Very Long Back Story Here.... But I'm Excited for the Sequel!

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2008)

I knew the old comic book character of Iron Man, but I was not at all that familiar with the back story. This movie is a complete history of the origins of Iron Man. All you need to know about Tony Stark the man in the first few minutes. Then they went into extensive details on how he developed and perfected Iron Man. It was this part that dragged a bit for me. I just felt this went on a little too long. This protracted phase of the movie makes it NOT kid-friendly.
The production design was excellent. It was great to see the prototypes of the Iron Man costume before he decided on the final sleek look with the red metal. Stark's cliff-side house and sports cars looked great, and of course, his assistant Pepper Potts (an uncharacteristic yet memorable comeback by Gwyneth Paltrow) and his other girlfriends also looked great.
I was a skeptic when I first found out that Robert Downey Jr. would be playing Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. He just did not fit the superhero type, nor the millionaire genius playboy type of Stark. Contrary to popular sentiment, even after I watched, I still found it hard to accept Downey in this character in most of the film. The last scene, though, in the press conference, was a scene that somehow seems only a character like Robert Downey Jr. can pull off. I loved that scene and made me optimistic about the sequel.
As for Jeff Bridges, it was great to see him back in great form and looking so different. Debit is that you can see right through him from the start even if you did not have any background of the storyline in the comics. His character Obadiah Stane was very transparent and shallowly written.
Nevertheless, the flying and fighting action sequences were breathtakingly shot and very exciting to watch. They were all fast-paced and realistic. The CGI was not obviously evident. I felt though, that the finale battle with his rival giant robot Iron Monger seemed so anti-climactic. His final victory was quite unconvincing because Iron Man even had to ask for Pepper's help. Huh??? Overall it is a good enough movie, especially for a first in an apparently planned series. They had to spend a lot of time establish the character first in this installment, OK understood. Hopefully the sequel can give us more of the action we seek, since the back story is out of the way. Can't wait for the next one!