Entertaining but dumb

Rating: 7/10 (19 September 2010)

This slick superhero movie is fast-paced and has brisk, often witty dialog, and I did enjoy it, but it's a pretty dumb piece of work. There are both the little things - the stated purpose of the gizmo in Stark's chest contradicts its implied purpose based on what happens when it's removed, the villain is far too skilled based on his experience - and the overall premise of the film. The movie's naive take on war seems to be that the problem is weapons makers and (middle eastern) warlords, as opposed to say, imperialism, greed or, more to the point, the knee jerk use of force to solve all problems. Like the movie itself, Stark has a surface revelation but can't or won't look at the deeper issues. So while Iron Man works perfectly well as a popcorny action flick, its failure to deal with issues raised by the very nature of the screenplay makes it less satisfying than a superhero movie that never raised these issues to begin with.