An amazing start for a not so amazing universe

Rating: 7/10 (26 August 2019)

In a personal quest of giving the MCU a second chance to prove me that is not as awful as I think it is, I will rewatch every movie up to Endgame, so we have to start with Iron Man. And yeah this is exactly what I remembered it was: a fun superhero movie that actually knows what to do.
With Iron Man, Marvel found a formula that worked, and that unfortunately they have squeeze for 10 years that every "origin" movie they make is just a remake of Iron Man. And I get why they do this. Iron Man works because it plays safe. We get a simple history, the typical hero's journey, ad what better if the hero we're talking about is Iron Man. Who knew who Iron Man was back in 2008? Just comic book readers like me, if you asked people if they knew Iron Man, they would've probably ask if you we're talking about the Black Sabbath song. Robert Downey Jr., a faded star that had some very serious addiction problems (ironically, just like the character itself), was gifted to play Iron Man. The man was born to play Tony Stark, yeah he's a great actor, but if you think about him, this role will pop in your mind instantly. He does a wondeful job at playing the childish CEO that eventually transforms in the hero.
But enough praise for Downey Jr., there are other things to talk about. The rest of the casting does a great job, except for one color dude no one remembers. An unrecognizable Jeff Bridges is the villain, and while the character itself is weak and we don't get so much explanation at why he's bad, Bridges still does a good job. Gwyneth Paltrow was also perfect casted as Pepper, she is in every Iron Man film a great support character, and her relationship with Tony Stark here is charming.
Why everyone went to the cinema when this was released was part thankful to that red and yellow suit. I have to say that the CGI of this film back in the day was impresive, but it hasn't aged that well, especially at the fight at the end with the villain. Still, is not annoying or anything like that, but is quite distracting.
So yeah, I have to say that Iron Man, while flawed, was a perfect start for the MCU, that after this one, has released more than 20 movies, few of them reach the quality of this first instalment, but all that succes is thanks to a playboy we all love.