Director: Jon Favreau, 12, 2008

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow

Retail DVD

Along with Hulk, Iron Man is one of the lesser stars in the Marvel firmament. That this film succeeds better than the recent foray by the green monster is largely down to a sharp script and even sharper delivery from the excellent Downey Jr. His Tony Stark is a callous arms manufacturer whose life is transformed when his own weapons are used against him in Afghanistan.

Iron Man is thus born from a need to right grittier, more immediate wrongs than either Spider-Man or DC’s Batman, and in tone the film is well pitched between the primary colours of the former and bleak gloom of the latter; I assume a sequel is on the way. Fingers crossed they don’t mess up this promising start.

DVD extras

Commentaries, deleted scenes, making of documentaries

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