"Iron Man," starts out somewhere in the Middle East, with billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) surrounded by soldiers in an armored tank. He is on business to showcase his company's new Jericho missile. The company, which he owns by inheritance, is Stark Industries, the largest manufacture of weapons in the world.

"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I prefer the weapon you only need to fire once. That's how dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far," he says.

Things are going fine until the vehicle in front of them explodes. They've been ambushed. All the soldiers get out of the Humvee to fight and protect Tony, but they tell him to stay inside the vehicle.

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In “Iron Man,� Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark Jr., a billionaire playboy who owns a weapons company. When captured by terrorists, Tony builds a high-tech armored suit to help him escape. Once back home, he decides to use the suit and his company’s weapons to fight evil, becoming the titular Iron Man.

Terrorists capture Tony and take him to a cave where they want him to build them a Jericho missile. They have all of Stark Industries' weapons except that one, and they want it so they will be the most powerful group in the land.

While a prisoner there, Tony meets Yinsen (Shaun Toub, "Crash") a doctor of sorts, who uses a car battery to help keep the shrapnel that Tony caught during the bomb blast from entering his heart.

But Tony can't haul around a car battery and build a missile at the same time. So he invents an arc reactor to keep the metal away from his heart without having to use the car battery.

Still, building a missile for the enemies is not his plan. Instead he devises something else -something metal and man-like. Tony and Yinsen follow blueprints Tony designed and use pieces from missiles and other weapons to create the metal man.

The two concoct a plan that helps them escape but sadly Yinsen dies. Amazingly enough Tony doesn't leave the cave until all of his missiles that the terrorists have are destroyed.

I was surprised that Yinsen was killed; I didn't expect him to die. He died honorably, however, protecting Tony.

After wandering the desert for a few days, Tony is rescued by an American chopper, flown by his close friend Jim Rhodes (Terrance Howard, "Hustle & Flow").

"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I prefer the weapon you only need to fire once. That's how dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far," he says.

Things are going fine until the vehicle in front of them explodes. They've been ambushed. All the soldiers get out of the Humvee to fight and protect Tony, but they tell him to stay inside the vehicle.

They are all killed, however, and after that, Tony gets out and runs away from the battleground. Another bomb goes off and lands next to him as he's lying in the sand. What does he see as he looks at it? Stark Industries' logo.

Terrorists capture Tony and take him to a cave where they want him to build them a Jericho missile. They have all of Stark Industries' weapons except that one, and they want it so they will be the most powerful group in the land.

While a prisoner there, Tony meets Yinsen (Shaun Toub, "Crash") a doctor of sorts, who uses a car battery to help keep the shrapnel that Tony caught during the bomb blast from entering his heart.

But Tony can't haul around a car battery and build a missile at the same time. So he invents an arc reactor to keep the metal away from his heart without having to use the car battery.

Still, building a missile for the enemies is not his plan. Instead he devises something else -something metal and man-like. Tony and Yinsen follow blueprints Tony designed and use pieces from missiles and other weapons to create the metal man.

The two concoct a plan that helps them escape but sadly Yinsen dies. Amazingly enough Tony doesn't leave the cave until all of his missiles that the terrorists have are destroyed.

I was surprised that Yinsen was killed; I didn't expect him to die. He died honorably, however, protecting Tony.

After wandering the desert for a few days, Tony is rescued by an American chopper, flown by his close friend Jim Rhodes (Terrance Howard, "Hustle & Flow").

Once back at his enormous mansion in Malibu, Tony decides to run Stark Industries a little differently. He decides that weapons are not the answer to society's ills and wants to change the business for the better.

What he doesn't know, though, is that there is a defiant colleague at Stark who doesn't like the new way Tony is running his father's business. This becomes a key issue because this colleague later becomes Iron Man's foe.

With the help of his computer, which he calls Butterfingers and the stunning redhead Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), Tony develops the red and gold suit that all the papers call "Iron Man." As Iron Man, he protects the people who are treated unjustly.

There's one scene that I particularly like where Iron Man helps a village that's being pillaged by a terrorists. After he eliminates all the other terrorists, Iron Man turns the leader over to the people of the village.

In my opinion, "Iron Man" is the best Marvel movie ever made. Director Jon Favreau ("Zathura," "Elf") does an amazing job staying faithful to the comic.

 I especially enjoyed this because when the director vastly changes what the comic book creators made (as was the case in 2003's version of "The Incredible Hulk"), it makes me feel as if the comic creators' work was for nothing. "Iron Man," however, sticks to the comic like glue.

The action was spectacular. My only complaint is that the fight scenes should have been longer.

As far as the acting, Robert Downey Jr. does an amazing job portraying Tony Stark. Downey has had a lot of chaos in his personal life in the past, and I am very glad that his career is finally getting back on track.

I can only hope that Terrance Howard returns in the sequel as Jim Rhodes - and also the superhero War Machine. Howard is a very powerful actor and will make a great War Machine. Also, I like that in the movie, Jim and Tony are good friends because that's how it is in the comic.

"Iron Man" dominated the box office when it opened last week, bringing in more than $100 million. It's well worth the price of admission, so if the chance arises, go see it.

Oh, and another thing - there's a special scene after the credits, so don't get up too soon. (And don't forget to look for Stan Lee's cameo in the film, either!)