Robert Downey Jr. starts off the multi-franchise that 10 years later, is STILL going strong!

Rating: 9/10 (20 October 2018)

When Robert Downey Jr. resurfaced back into the acting world in 2008, Marvel were taking a humongous risk in casting him as billionaire playboy Tony Stark. Back luckily thanks to RDJ; not only has he become one of the richest and most powerful people on the planet, he started off the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has already expanded and made these classic Marvel characters more popular than ever before. Without Iron Man you wouldn't have had the Avengers!
On the whole, Iron Man is a blast. Telling the origin story of an obscure character from the start and exploring Tony's lifestyle and genius mind while taking down who he thought would be his most trusted ally in the form of Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger (played to perfection by Jeff Bridges, who also would have been a perfect Lex Luthor for DC). Gwyneth Paltrow shines, Terrence Howard does too but Don Cheadle has proven to be just as good as Rhodey in the sequels but this whole movie wouldn't have been popular if they hadn't have cast ROBERT DOWNEY JR!
The only gripes I have with the film is the ending, it feels a bit lacklustre and the action could have been a bit smoother and more creative. I also wish that they had hinted on Stark's alcoholism problems that he had in the original comics. But these are minor nitpicks. This movie is fantastic and probably the best of the Iron Man trilogy.