I have a three-category system for ranking movie adaptations of comic books. They are: not so bad (Batman, Spider-Man), mostly laughable (Hulk, Ghostrider) and why the hell did you even try (Daredevil, Fantastic 4). Going into Iron Man I expected to walk away filing it in one of the first two options but was surprised that I left with a brand new category, really damn good!

Tony Stark is a brilliant billionaire playboy who made his fortune making weapons for the U.S. government. During a new weapons test in Afghanistan his convoy is attacked (with his own weapons, no less) and is nearly killed. After surviving his near-death experience he finds he’s being held captive to help create weapons for a group of terrorists. He sets to work but instead of making the requested weapons he forges an invulnerable suit of armor he uses to escape.

Upon his return he attempts to freeze his weapons production but is blocked by the company’s board. He uses this down time to perfect his suit of armor effectively making him a walking, flying, indestructible tank.

The bad guy comes after him and a high-tech fight to the finish ensues.

Robert Downey Jr. was perfect for this role. It’s like he had lived his life — the drinking, the girls — to prepare for the moment he needed to become Tony Stark… minus the whole flying metal suit part, that is.

The bald and bearded Jeff Bridges was a fantastic character with a great name, Obadiah Stane. Gwyneth Paltro was perfectly suited to play Pepper Potts, a slightly nerdy yet beautiful assistant to Tony Stark. The rest of the supporting cast played their parts well, also.

The story behind Iron Man is a perfect origin story. It didn’t try to do too much. In fact, it took all of the things out that normally bog down a superhero movie. Gone is the messy romance plot. Gone is the emotional baggage the hero carries. This is a hero story boiled down to the basics… a guy with incredible talent who just wants to do the right thing and is written to be a ton of fun! Maybe more as I’m not sure how much that armor supposedly weighs.

The quality and care put into this film came as a huge surprise. As far as comics go, Iron Man is a pretty B-list superhero. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great character but iconically he falls far short of the class where Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman and Captain America belong. Has Hollywood finally figured it out? A B-list character receiving A-list treatment? It’s a trend that really needs to continue.

Iron Man is the only superhero movie adaptation I have no complaints about. Even I thoroughly enjoyed Spider-Man, it was subject to crappy character design on Green Goblin. Speaking of green, why was the Hulk a stupidly bright, neon green color? Batman, you can give the gravelly voice a break. You’re tough enough without it. Superman, well, you’re just a bit too damn pretty.

Thanks to Iron Man I now have great hope for the quality of superhero movies yet to come.

One more thing, when you go see this, stick around through the end of the credits or you’ll miss something huge. Trust me… it’s worth the wait!

Dwayne, this was a great review and it made anticipate the Iron Man film even more, although I didn’t get to a theater to “watch it” until three weeks after it was released. 

As an aside, Richmond needs more first-run movie theaters between the West End and the Southside.  Movieland at Boulevard can’t open fast enough for me. 

For my money, Iron Man will stand out as the best movie of the summer, although The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight look like strong contenders.

Thanks for the props, CP. Just to clarify, “not-so-bad” are movies I greatly enjoy. The only reasons they did’t jump into the newly formed “really damn good” catagory are my beef with the crap design on Goblin and Batman’s dumb-I’m Batman so I have to talk like a badass-voice. Things I’d want changed if I were in charge.

Iron Man… they knocked it outta the park!

As a side note, I have recently learned that Marvel Studios has begun working all of their movies in house now instead of farming them out to other film companies. Iron Man was the first and the upcoming Hulk will be the second. Rumor has it that Robert Downey Jr. will have a cameo as Tony Stark in the new Hulk movie. Seems like Marvel is taking steps to ensure quality control and create a seamless environment for their characters to interact in. If the Hulk movie turns out to be as good of a surprise as Iron Man I’ll put my official stamp of approval on everything Marvel is doing for their future film products.

All reports on this movie are good.  Can’t wait to see it this weekend!

A lot of people missed the credit scenes but you can catch those on the web now.

On a side note - I would point out two exceptions to you’re opinion of all the previous super hero movies. The first Spider-Man was very good.  Each one after that got progressively worse and the third was total crap.  Batman Begins was great too.  Have to disagree with you there Dwayne.  Otherwise I agree with you in most of these type movies being “not-so-bad” at the very best.