Review of "Iron Man," DVD version

Review of

Iron Man, DVD version

Five out of five stars

 In the original premiere issue of the Iron Man comic character, he was held captive by communist agents in Vietnam. Given that this was in 1963, the kidnappers fit well into the major news of the time. The origin in this reboot has a similar premise, only now the kidnapper is a powerful warlord in Afghanistan. Again, plucked from the main foreign villains of the times.

 In this movie, Tony Stark is played brilliantly by Robert Downey Jr., he is depicted as an incredibly brilliant inventor/scientist with a streak of extreme flakiness that is difficult for others to keep in check. Stark Industries is the ultimate defense contractor, it creates the most incredible and powerful weapons on the market. Tony inherited the company from his equally brilliant father, in a modern twist his indispensable assistants are a female (played superbly by Gwyneth Paltrow) and an electronic butler named Jarvis.

 The other characters are equally strong, Jeff Bridges plays the main villain and makes him powerful and capable enough to take down Iron Man (Stark). Terence Howard plays Stark’s friend in the military and while their appearance is brief, yet critical, the agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. are introduced with obvious potential for future appearances in the franchise.

 With action where the technology is integrated well into the plot, this is a movie that made a somewhat stale Marvel character into one that is dynamic, amusing and easy to like. Despite his immense wealth and power, Tony Stark is in many ways a regular guy that can relate to others.