Alden Bates' Weblog

Iron Man! The best Marvel comics movie in, ooo, a while at least. It's fun, has great characters, a plot relatively uncluttered by clichés, and should be relatively kid-safe. Spoilers follow.

Our story starts with Tony Stark, head of a weapons company, who is ambushed by a terrorist group named the Ten Rings while in Afghanistan. Though wounded, Tony is patched up by a local doctor, who explains that the Ten Rings want him to build them a missile. Tony feigns agreement, and begins working on a plan of escape, which should be obvious from the movie's title.

I can't think of anything bad about this movie, so here are the good things:

Robert Downey Jr as Stark. Wicked brilliant! I'd be interested to know if his banter with the robots was scripted or not.

Gwyneth Paltrow as a red-head. The improbably named Pepper Potts (according to Wikipedia, "Pepper" is a nickname, but I didn't catch that being explained in the movie) is Tony Stark's assistant.

Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. And I've just realised the last thing I've seen him in is Tron. Wow.

Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes, a name which Marvel comics fans will no doubt know, who acts as straight man.

Can has sequel?