Different kind of superhero movie, but in the vein of "Spider-Man"

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2009)

When I say that "Iron Man" is a different kind of superhero movie, I mean exactly that. But it's closer to the "Spider-Man" movies than "The Dark Knight." It's intelligent, but not dense, or hopelessly grim. It has a sense of fun, which is seriously helped by a number of Robert Downey Jr.'s one-liners.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the Bruce Wayne of weapons design. He has more money than he can count, and is probably the world's biggest celebrity because of it. When captured in Afghanistan, he creates a prototype of a suit to become Iron Man. Thereafter, much to the shock of everyone who knows him, he decides to become a humanitarian. But that's not as easy as it sounds...
The best part of "Iron Man" is that it doesn't follow the usual superhero movie plot trajectory. It goes in different directions, with more intelligence than usual, yet director Jon Faverau keeps it feeling the same.
However, the movie is let down by the casting. Robert Downey Jr. is so talented that he needed a way to break out into the mainstream again. Because "Iron Man" accomplished this, it succeeded. Strangely though, the script lets Downey down. True, its a great performance (as only Downey can give), but once he gets back to the states (about 20 minutes into the film), he becomes a lot less interesting. Again, this isn't Downey's fault, it's the screenplay's.
"Iron Man" suffers from too much star power. It has a cast of great actors, but there's not enough screen time to let them develop full personalities. Gwyneth Paltrow is a case in point. In films, big stars generally play two roles: main characters or cameos. Pepper Potts is neither. She's in-between, and because she has so much screen time, we expect more from her (I'm not a Paltrow fan, but this isn't her fault). The same problem she had in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" applies here. She doesn't do well in action movies. Still, it is to her credit that she's doing something to help her fame OTHER than posing for Vogue magazine. Terrence Howard is solid as Rhodey, Starks' friend and military liaison. Jeff Bridges is sorely miscast as Obadiah. While he has moments of effectiveness, overall he doesn't belong here (even with the unrecognizable facial transformation).
Still, "Iron Man" must be judged based on its intentions. Does it entertain? The answer is a resounding YES!