A true superhero movie not only needs a strong character, visual effects, action and menacing villians but also a story that reflects the intricacies of a well crafted comic book. Seldom have we witnessed a graceful transformation of a comic book into big screen entertainment that embodies the true central character in all its shades. Be it Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent; the importance of portraying these characters has often been ignored and the focus has been upon action, visual effects, silly villians and a story that is nothing what the script writers at DC or Marvel had in mind. Until recently......... Spiderman began this transformation, followed by the best Batman movie yet and even if we consider James Bond as a superhero, Casino Royale broke the cliché and portrayed the character in a deeper fulfilling manner. Tony Stark is not just a rich guy experimenting in a lab in his free time to come up with something that can make him fly and do cooler things. Robert Downey Jr. brilliantly enacts the well written role of this businessman who is the face behind the popular comic book character of IRONMAN. Director Jon Favreau (played the ’ultimate fighting machine’ in Friends) surprises with his slick style and commitment while making ’Ironman’ a superhero and film to remember. Not the type of those Daredevils and Supermans returning.

American weapons making business tycoon, Tony Stark, is so ridiculously rich and flamboyant that he drives the new Audi R8 to his private jet which has dancing poles for airhostesses while his assistant follows him in an RR Phantom! And to top it all, he has Hugh Hefner coming over to his party!! But Stark is high on technology and smart with it too. So on one of his weapons demonstrations in Afghanistan, Stark gets kidnapped by the terrorists who hide in those caves that just cannot be discovered and he witnesses them possessing the very weapons he sold to the army to combat the terrorists being used against peace. He escapes from their clutches in the only manner one can escape from terrorists, which is to walk out in an armoured suit with heavy artillery and then lift off! This suit is truly what Ironman represented – jaw dropping power! Large Iron suit with a menacing look that is the complete opposite of what we see later, which is sexy, stylized and cool..

Back home, the grim reality of what he witnessed, sinks into Tony’s soul and he realizes the futility of his weapons of destruction. In a bid to combat evil with his new technology, Tony secretly works on the flying suit project while his business partner shrewdly runs the weapons manufacturing. From thereon, right through to the climax, the film is about how the ’flying suit’ takes the shape of the funky coloured, hi-tech, powerful and extremely capable Ironman that flies at supersonic speeds and shoots just about anything with computerized precision. Simply put, this is the fusion of Robocop and Transformers.

Jon Favreau’s direction keeps the high octane energy flowing along with the fun while developing the suit but staggers during the climax when a typical big bad villian tries to overcome our hero. The transition of Jeff Bridges’ character from being an efficient business partner to a jealous, greedy and power hungry nemesis who developed his own version of the Ironman’s suit (just twice the size) is an inexplicable factor. The climax takes place in dark city streets rather than larger locales (Afghanistan) to showcase the might of the two forces clashing in combat. In the end though, the flamboyant Tony Stark emerges as our true superhero and Robert Downing Jr. flies the iron mantle to supersonic speeds (figuratively).

- 9.081 on a scale of 1-10.

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Revealed in detail
Best to watch with:	Friends
Movie Genre:	Action
Best part in the movie:	Plot