A couple of years ago (almost exactly, actually), I optimistically headed to the cinema to see Iron Man. It was sold to me as a superhero film with a bite – an origin story with a less tragically flawed hero than Batman, steeped in humour and starring what seemed like an interesting cast.
Two stars. I didn’t like it. Now, I should point out that SciFiNow awarded the film four stars, and fair enough, that was the magazine’s opinion. It was bland – Downey Jr. made for an offbeat superhero but the action was generic, Jeff Bridges’ Obadiah Staine was like a hammy version of Rutger Hauer’s character in Batman Begins and Gwyneth Paltrow played nothing but a bog-standard love interest.
It probably didn’t help that The Dark Knight came along a few months later and demolished the movie by comparison. I think Iron Man was a film that claimed to be going against the curve of superhero movies, but really, I don’t think it could have been following it any closer.
Apparently, the sequel isn’t very good. Oh well.
