Worth my 25 year wait...

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2008)

In 1984, when I was 9 and living in Texas somewhere, my Dad asked what I wanted for my birthday. We where pretty poor and I knew it, but I had seen these kids reading comics at school and I wanted to know what the deal was. So I told him I wanted some comic books and he seemed relieved because back then they where only like 40 cents to a dollar. So he took me to the nearest 7-11 and my eyes almost immediately locked on to 2 titles, Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 and Iron Man #180. The TMNT license never panned out to what I wanted. Other than the comics themselves, I was subjected to wave after wave of shittastic cartoons and half-witted movies. While, IM did have some cartoon exposure over the years, it was just never that good. I also knew that the cinematic technology of the time would not lend itself well to a live action IM movie. So I waited. Patiently. Watching the progression of CGI and costumes and feeling conflicted on what medium I wanted to see my my favorite superhero portrayed in. I'll admit, I'm a fan of CGI and had been hoping for an IM movie in the vein of the Final Fantasy or Appleseed style animations. So, when I herd that IM was going to be live-action, I was worried to say the least I was shockingly and joyfully surprised to have my worries dashed against my doubt. At the risk of sounding like a mewling fanboy, I have to say this is the best superhero movie I have ever seen. Almost 25 years I have been waiting for an Iron Man movie. Now that it has arrived, I could not be happier. There where legions of nay-sayers when RDJ was announced as Tony Stark. I was not one of them. He was a great choice and he somehow managed to tap into my imagination and deliver the performance I was hoping for. The witty, over the top confident, sarcastic pimp that I prayed to Kirby for was delivered in full. John Favreau, an admitted fan or IM, did the license justice with out going over the top in character expression or over stuffing the plot. The acting complemented the writing in a manner not expected from most movies of this sort. Well, not by me anyway. The Three Headed Monster of Stan Winston, ILM and Sky Walker Sound kicked the living guts out of anything I have seen previous to this movie. Not once did I get that CGI lag or clunky costume feeling. They blended the live-action and CGI very well and I truly believed. A+ to Iron Man and all involved.