of a douche as he is in the movie but hey, him being that big of a jerk works well and makes more sense to the plot of the movie for the switch in attitude. Tony is, after all, a war profiteer. It takes a certain kind of person to sell weapons and feel great about it - regardless of who you are selling them to.

The story was changed to fit the current world trend of terrorism as well - but with Tony Stark being a war monger it works quite well. Robert Downey Jr. gave a hell of a performance as the enigmatic, selfish prick Tony Stark and did it in such a dead pan sort of way where you couldn’t tell how serious he was. Completely sarcastic and straight was the performance that it just wanted you to keep watching to see what in the world would happen next.

The visuals in the movie were astounding, especially the HUD display from inside the Iron Man suit. It left you with the sense of feeling as if you were flying in there with him. There was a sort of playfulness in the movie along with a strong conviction of purpose after Stark was kidnapped by the terrorist cell when he realized that his weapons were getting into the hands of the very forces he was trying to stop. The action scenes were intense as well as humorous in some parts.

I have to admit though that I was not a big fan of the supporting cast - of the actors chosen. I am not a fan of Paltrow for the most part and the acting was so-so at best but what are you gonna do about it, right? It is what it is. Thankfully it had no bearing on the rest of the movie and that says a lot about Iron Man itself as well as the man playing him. There was also a bit of comic book side play with the originally Iron Man suit - hinting to a sequel.

With the end of the Hulk and Stark in the final scene talking about getting a "team" together this can only mean The Avengers. The question remains of which will come first. There is also the Hulk II, Thor and Captain America movies in the works as well as Wolverine (though not involved with the Avengers) and a new Ghost Rider. Needless to say there are many possibilities and Marvel is not hurting for ideas. It also goes without saying Iron Man was great fun with a lot of action and sensibility for the genre. A must see for comic fans and non fans alike.