IRON MAN (2008), dir. Jon Favreau

It’s hardly surprising that “Iron Man” is full of neat special effects and well-edited action sequences. After all, it has been marketed as a summer blockbuster, and with the exception of the works of Michael Bay, that’s exactly what these types of movies tend to deliver.

Yet despite its pedigree, “Iron Man” will likely stand heads above its competition this summer. The reason is because the movie, like its main character, is obsessed with being sleeker, nimbler, and more cutting-edge than the rest of the playing field. Meanwhile, for the lead role, the filmmakers shrewdly suited up one of the most talented actors working today, and were rewarded with the foundation upon which they grafted the action movie of tomorrow.

Make no mistake. Although director Favreau and the screenwriters should be credited for streamlining Iron Man’s lengthy comic book history into a feature-length film with nary an ounce of fat on it, the enterprise succeeds because of Robert Downey, Jr. Entirely believable in the role of brilliant and spoiled billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, the character starts off as a charming arms dealer nicknamed “The Angel of Death,” who through harrowing events becomes an armored vigilante.

Unlike most movies based on comic books, wherein the hero has values of compassion instilled in them by the time fate intervenes, Stark is clearly no saint, but a self-centered hedonist without any sense of responsibility. But all of that changes when terrorists attack his convoy in the Middle East, critically wounding Stark and taking him prisoner. Trapped in the mountains, kept alive by a local doctor and fellow prisoner (Shaun Toub), he has a moral revelation about the effects of the weapons built by his company, Stark Industries.

Ordered to build weapons for his captors, he instead constructs an armored suit that allows their escape. From then on, Stark dedicates his life to recovering weapons sold by Stark Industries, which under the leadership of corporate honcho Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), has been double-dealing to both the U.S. military and terrorist groups abroad while keeping him in the dark.

Action movie audiences can expect high-octane thrills, especially when Stark’s updated armor leads to a confrontation with his Air Force buddy (Terrence Howard). But overall, the movie tries to balance its explosions and showdowns with a sense of humor, much of it coming at the expense of Stark as he tinkers with the suit. There’s also a love interest in the form of Stark’s freckled, long-suffering assistant “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). She’s no window-dressing, however, but a competent accomplice who acclimates herself well to some pretty extraordinary circumstances.

The longstanding relationship between Stark and Potts leads to some of the movie’s funniest exchanges, made even better by Downey’s terrific sense of timing and delivery. Following Iron Man’s first adventure, she walks in as he’s being removed from his costume by his laboratory robots, who are struggling mightily. Potts stops in the doorway, aghast, there’s a silence, then Stark reassures her, “This is not the worst thing you’ve ever caught me doing.”

Thanks to Downey, we are constantly reassured this won't be one of those really bad summer movies, either.

Overall rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)