Iron Man is a sci-fi/action film that debuted May 2, 2008. This film is the adaptation of the Iron Man comic book collection.

When the movie opens, we are introduced to the brilliantly talented Tony Stark, Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is amid an Afghan desert, in a convoy. His plans are to exhibit the extraordinary “Jericho” missile, to the U.S. Air Force. His friend and intermediary, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes “Rhodey” (Terrence Howard), is also among the group. 

The Ten Rings, a guerrilla warfare group, attacks the convoy, leaving Stark severely injured. The group’s leader, Raza (Faran Tahir) transports Stark to a cave, where extreme measures are taken to save his life. 

Raza offers Stark a deal that would save his life. Shark would be forced to build him a “Jericho” missile in exchange for his freedom. Given the help of Yinsen (Shaun Toub), an Afghan from the Gulmira village, they would devise a stratagem that would help Stark win his freedom. 

When Yinsen saved Stark’s life, after the convoy attack, he planted an electromagnet in Tony’s chest to prevent the shards from killing him. Now, they would build an electromagnet arc reactor and an armored suit. They did this in secret because if Raza found out they both would be killed.

They are forced to put the arc reactor and the suit to the test, sooner than they expected, when the Ten Rings discovered their secret. Yinsen sacrifices his life to save Stark. Before Stark escapes, he destroys all of Raza’s weapons of mass destruction. He lands in the barren desert, where he is rescued by Rhodes.

Stark Industries, Tony’s company, is the main manufacturer of weapons, for the American military but when Tony returns to the United States, he puts a halt to the production of all weapons. He secretly gets to work on a new, more enhanced armored suit and more dynamic arc reactor. 

His father’s colleague, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), is secretly selling weapons to the Ten Rings, which Stark finally discovers, through the help of Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb), a reporter. 

After discovering that Stane is a real traitor, Stark enrobes in his suit and flies to Afghanistan to save the Gulmira villagers. He kills the Ten Rings group but spares Raza so that he can make him reveal everything that he knows about Stane. He finds out that Stane had hired the group to assassinate Stark, so that he could become CEO of Stark Industries. 

With the help of his personal assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Stane is blown to bits. 

Will Iron Man reveal his true identity to the world? Will this playboy superhero stay on course and fight crime around the world?

Afterthought

If you like superhero films, you will love Iron Man. Of course, it is slightly different than the comics, but that does not take anything away from the movie. Although, we did not get to watch Iron Man soar through the sky more often, this is definitely a great action film. It is paced out nicely so things go quickly, without delaying the discovery of Iron Man’s fate. 

Review

Iron Man is perfectly played out by no other than Robert Downey, Jr. As a 40+ year old, which was risky, he pulled off this big role superbly. While I do not feel that this is his best performance, it is very high up there on the list. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, brought a little sexual tension to this action film, which was surprisingly nice. This movie deserves an 8 out of 10.