A box of 8/10 scraps

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2020)

The casting of Robert Downey Jr. is, of course, perfect for many reasons and I cannot thank Jon Favreau enough for knowing exactly what this movie needed to be. It is hilarious watching the rest of the cast trying to keep up with Robert's ad-libs. This genuinely feels like a big-budget indie superhero movie and there are very few other movies that hit this tone, and even fewer that do it as well as this one.
The film has one of the best first two-thirds out of any MCU film. The origin story is told organically and is actually a really compelling and necessary component of the movie. Everything from Tony getting blown up and kidnapped to remodelling and testing out his suit is great to watch.
There are so many excellent individual moments and visual gags. One of my favourites has to be Tony staring in horror at a missile with his own name on it. Terrence Howard saying "Next time, baby" and then never being in another MCU movie is also iconic.
Obadiah Stane is sadly one of the weaker parts of the movie. He's somewhat forgettable, except for the "TONY STARK was able to build tHiS in a CAVE! with a BoX of SCRAPS!" line. Kudos to the henchman scientist for standing up to his evil boss and just being like "sorry man, just can't do it" instead of promising to get it done in 24 hours or something.
I also just love how well they were able to take moments from this movie and tie them in with the later movies. It works so well as setup for what's to come without sacrificing its own integrity.