Iron Man

(USA, 2008, 125 minutes)

A playboy inventor who's made his fortune as a weapons builder has a change of heart after escaping Afghan guerrillas meant to kill him, and becomes a super-hero thanks to an elaborate flying suit. Messy addition to the big-screen smart-comic-book cycle that puts a perfect cast and excellent trick effects in the service of an underdeveloped script.

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present a Marvel Studios production, in association with Fairview Entertainment. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges; and Gwyneth Paltrow; Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub. Directed by Jon Favreau; produced by Avi Arad, Kevin Feige; screenplay by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, based on the comic book character created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby; music by Ramin Djawadi; director of photography (Fot0-Kem, DeLuxe, Panavision), Matthew Libatique; production designer, J. Michael Riva; costume designers, Laura Jean Shannon, Rebecca Bentjen; film editor, Ben Lebental; visual effects supervisor, John Nelson.