Go on, admit it... is there anybody out there who reads this blog who hasn't seen this by now? Twice?

I have:)

Every now and then, a bunch of comic book geeks still firmly in touch with their inner 12-year-old, get together and start fantasising about how cool it would be to see their favourite superheroes brought to life. Some of these geeks then manage to get their hands on large quantities of cash and set out to make their dreams come true, with interesting results. Some are wildly successful (Spiderman, Batman, X-Men) , some, not so much (Hellboy, Ghost Rider).

So when the mothership of all geekdom, Marvel Comics, announced they were sinking $186m into making a film of the less-than-iconic Ironman, and worse, they’d hired walking-disaster-area Robert Downey Jnr, to play Ironman’s human alter-ego, Tony Stark, even the most dedicated fan-boy, started to get a little worried.

The story (to save you digging out your old comics) is about a billionaire arms manufacturer and engineering genius, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr), captured by terrorists in Afghanistan (updated from the Viet-Cong of the 1960’s comic) who commission Stark to build them a WMD or, well, die. With an electromagnet surgically implanted in his chest to prevent the shrapnel near his heart from moving and killing him, Stark builds himself a suit of armour (with a jet pack, natch) and escapes captivity. He then heads back to the States, a changed man, determined to stop the manufacture of any more weapons. Not a course of actions his shareholders are very thrilled about, it has to be said.

Tony soon finds himself at odds with his mentor and long time friend, Obadiah Stanes (Jeff Bridges – bald, as all superhero arch-nemeses should be), and trying to explain himself to his good friend Rhodes (Terence Howard) and his ever-loyal PA, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). He then, using his unparalleled mechanical genius, designs the weapon to end all weapons and an alternate power source. Pity he can’t do anything about the shrapnel in his chest.

Downey Jnr owns the screen as Stark, to the detriment of almost every other character in the film. You get the feeling they could have lined up a list of complete unknowns and it would have impacted little on the film. The best scenes are, in fact, those where Stark is alone in his basement, tinkering with his suit design, while talking to his robots.

The script is brilliant in places, falls back into mediocrity in others (particularly during the epic CGI-heavy Transformer-ish final battle), but once again, it’s Stark who commands the screen, making it uniquely his own. Jon Favreau, whose only previous outing into the realm of 12-year-old boy fantasy was the pleasantly harmless Zathura, brings us an origin story that almost makes sense (as much a cartoon superheroes can make sense). The ending is refreshing, too, and makes an interesting set up for the inevitable sequels that will follow this very lucrative cash-cow Marvel has just given birth to.

When it comes to superpowers however, I’m afraid the award for most amazing stunt goes not to Ironman, but to his faithful sidekick, Pepper Potts, who, wearing a skirt so tight she can barely move and stilettos heels any self-respecting hooker would kill for, manages to flee the evil Ironmonger at a full pelt run across perforated industrial steel decking. Now that’s impressive.