Close But No Cigar

Rating: 6/10 (6 October 2008)

It's amazing what a wonderful package director Jon Favreau gave us with this 2008 feature. I also have to applaud the excellent cast choice as far as appearance goes. I feel that Downey executed the role with flying colors. I was impressed with the accuracy Marvel kept with this new franchise, however, I can only say that overall, this movie came close to being a hit in my heart but no cigar.
We are exposed to the whole origins of Iron Man in this movie. We are also given lots of high-end graphics, exploding action, and even a light risqué motif as we follow Tony Stark on his way to becoming the Iron Man we all know and love. I do have to say this, the movie built me up with so much consistency to the comic, non-stop action, and even though this day and age CGI is overused and has become a modern day film standard, the graphics were indeed, a work of art. Then we reach the ending. It does not matter if the movie gained 100/100 stars up until then. That ending killed it, and killed it fast. I was not pleased with how abrupt the franchise chapter closed, and found the teaser a touch cliché.
So is this worth the time to watch and/or the money to purchase/rent? I would have to say yes for the younger audience. Overall, the film is a fun family feature, so do pass around the popcorn. I simply feel that it could have been done a touch different, and ended a little more cleaner. This is indeed apart of the curse of the year 2008, where a truly GREAT feature has yet to release, but I will cut this one as a GOOD film. Let's see what happens in the sequel.