By Shelley Gilbert,
Ossining, New York

HUGE

Iron Man is not your typical one-dimensional, special-effects movie. The story and screenplay were well done. The acting and directing were top notch.

My favorite scene, and the sexiest, was when Downey, in his sexy armor, is on enemy territory, fires a missile, and then turns away and walks towards the camera as his target explodes to smithereens. Just something about that scene was so incredibly powerful and sexy.

I thought that Jeff Bridges and Terence Howard were strong and realistic in their supporting roles.

But let's get back to Downey. There was a violent scene when his eyes were so red, which was appropriate for that scene, and I wondered what he did to get his eyes so red. Maybe he stayed up all night to appear frazzled and tortured? He would do something like that for his role because he has such high integrity. He also looked like he's been pumping iron to get his chest and overall body in good-looking eyecandy form.

So run, don't walk, to see this movie. And, by the way, stay through all the credits because there's a surprise at the end of the credits.

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By Edwin Hopkins
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HUGE

Iron Man was never one of my favorite Marvel comic heroes. In fact, I preferred DC to Marvel because their heroes always fought the bad guys- never each other. My all time heroes of choice are still Superman and Batman who, thanks to a major overhaul in their respective personalities, do disagree sometimes, yet still fight for the same thing - justice. Isn't that what all superheroes are supposed to do?

Updating the 1963 comic icon from Vietnam to the Iraqi War, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a cocky, self absorbed billionaire industrialist who specializes in weapons of mass destruction. And boy, what destruction. He gets to show off his "Jericho" missile before a group of Army officers in the desert, the shockwave nearly blowing their uniforms off.

Right after, Stark is nearly blown away himself when he and his military escorts are suddenly attacked by terrorists. But before we go any further we flashback 36 hours to get a better look at Tony's plush lifestyle; chic parties, fabulous cars, private planes complete with bars and dancing stewardesses and naturally, women. Most notably Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb) who, despite being turned off by Stark's advances during a short interview, seemingly has no qualms about jumping in the sack with him anyway.

Stark then makes two landmark decisions once he returns to civilization. One, to the chagrin of industry partner and mentor Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), the other, a more personal one.

It' s great to see Robert Downey Jr. back in the Hollywood saddle. He's had personal life problems, but you wouldn't know it seeing how he immerses himself into the role of Tony Stark. They're alike in that both have gone through a kind of reformation period, wanting to make amends for past mistakes and becoming a better person. The part fits him like the cgi armor.

The fine support Downey gets from Gwyneth Paltrow and Terence Howard is a superb combo of seriousness and humor. Paltrow as Stark's undeniably faithful, efficient secretary Pepper Potts sports a pair of high heels anyone can't help but to notice as well as a subdued attraction for her boss; Howard as the strait laced Lt Col. James Rhodes who fails constantly in trying to make Tony chill out his way.

I was quite impressed with Jeff Bridges as the heavy in Iron Man. As the duplicitous Obadiah Stane, he exudes a charismatic innocence accompanied by a shaved head and a disarming smile. He worked for Tony's father and will go to "uncommon" lengths to insure that the son maintains the same priorities.

I don't know why director Jon Favreau needed four guys to write the script. In any case, they all handle the material in a way that Iron Man fans and novices should be satisfied. There's certainly no waste in character dialog or downright cheesiness as there was in a certain movie about robots from Cybertron.

Casting himself as one of Stark's bodyguards, Favreau keeps the action moving courtesy of the gurus of a dozen special fx houses including Industrial Light & Magic. Especially the striking change in Stark's armor and a particularly tense scene with a pair of F-16 fighters.

Now of course Tony Stark's story is nothing really new, which makes Iron Man seem a bit cliche'. Comic icons Batman and Spiderman have similar tales of redemption for some personal tradgedy. There's nothing wrong with adding one more. Despite the similarities, we all love and idolize those, real or imaginary, who fight for justice.
 

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