Duuuunn---duuun---da-da-daaahhh

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2008)

Yeah!
This movie was flamboyantly ROCKIN'!!
Robert Downey Jr's quickly-delivered one-liners were barbed with bite by marvelous Marvel scriptwriters, and Downey's delivery was as impeccable as his Malibu house.
**SPOILER ALERT**
The story begins crisply as Tony Stark's military escort in the Mideast sands is ambushed by terrorists. This scene is swift, and very realistic for this type of flick.
Then, we get a major flashback which uploads tons of information on Tony Stark's character, career, and friendships. Here, we get big bang for the buck invested in this background.
A mini-story then transpires, giving us a glorious new beginning for the man of iron, including a terrific technical segment long enough to linger, and short enough to keep our attention. Here, Tony also receives his motivations for the remainder of the movie.
After a battle royale, and rescue (I don't want to give away too many details), Tony Stark continues constructing an updated version of the suit.
Engaging enemies in foreign lands, and taking to the skies like a rousing rocket, Iron Man is born!
Of course, Iron Man meets a formidable enemy, but it won't be who you think it is.
Other great aspects to this movie are a generous portion of good-natured and true humour, a very believable Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, an unobtrusive Cuba Gooding Jr, great Lucasfilm robotics, and a cool music score.
Now, some bad points:
(1) Iron Man's major foe has two question marks which are not explained - namely, how can the foe exist if the technology is not backwards-compatible with Tony Stark's creation? and how can the foe be formidable without any experience with the technology?
(2) Major explosions generally cause great damage, injury, and loss of life, yet the finale will have you scratching your head as to realism in these things.
However, these negatives aside, "Iron Man" was worth the price of admission.
9/10