Iron Man Rules

I'm a little late to the party on this, but after protestations from ScottE and my family, I finally caved and agreed to go see Iron Man. My primary hesitation was that the trailer, which I'd seen numerous times in the theater, was about as exciting as a Yanni concert. Also the comic book was never one I was into as a kid. And let's face it - superhero movies in the past few years have varied widely in quality. While some were truly super (X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2, Superman Returns), others have been so bad we'd like to forget they even happened (Daredevil, anyone?).

[On a side note, I finally saw the first half of The Hulk. WOW was that bad.]

Anywho, I went with my brother and sister-in-law to go see it last weekend (second time for them). And it was in fact a really great movie. This is the rare case where a trailer undersold a movie!

I believe that the primary reason it is so successful is that the origin story is carefully crafted, and the entire film is very character-driven. There are actually only a handful of action sequences, so when they do come, you can settle in and enjoy. It's not constant explosions and guns, etc. (Yeah, I'm looking at you, Transformers!)

But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Robert Downey Jr. makes the movie. He's a lovable lothario (with a hot body) that draws you into every scene. Surprisingly, Gwyneth Paltrow makes a good foil for him. She's a nice mix of smart and sexy.

And for you die-hard comic fans out there, there are a couple nice winks thrown in for good measure. Terrence Howard sees Tony's other iron suit sitting there and says, "Next time, baby." And indeed, his character later becomes Iron Man - perhaps in the third film? If you sit through those long ending credits, you get a hint of where the Marvel Studios are headed - an Avengers movie! The real question - will they do the other indvidiual character films first? (Thor and Captain America, if you're keeping track. Although I'm holding out for The Scarlet Witch!)