Iron Man (PG-13) *** | Downey performs like a well-oiled machine

BY RENE RODRIGUEZ

rrodriguez@MiamiHerald.com

ZADE ROSENTHAL / PARAMOUNT PICTURES

He's no Spidey, but we probably wouldn't want to see Robert Downey Jr. in tights anyway.

• Trailer and movie times

On the comic-book rack, Iron Man has never come close to achieving the popularity of all-star Marvel Comics superheroes such as Spider-Man or The X-Men. But the character turns out to be a natural for the movies. Unlike the colorful -- and, let's face it, silly -- tights and capes most other do-gooders run around in, Iron Man's gleaming yellow-and-red armor has the sheen and polish of a showroom sports car, and it's loaded with an entire Batcave's worth of trinkets and gadgets. It's a fantastic special effect because it doesn't look like a special effect: The movie sells the illusion that the suit could maybe, possibly, exist.

The credit for that goes not only to the special effects crew headed by John Nelson (Gladiator), but to Robert Downey Jr., who plays the man beneath the shiny metal. As an actor, Downey is easy to take for granted, because he's so consistently good in crucial supporting roles, but rarely is asked to carry the entire show. In Iron Man, though, Downey practically is the show. He plays Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and chief supplier of weapons to the U.S. government.

Stark is a genius, but he's also a bratty playboy, flaunting his celebrity status whenever he can and taking advantage of the fact that women find him -- or at least his money -- irresistible. Downey's performance is the key to Iron Man: Through his irreverent line readings and off-handed sense of humor, Downey silently acknowledges the profound silliness of this material, then convinces you to take it seriously and go along on the ride with him. Comic-book movies aren't usually fertile territory for deft acting, but Downey is so disarming and breezy in Iron Man that it's not until the movie is over that you realize just how little traditional action it contains or how little screen time the titular character actually gets.

Director Jon Favreau, delivering big-time on the affinity for genre filmmaking he displayed in the underrated Zathura, has a fantastic time with the big set pieces, be it Stark's escape from the terrorist camp in Afghanistan where he's imprisoned, to the climactic showdown, in which buses and cars are thrown through the air like playthings.

That sequence is as exciting as anything in Transformers, and it's better put together, too. Favreau knows how to cut action together so you can follow what's happening on the screen instead of it blurring together into a sensory rush. But none of it would work if Favreau hadn't cast the film so well: Jeff Bridges, sporting a sinister shaved head, gets a rare opportunity to play a bad guy at full volume; Gwyneth Paltrow gives the standard-issue love interest role humor and warmth; and Terrence Howard exudes authority as Stark's military contact (he'll have more to do in the sequel).

And Downey, of course, anchors the entire show: All the performances in the film revolve around his, in much the same way the characters revolve around Stark, and the actor sets the tone and gets everyone to follow in the same frame of mind. Iron Man isn't soulful like Spider-Man 2, or dark and operatic like Batman Begins. It's a lightweight piece of entertainment, and there's nothing in it that really sticks with you. But it's also an absolute blast to watch, a consummate piece of popcorn entertainment made with wit and class, and it leaves you so pumped for a sequel that it is practically guaranteed to become a huge hit. The bar for the summer movie season has been set.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub

Director: Jon Favreau

Screenwriters: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Producers: Avi Arad, Kevin Feige

A Paramount Pictures release. Running time: 115 minutes. Vulgar language, violence. Playing at area theaters.