Collegiate Times

"Iron Man" is the newest comic-book adaption to the silver screen, a sci-fi adventure about a man in an iron suit (although, as Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, glibly says, it's not really iron, it's a titanium gold alloy).

The movie has all the hallmarks of a comic book -- an eccentric, unlikely superhero; a beautiful assistant who sticks by her man no matter what comes out of the laboratory; a friend who teaches the superhero a new perspective on life; a villain with cold eyes and an evil agenda; and enough dazzling gadgetry to make you wistfully sigh, "Gee jolly, I wish I had Iron Suit that could fly!" But though it follows this formula faithfully and to great effect, it is Tony Stark's humanity that carries the film beyond a comic-book puppet show to a living, breathing experience.

If you've ever seen the movie "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" you know the capabilities of Robert Downey Jr. He is perfectly suited for the character of Tony Stark, who transforms from a disconnected playboy, with a huge house (controlled by a computer named Jarvis) and a careless attitude toward the rest of the world, into a crusader with an iron suit - while retaining the charming humor which make him such a likable character. Downey's performance is full of the sort of entertaining one-liners that he pulls off so well: "I'm starving; I need a scotch." The rest of the cast support Downey's performance brilliantly, especially Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays "Pepper" Potts, the beautiful assistant with an earnest and quiet perspective that's a needed counterpoint to Stark's eccentricity.

The movie has an amazing energy to it. From the impressive Jericho missile demonstration, to the holographic design workspace (sorry for the geekiness), to the quietly electric dance between Stark and Miss Potts, every little detail combines to form a sort of buzzing expectation. Whenever Tony Stark finally unleashed the power of Iron Man, I found myself on the verge of cheering, of pumping my fist into the air, yelling: "Aha, you had it coming!"

It's rather telling that my number one complaint about this movie is that I wanted Iron Man to have more screen time. The suit itself receives relatively little exposure, enough to show each feature of the suit just once. In general, though the movie rolls in at just over two hours, the time went by very quickly, a sign of my enjoyment. I found myself, at the end of the movie, unwilling to relinquish my seat or my immersion in Iron Man's world.