Worth every dollar and cent you spend on it

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2008)

I went to see Iron Man for the midnight opening and I was very, very pleased with what I found. As a fan of the Avengers for many years, the movie was a breath of fresh air and definitely set my heart and mind racing for what was to come. Not only did I come out of the film anticipating a sequel, this did what I thought was impossible and supplanted Batman Begins as the best superhero movie to date.
Iron Man follows the story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a multi-billionaire and genius who personally designs much of the technology his company creates and is known as a weapons manufacturer. He's also inevitably a playboy and arrogant in his own success. However, while doing a demonstration in Afghanistan he is captured by the Ten Rings, an Afghani terrorist group, after his convoy is attacked and destroyed. During his captivity, he realizes that the weapons he built are being used by the enemy to kill American soldiers and resolves to fight a different kind of war. He escapes the terrorist facility by building a suit of armor which makes him a walking machine of destruction. However, when he returns home, he realizes that his work is not over and resolves to make the perfect machine for fighting crime and also attempts to discover who sold the terrorists their weapons from within his own company.
A lot of comic book favorites are featured in the film. Pepper Potts, his assistant (and later wife in the comic) is portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow, and his friend Jim Rhodes also makes an appearance as Terrence Howard. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane is no less a powerful character. Perhaps the most powerful "guest appearance" is that of S.H.I.E.L.D., the spy organization universal to the Marvel Universe, and the idea of trying to bring the entirety of the universe together through the movies.
What truly drives the film is how complex and powerful Downey's character is as Tony Stark. He not only manages to convey the typical jingoism and pomp that is associated with the Marvel Universe equivalent of Bruce Wayne, he also ties it into the storyline with incredible finesse. As a character, while watching the film, I literally grew to become fond of Stark, despite his flaws and his shortcomings, and if that happened, I have no doubt that Favreau and his team succeeded in making a fantastic film.
I found no faults, and recommend it to anyone.