Marc Worden plays Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist/playboy who scarcely has time to manage his businesses given all of the female attention he attracts. But when his best friend Rhodey (Rodney Saulsberry) is kidnapped while trying to raise the ruins of an ancient civilization using his technology, Stark flies to China to provide damage control.

Unfortunately, his convoy is attacked soon after he arrives, and Stark finds himself in the hands of a group of rebels hell-bent on keeping him from resurrecting the ruins. Though seriously injured, he agrees to help the rebels, in turn creating a suit of armour that will both protect his failing heart and liberate him from their clutches.

After he escapes and rescues Rhodey, the two return to the states to discover that Stark has been indicted as an arms dealer and is to be prosecuted by the US government. Enlisting the help of his personal secretary Pepper Potts (Elisa Gabrielli), Tony steals into his office at Stark Enterprises, where a hidden room reveals a cache of military armour deigned over the year to combat the elements - much less any opponent.

As he soon discovers, however, those two forces may be one and the same, because the ruins unleashed four Elementals who will stop at nothing to resurrect their leader, The Mandarin (Fred Tatasciore). Using all of the resources - not to mention cool-looking super-suits - he can get his hands on, Stark must restore his good name, stop the Elementals and hopefully save the earth from the domineering and deadly forces of The Mandarin.

The Invincible Iron Man is by far the best of Marvel's animated efforts yet released, primarily because its themes are more complex and mature than any explored in earlier films: both Stark and his erstwhile companion Li Mei (Gwendoline Yeo) deal with some pretty serious paternal issues, and the cultural backdrop of Chinese mythology provides a dynamic and compelling contrast to Iron Man's to-the-minute technology.

But overall, the tenuous place the film takes in Iron Man lore is not yet determined; so fans should definitely seek this set if only to sustain the hope that Marvel will continue to mature as a studio. It's not quite invincible, but for a film about a guy made out of iron, it's pretty tough.