Iron Man, the movie. Is it all that its cracked up to be?

Let me start by saying a big and fully qualified Yes

The movie is awesome and Robert Downey Jr. is superb in the part. He plays Tony Stark exactly as one would expect him to be. The film has a great mix of action, humour and a bit of a love angle too in the shape of Gwyneth Paltrow (well, who wouldn't?).

The story itself is well laid out, it has a beginning, a huge middle, and a stonking action-filled ending. A perfect big screen romp for those that like this kind of movie.

But it has been heavily criticised by the Film Critics, which for me is generally a good sign as I enjoy all that they do not. They are my perfect temperature guage as to whether or not I'm going to enjoy the movie.

This is not quite a "leave your brain in the fridge" interpretation of a Marvel hero. There is a lot of quite feasible technology on the go - some of it I would not be surprised to see a reality in the near term. The Jericho missile system would be quite easy to create using the tech of today. The tiny reactor that powers the Iron Man suit is of course pure fantasy for now. But who is to say it will not become a reality in time to come? It is the Holy Grail of the science community even right now so as the focus of attention is being placed on the creation it will as sure as eggs come into being, its just a matter of when. And then our world will be transformed in very many ways, not all of them for the better.

And so Iron Man is the first of three - Marvel have committed to produce two more according to the Making Of program featured on Sky a few days back. This was probably the best two hours I have spent in front of a screen in 2008 so I, for one, cannot wait for the sequels to arrive.

If you grew up with the Marvel heros like I did then you will not be disappointed with this movie rendition of one of their more understated characters.

Iron Man rocks.