Release Date: 2 May 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: John August, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Arthur Marcum, Matthew Hollaway
Creators: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges

Based on the popular metal-clad Marvel character, Iron Man follows the story of Tony Stark, the hyper-intelligent scion of an enormously wealthy weapon manufacturing family and the heir to the multi-billion dollar company that his father built. Irresponsible, rash, amoral and something of a womaniser, his life is turned upside down when he’s captured by the not-Al-Qaeda forces of terrorist supremo Raza, who wants Stark to build him a devastating weapons system that will enable him to wage war on a catastrophic scale. Needless to say, Stark has other ideas and ends up making himself into a walking tank that decimates the prison. His return to the USA sees him vow to take on people who would cause massive suffering to others, and perfect his design of a suit that will turn him into the Iron Man.

Although the film can drag at points, a witty, refreshing and entertaining script breaks up any threatening tedium during the points between the jaw-dropping action sequences. However, the lead actor is what makes Iron Man transcend the Fantastic Four stable of effects and humour, and launches it into its very own league. If there’s ever a man that embodied an action hero, it’s Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. This film proves that he should have been one of the great actors of his generation – a consummate performer that not only makes the film, but also carries it on all levels. Unfortunately, the supporting cast isn’t as impressive. Gwyneth Paltrow seems out of sorts in a film of this kind, and while she certainly has chemistry with Downey, her character, Pepper Potts, changes quickly from being a strong and focused female lead to being another one of Tony’s floosies. As a result, we disengage too completely with her to ever fully sympathise towards the end. Likewise, while Jeff Bridges does put in a decent performance as a distasteful corporate veteran, his rapid transformation to homicidal villain is not as convincing as it could be.

A few minor flaws with casting and pacing aside, the real joy of Iron Man is its humour. Laughs are frequent and widespread and overall you get the sense that this film is one that knows exactly what it is, exactly what it wants to achieve, and has a real go at it without ever taking itself too seriously. Yes, this may not appeal to the post-Killing Joke crowds who may be more in tune with a Nolanesque vision of comic book films, but for those of us who just want to see Tony Stark being Tony Stark in the most sophisticated armoured vehicle known to man, Iron Man is our film.

You may have noticed how creak-free the publicity machine for Iron Man has been. It’s irritatingly perfect. Whenever there’s a big football match on, rest assured there’s an Iron Man trailer at half time making you feel like an idiot for not thinking about it all the time, non-stop, now and forever. Indeed, whenever 15 to 40-year-old males are likely to be gathered around the goggle box you can bet your nan’s oxygen mask that Paramount’s promotion team will be there before you, ready to shove that charming devil with his shiny metal suit in your face.

These aren’t ten second TV spots either; these are two minute, loud, brash motherfuckers that show the whole bloody film bar the boring bits. In other words, they’re really good. And probably so expensive that the marketing budget will be hid from prying eyes for the next century for fear of the whole recession-hit world turning against those rich bastards in La La Land. But why, a sensible person might ask, the big spend? There’s been nothing but piss on the cinema for months, so surely the general public are going to leap toward the multiplexes at the first sight of CG. Not so, for as cocky as the suits at Marvel and Paramount might appear to be about their too-cool-for-this-hero-shit mascot, they’re secretly petrified about the unstoppable enemy approaching.

Like most people with a pathetic life and bugger all sense, I’m fairly excited about the Iron Man movie. The idea of a man dressing up in an expensive toy and blowing the crap out of evil foreigners simply appeals to me. But will I be watching it come the all-important first week of release? Will I hell. I’ll be killing people instead. And stealing cars. And selling drugs. Basically, I’m going to be playing the shit out of GTA IV and there’s nothing Iron Man can do to stop me.

Now, when a big game is released, there seems to be shorter queues at the pictures, and Paramount knows it. That’s why there’s been this month-long pre-emptive strike on our TVs. It’s also why Iron Man won’t be the biggest movie of the summer and why the chances of a sequel are going to be seriously affected by something that has sod all to do with it. Not that I care though, after all, I’ll be too busy blowing the bollocks off mobsters to give a shit.

WonderCon 2008 has been whipping audiences in San Francisco into a frenzy over the past week or so with inside looks and sneak peaks at some of the films that will be hitting theatres this summer.

John Favreau’s Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr looks terrific), The Wachowskis’ Speed Racer (it can’t really be as bad as the trailer suggests, can it?), Prince Caspian (second time lucky, we hope) and Wanted (Bekmambetov does The Matrix) have all gone down a storm, but it appears that the movie that has received the most rapturous applause is the X Files sequel.The teaser trailer offers up the first glimpses of Mulder and Scully’s return but, according to reports, it appears to place its emphasis in the most surprising of places. Set mostly in a snow and ice covered field, it shows us a grey-haired Billy Connolly - the main draw for believers out there, we’re sure - struggling through the ice with a load of FBI guys following behind. Amanda Peet gets to shout a bit while Connolly yells “It’s here!!!” (about what he’s referring we do not know but it’s probably a safe bet it ain’t a werewolf as Chris Carter and co have tried to have us believe!) but Mulder and Scully barely get a look in. Instead of taking centre stage they’re relegated to quick cuts which show them looking mildly perplexed about something or another.All these snow-bound shenanigans are intercut with, according to AICN’s Quint, “autopsy scenes, Mulder driving, Mulder running, Billy Connolly convulsing with blood coming from his eyes, and a pissed off looking bald guy.” Chris Carter may have explained at the WonderCon panel that he always saw The X Files as “a search for god,” but it all sounds a bit like a bunch of deleted scenes from The Golden Compass. We’re waiting for the next trailer, you know, the one where the Glasgwegan comedian starts rucking with a great big polar bear.

So the San Diego Comic Con has just finished and we’re… a bit underwhelmed. With Fox pulling out just before the even and the Star Trek announcement not being as huge as we wanted it to be, it was easy to feel a bit disappointed. You’d think that by now we’d have learnt to control our excitement and consequently avoid feeling a bit glum when things don’t go quite as we want them, but there you go. Still, at least we’ve got the Iron Man and Beowulf footage to help us get over it.