Movie Watch: Iron Man

The pun is too easy. Iron Man is easily one of the most solid summer blockbusters put to the screen. I'll refrain from making any repulsor lift jokes though, let's just settle on the fact that the movie manages a near brilliant tempo which avoids the non-stop special effects ride which is so easy for a studio to churn out, skips over the needless changes from the source material and doesn't fall headlong into overwrought romance.

It's quite easily the best comic book ever made.

One of the most impressive things about the script and the directing is that someone remembered that a hero story is sometimes the inverse of a horror story. A lot of good horror stories build the picture of the monster/killer/spooky doll very slowly. In this move, Iron Man is that spooky doll and it makes the payoff of the explosions to follow that much sweeter. Downey's peformance as Stark might not be too far removed from his core, but he plays the billionaire playboy with a heart of iron probably better than anyone else could.

There's a whole other layer being draped on top of this movie - I won't go into too much detail for fear of being spoilerific, but it certainly sounds like Marvel Studios is starting to try and ferry their franchises into a network of movies rather than a series of one-off money makers. It should be pretty interesting to watch.

Highly recommend (as action movies go).