Iron Man review

Hollywood is unlikely to produce anything that is more fun than Iron Man this year. Faced with a diminishing stack of superhero characters to bring to the big screen, Marvel has dusted down one of its lesser known creations and thanks to Jon Favreau's snappy direction and a film-stealing title performance from Robert Downey Jr, it has found its next franchise. Worldwide box office dominance looks assured.

First created by Stan Lee and his team in 1963, the character of Iron Man was loosely based on Howard Hughes. The idea was to portray a billionaire businessman and inventor who uses his talents to benefit mankind. Thus was born Tony Stark, a weapons developer who initially fought Vietnamese baddies, was updated to see action in the Gulf War in the 90s and in the cinematic adaptation lands slap bang in the middle of war-torn Afghanistan to sell his deadly wares.

Aficionados of the comic will no doubt be pleased with Favreau's work. But there is plenty to pull in those with no prior knowledge, not least the bags of humour. Favreau has comic timing in spades - this is after all the man who co-wrote Swingers and directed Elf (Favreau also appears in the film as Tony Stark's minder).

Given his relative lack of box office clout and his well-documented personal issues, Downey Jr may have been a tough sell for the lead. But for a man who has been a star for 20 years, this may well push him over the edge into superstardom. He is, quite simply, hilarious. He also looks fantastic: the epitome of cool in his daywear and quite spectacular when he puts on his Iron Man suit.

The suit almost steal the show from Downey Jr as it is a superb feat of costume design. Zipping around all over the world on his missions, he really does look like one of the greatest superheroes we have seen, and the audience at the screening I attended lapped up his every move.

Downey Jr is accompanied by a first-rate cast, including Jeff Bridges as you have never seen him before, the always terrific Terrence Howard, and a suitably classy Gwyneth Paltrow. The budget, a reported $200 million, is mindblowing, but it looks like an investment that will pay off.

Paul Hurley