Strong early summer entrant(not to mention a lot of fun)

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2008)

My bias in Superhero Comic characters made into movies sides mostly with DC,so my familiarity with a fair amount of the Marvel world is somewhat light. Particularly with Iron Man,so my learning curve on this show was in one part helped by a friend of mine who IS a MArvel fanatic and in another--a much bigger one--in this movie.
I'd say I did okay in that regard. Better than OK.
The transformation of debauchery-loving rich kid/gifted inventor and demi-genius Tony Stark(Robert Downey Jr.,fantastic!) from cynical war profiteer to wounded crusader on a mission(via his creation and film's namesake,of course)is somewhat of a slow one,as he survives a kidnap attempt in Afghanistan and has to use his smarts and the equipment he's given to escape,not to mention the help of a equally gifted translator(Shaun Taub,underrated),but that's okay. Downey's arch,oh-so-real acting and perfectly glib persona makes his reform interesting and even fun to watch so that by the time the finished version of Stark's creation comes to fruition,it doesn't seem like much of a wait at all IMHO. With the help of his loyal and attractive(also attracted)assistant Pepper Potts(Gwyneth Paltrow,someone I'd sorta forgotten how luminescent and lovely she really can be before seeing this movie),he strives to use his nascent technology for good rather than evil,which naturally will incur resistance from within.
Great supporting turns by Terence Howard as Tony's associate and erstwhile friend,Jeff Bridges as Tony's mentor and potentially shadowy menace and Clark Gregg as a tight-lipped fed make director Jon FAvreau's job helming this adaptation a HUGELY better result than the wan,flavorless "DareDevil" from 2003.
THis is a satisfying film from at least three levels: for those who love superhero movies,it's great;for those who enjoy a good message movie,it's only BARELY preachy and always able to keep it frenetic and true;and as a summer film,it's large and captivating,never letting the viewer go till the credits(and perhaps even STILL during that)! While I cannot quite go all the way with a ten for this film,it's a very strong nine. A strong movie-going experience for most anyone who likes "Summer" films.