Downey Jr. Shines in Marvel's resurrection of a classic.

No need to completely go into detail with this one; everyone knows who Iron Man is, but this film does take a different turn on his beginnings.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) the CEO of Stark Industries, the single company that holds the torch of mass production of army weaponry, is kidnapped after a weapon demonstration in Afghanistan. He is hit by pieces of shrapnel after a nearby explosion and another prisoner is told to cure him, placing a magnet in the center of his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his organs. (The glow in the center of his chest is this piece.) Afterwards, he is shown all of the Stark products the village has and he is then told to make another one of his latest designs for them.

Of course, he designs the first model of his iron suit and escapes prison and makes it back to the US and makes the very rash decision to shut down his weapons division, (his only division) and go in another direction, one that doesn't kill people.

His partner (Jeff Bridges), feels obligated to disagree, as well as his friend (Terrance Howard), and his loyal assistant (Gwenyth Paltrow).

I can't divulge any more than I already have, but what I can say, is that Robert Downey Jr. has proven himself time and time again to be a phenomenal actor. His improv talents realy come through as this character is oddly similar to himself, and his witty remarks never get old. He fits nicely into the red and gold, and I wouldn't mind seeing him re-enter this role sometime in the future.

But, I cannot say the same for the other cast members.

Paltrow is a very dry actress, she was molded for drama and she has entered a world of sarcasm that she was obviously shoved into. Her lines were obviously rehearsed to death and were not coming off real, and, if it weren't for Downey opposite her, she would have drowned.

Bridges, same thing; all of the above and the fact that he was trying way to hard to fit comfortably into his hardass character. Because of this, he made his character incredibly corny.

The biggest surprise actually came at the end of the film when I saw the credits. Jon Favreau was the director, and I must say, awesome choice casting Robert Downey Jr. as the lead, but the other cast definitely needed work.

The film was very well shot, awesome blend of graphics and cinematography, and the music choices were spot on. Action could have been pumped up a notch, and Leslie Bibb's character as the Vanity Fair reporter needed more screen time, and Bibb in general needed to play Paltrow's part. They should have definitely switched roles.

Iron Man was a great film, the cast was saved by Downey Jr's Veteran acting skills, and yes, i would see a sequel.

But The Dark Knight will blow it out of the water.

*** 3/5 Stars.