Ignorance is Bliss, apparently.

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2008)

There are three types of attitudes going to watch a comic/game to Movie conversion. First, the veterans who read the comics and played the games before the movie and go in comparing every second and detail to their beloved history and hate it for butchering their story. The second are the veterans who read the comics and played the games who watch the movie and appreciate that it's being "brought back" from obscurity or even death. Then there's everyone else.
Being born in '89, comics and the "good" television shows came and went before I was able to even register what the hell I was looking at on the screen. (around '95?) ...Therefore, I knew nothing about Iron man and was able to watch this film with a complete unbias.
Right off the bat I am introduced to Tony Stark. And after all the complains given against him for being an asshole, jerk, playboy, etc... I actually liked him. He was witty, likable, and friendly to almost everyone. On the list of complaints, yes, he was a playboy but he wasn't a complete dick to others. I don't know where the hell other reviewers see the "jerk" in Tony.
Soon after, he's shoved into an Arab's cave. Now, I thought this entire intro sequence was kind of stupid. First, shoving modern-day problems into an older concept, I did not appreciate. Later in this sequence, they try to establish Tony's genius by being able to build a hand-held reactor deal in a cave. With Scraps. Come the f@#! on, guys. This was entirely unbelievable because the technology only existed in his Headquarters and it was even noted as a "test, a science project" and didn't even go into production. Yes, he had a lot of his own Supplies available to him, but how the hell did he get a hold of that blue reactor stuff to shove in his chest? That all being said about the intro, I gave a suspension of belief and loved the cave-emergence where he wrecked shop with the suit. I /did/ like that. As a gamer, I was pretty much going "boss fight!" when he encountered the boss-Arab-guy.
It did go up from that unbelievable nonsense. I liked the emphasis of character development that this movie gave, instead of action. (A mistake many game/comic->Move conversions fail miserably at, confusing storytelling types) which was also a common complain-against. Not with me. I enjoyed it.
That all being said, I did not appreciate how women were depicted in the plane-scene. They all suddenly became belly-dancers. Ridiculous.
I also liked the twist of actually revealing to the public that he was Iron Man. That's a different direction most super-hero stories take and I would like to see how that's depicted in Iron Man 2.
Overall, relatively decent and definitely worth the sequel.