Good, not Great, but a whole lot of fun.

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2008)

Iron Man is an immensely enjoyable film. Major props go out to it in terms of direction, acting and special effects. Where thing begin to fall apart is the plot, but I'll get to that in a second.
Iron Man is very well shot. The music is well picked, well placed, and well timed. When it opens with AC/DC the tone is set for the entire film. It is fast, it is fun, and it f-ing rocks. The music cues throughout the film tend to enhance this sense. When Iron Man fights, they break out the guitars and it just feels right.
The special effects are beautiful. I am a cgi hater, but in the case of iron man you don't really have a choice. I'm just glad that they decided to use it sparingly and when they do it is breathtaking. I think most uses of cgi in movies look terrible. Not so here. A+. And because they use it sparingly and they took the material seriously (while keeping a light tone), this feels like the real world to an extent. Tim Story and even Sam Raimi should watch this film to show that you can have a light tone and keep things in something of a realistic realm. You can have a comic book film be fun and light without becoming a cartoon. You can be funny without being stupid.
And this film is funny as hell. You will laugh. This is rare for a comic book film. Most don't know how to handle comedy. They either go overboard and its just ridiculous and stupid (certain dance scenes come to mind) or it gets wedged in and comes off as awkward one-liners that make you cringe (the one flaw in my beloved batman begins). Most of the humor comes from the absolutely fantastic performance by Robert Downy Jr. He f-ing nailed it. I could go on for pages and not come close to how good he is. This is his film through and through. It's why the film is so much fun. He is instantly likable, funny, awesome, and real. Two thumbs up all the way. The other cast members all do their jobs and pass with flying colors. The performances range from serviceable to excellent. None are bad. Everyone does something to contribute to the film overall. Kudos to the cast.
Now to the major glaring flaw to this film. The plot. It's terrible. Fortunately, you don't care that much because it is otherwise so much fun. But really, it couldn't be much more silly, cliché, or predictable. The long, overblown bad-guy speeches handed out by jeff bridges (not his fault, he does the best he can with the material) are especially overwrought and overdone and the closest this movie comes to a cringe moment. If you were to write an outline for your typical comic book movie plot, hell your typical action movie plot, you'd basically have the exact plot that this movie follows. Which is a shame, but fortunately it doesn't drown the movie. It just holds it back from being something greater.
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Iron Man has one of the best endings of any comic book movie i've ever seen. It completely caught me off guard. I love it. Just another parting gift from the wonderful filmmakers. The hackneyed plot could have used such surprises. In the end, it was just really good to see marvel get its groove back after the abortions that are Ghost Rider and the Fantastic Four movies (and Spiderman 3). Stay until after the credits for 30 seconds of Samuel L. awesomeness!