Based on playboy/inventor/adventurer and all-round looney-tunes tycoon Howard Hughes, Stan Lee’s comic creation Tony Stark is a perfect fit for the maverick talents of Robert Downey Jr.

Heck, Stark was even an alcoholic for a while. But with 45 years of history to cover, that particular flaw – like his anti-Communist beginnings - doesn’t surface in the first live-action adventure for Lee’s man in the iron mask.

Iron Man’s opening tells us all we need to know about our hero in ten slick minutes. A ridiculously rich and clever ladies’ man, Stark is the world’s biggest weapons contractor... who now has a piece of shrapnel lodged perilously close to his heart.

That’s because he was caught by Afghan trouble-causers (no mention of the word ‘Taliban’ – possibly a DC Comics copyright…) after demonstrating Stark Industries’ awesome latest missile. Naturally, the Tal… insurgents want one too.

Back at cave HQ, they rather naively provide him with a helpful doctor and all the materials and lax security he needs to construct both a drop-in pacemaker and a fully armed and armoured suit with which to make his escape.

For his captors, Stark’s exit is as embarrassing as it is explosive. Damn these untrustworthy infidels and their superior intelligence!

After being picked up by his Air Force buddy Rhodesy (Howard), Stark returns to America a changed man, vowing to take his company out of the arms race - much to the chagrin of bullet-headed chief exec Obie Stane (Bridges).

Then, with super-smart secretary Pepper (Paltrow) at his side, Stark hits the workshop to customise the old rocket suit and re-invent himself as an iron-clad humanitarian.

With Spider-Man and Batman currently brooding under a pall of doom and Gothic gloom, it’s refreshing to find a shiny new hero who’s not afraid to have fun with his defects.

Powered by Downey’s charisma and state-of-the-art visuals, actor-director Favreau’s vibrant franchise-starter makes RoboCop look like Dixon of Dock Green.

Sure, the routine plot, romance and climactic showdown could use a little oil, but Favreau - who appears as Stark’s driver - and his seasoned cast know where to draw the line between knowing playfulness and comic-book integrity.

Pity the producers couldn’t have shown similar restraint while making their shameless sponsorship deals with Audi and Burger King.

But all shortcomings can be forgotten as Iron Man unleashes its arsenal of glossy set-pieces from the test-and-development phase to outstripping fighter jets, wiping out terrorist splinter cells and dealing with an unusually aggressive corporate takeover.

Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Elliott Noble