Excellent

Rating: 10/10 (4 May 2008)

Iron Man may seem to the uninitiated as an unlikely choice to be a superhero of blockbuster status but for fans of Marvel comics in general it makes sense. But that being said it still has to attract a public who is not completely familiar with him and yet ride that fine line where it appeases those who know everything about him and this film does just that. A great screenplay supported by an excellent cast is what carried this film into the realm of believability. A good amount of time was spent fleshing out Tony Stark, who for the most part, was not made to be a sympathetic character. He's arrogant, he doesn't take life seriously and he's got more money than he knows what to do with and yet in the end he has a change of heart and you'll wish you were him donning the suit. Now that's good writing. The writers and Jon Favreau try not to stick with minor details, technicalities and such from the comics, instead they paint in broad strokes using universal themes that are familiar throughout adventure stories. Keep in mind this is an intro and not just for those unfamiliar but for fans as well because this will ultimately become a movie franchise and at this rate hopefully a consistently good one.
There was always a disconnect between the reality of characters in the comic book format and how Hollywood studio's figured they should be translated on screen. The recent trend to present comic book characters in a mature light is a trend I hope doesn't end. Enough of the campy crap of directors like Joel Schumacher who never took the characters seriously and never thought that the fans did either. Having comic fans direct these films (ex. Jon Favreau, Chris Nolan) is a blessing and their success is probably an eye opener for studio executives who rather not take those risks. If they put this much energy into Captain America and the revamp of The Punisher then it's safe to look forward to a great collection of superhero films coming soon.