I didn't expect this movie to be so awesome!

Rating: 9/10 (13 October 2008)

Marvel comics has unleashed superhero movies from The Spider-Man Trilogy, The X-Men Trilogy, The Hulk films, The Fantastic Four films, The Punisher, Blade, and Ghost Rider, where now the metallic superhero Iron Man makes his screen debut.
To be honest, I didn't know too much about Anthony Stark and his alter ego Iron Man since I was into Spider-Man, the X-Men and Hulk. But once I slipped on the DVD, I got more than I bargain for.
Robert Downey Jr. portrays smart technician billionaire and media lover Tony Stark who's gone off to Iraq in showing the army the latest weapons he created until being captured by the enemy. While being a prisoner, he must make the weapons or else he'll be killed off; his heart has been transplanted by a ball device where if it's taken off his chest, he'll die instantly. As a prisoner, Tony gets help from another prisoner by creating a metallic suit to shield himself as he escapes from the underground caves and later thinks about how with his inventions he can get rid of evil after learning that his weapons were not only used by the U.S. army but by the Iraq soldiers as well.
It's fun to watch Downey Jr.'s character as Stark trying to reinvent the machine and at the same time learning from his mistakes that nobody's perfect. His performance is a balanced of comedy and serious technique like watching Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. Tony Stark/Iron Man is a good comeback for Robert Downey Jr. who's really had a bit of ups and downs in the past years of his career, but he finally found the right character at last.
Jon Favreau (Swingers) directs the film balancing a sense of reality along with mixing humor, action, a bit of romance, adventure, screw-ups, and thrills along the way. Other than Downey Jr. in the film, Gwyneth Paltrow portrays Stark's assistant Pepper Potts who isn't a damsel in distress compared to most leading ladies but a tough cookie who knows everything about her employer and speaks the truth. Terrance Howard plays Stark's friend Col. James Rhodes who'll back him up in anyway while making sure that the billionaire doesn't do anything to screw up. And there's Jeff Bridges who plays Obidiah Stane, Stark's business partner with a few secrets of his own.
To conclude, Iron Man rocks in every way! Just be sure to stick around after the credits to see Samuel L. Jackson's cameo performance as Nick Fury.