"Ironman" Movie Review
by Oliver B. Johnson III

3.5 out of 4 Thumbs

For Movie fans May 2nd can be compared to the first day of Christmas, or Hanukkah for the other half of Those Critic Dudes, I of course refer to the official start of the Summer Block Buster Season; and I can honestly say there hasn't been a summer like this one in a long time.  The list is one to be reckoned with; Prince Caspian, The Dark Knight Returns, Hellboy 2, The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones, Sex and The City, Speed Racer and that's only the ones I can name off hand.  Only in hindsight will we really be able to know which movies stood on top of the hill when that massive dust cloud cleared, but I can say Iron Man has set one hell of a bar.  Not counting the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie, a personal favorite of mine, the best comic book movies to date have been (in alphabetical order); Batman begins, Spiderman 2, and Superman the movie.  Well today a new movie as been added to that list, Iron Man.

You have to start with the cast; if such a simple word can be used to describe the thespians that have been brought together for what could have been "just another comic book movie".  The man in front Robert Downey Jr does what only he can do: go from a witty comical performance to heart fealt dramatic one in zero to sixty flat.  Downey plays Tony Starks the billionare, playboy (alcoholic), prodigal son and figure head of Starks Industries which is the foremost producers of advance weapon systems for the U.S. military.  Gwyneth Paltrow, looking as beautiful as ever, plays 'Pepper' Potts Stark's personal secretary-surrogate wife-mother figure- moral counter; think Bruce Wayn's Alfred Pennyworth with longer legs and easier on the eyes.  Next there is the man of many faces Terrence Howard who has been everything from a rapping pimp with a heart of gold (Hustle & Flow) to a mild manor social worker (August Rush).  Howard plays Stark's good friend Jim Rhodes (all you Iron Man fans know what that means).  Jim Rhodes is a high up military official and the liaisons officer between Starks Industries and the U.S Military.  Last, but not lest, is Jeff Bridges who plays Obadiah Stane the second in command at Starks Industries.  Bridges takes a character that would be the cliché bad guy and turns him into a force of darkness that rivals the knight in metallic hot rode red and gold armor that is Iron Man.

The plot of Iron Man is a simple superhero origin story, not nearly as complex as say Batman Begins.  Tony Starks is on a routine Aww Campaign for his newest weapon system, Tony truly believes that  he is making the world a safer place with is words, "The best weapon isn't one that you never have to fire.  It's the weapon you only have to fire once."  Tony quickly finds out the downside to his argument, what happens when your devastating weapons gets into the wrong hands?  The answer is quick and brutal when Tony's group is attacked and destroyed by the very weapons he made to defend them.  Tony is captured by Middle Eastern Terrorist and left with an injury called The Walking Death; the only thing keeping him alive is an electro magnet surrounding his heart to keep shrapnel from entering his heart.  If that wasn't enough The Terrorist want Tony to build one of his weapons for their cause.  Instead Tony builds what will be the prototype for the Hero he will become.  Tony makes his way back to America with a new mission: to stop Stark's Industries from making weapons of war.  The news isn't received well by his stock holders of Stark Industries, what good is a weapons company that does not produce weapons.  A rift between Tony and his company opens as the second question surfaces, how did the terrorist get Stark Industries' weapons in the first place?  This leads Tony to build the Mark III, which is the Iron Man suit that we all know and love.

Iron Man is everything you want from a Summer Blockbuster; eye popping effects and explosions, great characters and a last battle scene for the history books.  I'm not saying Iron Man will be the best selling movie of the Summer, I'm not saying Tony Starks is the coolest hero since Jack Burton, I'm not even saying I can't even remember having this much fun at a summer movie, but I am saying please make Iron Man part 2.