Title: Iron Man

Language: English

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges

I had never seen the cartoon of the same name, until I heard about it from a friend who claims to have been following it for a long time. I guess it was his recommendation and the promos of the flick that gave me a great impetus to check this one out. One thing which I was wary about was what would be the storyline of this “Man”? To be frank my interest in most of the Superhero movies has been waning for quite sometime. Although Superman has got the steel, there’s not much of variety in what he does (Correct me if I am wrong!!...:-P)…and Spiderman, I loved the first part about a dud turning into a DUDE! Honestly, I am kinda curious about the type of spiders lurking around me…hehehe…. But it turned out to be yet another gyan session on countless occasions…where kids are advised to be good…and how about those scenes where Spidy would come from nowhere to save those who are in danger…..more or less all the superhero movies have fallen under this category, which is what gets so boooooooring flick after flick. I had no clue what to expect from this one…but thanks to some rave reviews, this one promised to be one helluva roller coaster ride.

“Iron Man” is the story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) billionaire industrialist and the chief of Stark Industries which is one of the chief Arms Supplier to the US Army. Tony is on a trip to the desert of Afghanistan to give a demo of his company’s new weapon “Jericho”, a cluster missile capable of mass destruction. Later his convoy is attacked and Tony is shocked to see that a missile made by his own firm has been used to attack him. His captors attach an electromagnet to his chest to keep the shrapnel from touching his heart. He’s threatened of murder by the Terrorist Group if he doesn’t build the “Jericho” missile for them. After gaining enough insight as to what lays ahead of him, Tony demands absolute privacy while building the missile, but he instead builds an Iron armour powered by an miniature arc reactor which will give the electromagnet enough energy from letting the shrapnel touch his heart. He manages to escapes from his captors and is somehow found by the US Army. Back home, he’s advised by his company’s executive Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) to lay low from the media. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is Tony’s assistant who is in love with him but doesn’t express it. Tony builds a more powerful miniature “Arc Reactor” and tells Obadiah about his earlier one. He secretly builds a new armour equipped with all the gizmos. (PHEEwwww…..you should check out all that drawings and designing yourself…mind blowing!). When he comes to know about how his own weapons are creating havoc, he decides to take the matter in his own hands…and what follows is a stunning gamut of some terrific stunts, gadgets and a fight for the good to prevail.

What makes it such an enjoyable flick is its story and the absence of senseless action! It’s completely believable the way things go on, especially when a fact that Tony is an inventor, is established. Of course, it’s upto your discretion if you wanna believe all that! But think about it, if you can accept Bruce Willis doing all those stunts in Die Hard-4 and Indian Jones escaping an Atom Bomb explosion by enclosing himself in a lead-lined refrigerator…then all that Tony does makes sense!!..:-P The thing I loved most about the flick was that, it was more of a sci-fi action adventure, rather than a superhero who’s on a mission to save the world! Yes, Iron Man does that eventually…but the way he does is SO different from any of his peers…you want another reason to look upto him?!...He doesn’t wear an undie on top of his pants!!!...hehehe…[:-P]. If you are a gadget freak…then look for his suit which doubles up as his armour and the capability to fly, the weapons, his maneuvers while on a flight ….nothing short of a Visual Orgasm! After checking out at his house on top of rock on the Malibu seafront, can you not dream of such lavish lifestyle?!?!...the garage filled with the funkiest of the cars…some awesome robots, a private jet…multi-billion dollar Business Empire…!!!...Phew!

Robert Downey Jr. delivers a classic…his histrionics as a billionaire industrialist, playboy, inventor are brilliant…but what’s more blatant is this, he’s one hell of a super cool…charming…stud whose heart goes out to those who have suffered directly or indirectly because of his company (Check out his expressions and the intensity he puts in his acting in that village scene where he saves scores of people). Jeff Bridges, who plays the character of Obadiah Stane, the executive of Stark Industries with a mission of his own, stands out in his character, especially from the point where his plan is revealed (although many of us must have sensed it early in the flick), he gets better and better as the story progresses. Gwyneth Paltrow is sweet in her role as Pepper Potts who’s in love with her boss…almost giving the impression of a love story from yesteryears where both the protagonists wait for the other one to confess first. Whoever has designed the iron man’s suit needs to be given special credit…it’s absolutely fantastic.

I guess I have written too many good things about the flick…although there are some weak links which some of my fellow movie buffs have raised…like, how did Stane gain some much knowledge about how Tony’s armour and the gadgets…How does Stane escape from that altitude?! And even the melodramatic climax, a David Vs Goliath fight…looks kinda too much. Above all…however intelligent one might be, creating something that big, how does Tony manage to do everything all by himself!!(Somehow I feel too much of Intelligence is difficult to digest!!!...). This flick will definitely be in the list of Best Movies of 2008…and if you are an action movie buff…then, this one is bound to be on top of that list…atleast for this year!I saw this flick, last month, but I can still remember lots of details particularly those involving Tony testing his new suit, he dodging couple of fighter planes, the robots assisting Tony in building the suit…

Laced with wit and some cool action, this is a must watch for all the action movie buffs…it’s also something you can watch out for, even if you don’t like cartoons…for there is no trace of anything of that sort here. If only, one can lie hands on that suit…and fly away to glory..:-)

check out this teaser of the flick...