The first big movie of the summer has finally landed and it delivers in spades.  Iron Man is a great comic book movie, hilarious in parts, and serious when it needs to be.  Director Jon Favreau has created a film that will appeal to both the diehard comic fan and John Q Public.  Robert Downey Jr plays Tony Stark, billioniare weapons manufacturer, who in the course of the movie sees how the very weapons he creates are being used by people of both sides of a (fictional?) war in Afghanistan.  He is captured by Jihadists who force him to create a weapon for them.  What he ends up building is a metal suit of death, destruction and mayhem.  Gwyneth Paltrow (in her best acting role since Royal Tenenbaums) plays Pepper Pots, Starks assistant/best friend; Jeff Bridges (the DUDE!) shaved his head and grew out a wicked beard to take the role of Obadiah Stone, Starks partner in the company; and rounding out the cast is Terrance Howard has Tony’s military buddy Jim Rhodes.

Make no mistake, Robert Downey Jr MAKES this movie.  He is perfect in the role of the alcoholic/womanizing Stark.  The movie is smart, terrifically acted and well written. Special effects are very well done, it doesn’t have that “too clean and shiny” look that other SFX-heavy movies have (Spiderman 2) and help you believe that the suit is real.  The action sequences are ripped straight from the comics and kick serious ass.  The bar has been set high for the rest of the summer releases,  lets hope they are half as good as Iron Man. 

3.5 Radmachers

-BeeDubs