nathanbentley.com

I am Iron Man →

Usually, when I hear about a new transfer from the Marvel comic world to the genre of film, I stop myself from getting excited and sit and think about the chronic mistakes they’ve made in the past. “Spiderman” was barely good enough to merit a visit to the cinema screen, let alone II and III (which thankfully were viewed on DVD). Let’s not even go into the 3 hours of my life which I’ll never get back from watching “The Hulk”.

It’s not that they don’t have great special effects, or stunning casts, it’s just that they tend to be utter drivel from start to end. You’ve got a great canvas to explore (after all, this is the comic book land we’re talking about here) – so why waste millions on special effects at the expense of a decent plotline?

Thankfully, there are exceptions to the rule. The fantastic X-Men series not only delivers the first time round, but follows up with 2 excellently crafted sequels. Batman got it’s act together with Christian Bale doing Batman Begins justice.

Luckily, it seems like Iron Man fits nicely into the latter of the comic-to-film types. Robert Downy Jr. carves his role as the multi-billionaire, wise cracking ladies-man come superhero perfectly. The film moves along at a rocket pace, keeping relative truth to the original whilst incorporating modern day twists, whilst the excellent cast line-up support the smooth dialog perfectly. At one or two points the film lapses into cheese, but does so whilst remaining true to the comics, and for me, providing laughter on a cinema wide scale I haven’t seen since Juno was released.

Put your hands down the back of the sofa and dig out the change for the tickets – you won’t be disappointed. (I’d consider a second mortgage mind you, if you’re looking to get popcorn and a drink too).