Iron Man

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[4.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

With the entire Salad family out doing other things, and the first showing of Iron Man at 8pm at the Strand in Dover—literally, "a theatre near you"—my choice last evening was obvious.

Robert Downey, Jr. is Tony Stark, genius playboy tycoon inventor. While introducing his new weapons to our troops in Afghanistan, he's shot up, kidnapped, and forced to work for the bad guys. He takes the opportunity to build … oh, heck, you either know this already, or you don't care. Never mind.

Acting talent aplenty: in addition to Downey, there's Gwyneth Paltrow playing loyal assistant "Pepper Potts". (Really.) And Jeff Bridges plays a character about as diametrically opposite from Jeffrey Lebowski as is possible. (Bridges has been nominated for four acting Oscars, the first all the way back in 1972. Would someone please just give him one, already?)

I could quibble: things drag in spots, and I was really looking forward to seeing Samuel L. Jackson in a rumored cameo as Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; he didn't show. Instead we get Clark Gregg (Richard from The New Adventures of Old Christine) as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and sorry, that doesn't quite work.

But I had a great time. One of my favorite bits was the ongoing chatter between Stark and his robotic AI helpers, especially the not-too-bright one tasked with fire control in the workshop.

The theater was near-empty though; I don't know if this implies the movie is going to be a dud. The movie was also showing at the glitzy stadium-seating 15-screen multiplex about ten miles south, so it might just be that it's Dover's ancient Strand theater that's the dud.


Last Modified 2024-02-01 5:35 AM EDT