In all seriousness, though, Herc - just because everyone writes about the movie and weighs in on it, doesn't mean it's the best movie ever. I'm pretty sure everyone weighed in on the sack of shit known as Spider Man 3.

I'm sure this is great, but I'm sick of people saying "this will be a great franchise." They said that about Spidey and X-Men, and look how THOSE turned out.

Franchises = rarely work.

There were maybe 3 points where I thought "Now that's stupid. Should have been cut."

And the ending does let it down.

But honestly, I'd put it up there with XMen or Spiderman as a super intro to the character, and a great start to the franchise.

for all the assholes bitching:

a) i can't wait for you to see it and flip your shit.

b) i want AICN to NOT review The Dark Knight and listen as your collective heads explode across the nation.

Gatsby -

This is just a hunch, but are you a legitimate high schooler who just read The Great Gatsby and felt that you really understood the symbolism, which makes you feel like you have a fine and educated appreciation for literature and all things cinematic and plot-driven in nature? Because I feel that is where your user ID truly spawns from.

And don't feel isolated because I'm calling you at. Half of these talkbackers started out that way. I'm one of them, and I have the English degree to prove it.

"Also we have the I Left My Heart In SanFran Cheesy."

i haven't read the book in years, and i remember his outlook on life being a bit odd. re-doing life or something like that. but i digress...

IRON MAN!

and if folks get tired of reading reviews of the same film, then stop reading them. i don't get it.

but i guess people need to bitch about something, and the BAD CGI HULK thread died down.

Yeah. It sucked.

I'm as nostalgic as the next guy about some of the other great super hero flicks but after the first viewing I will not be surprised if I wind up considering this my favorite.

EVERYTHING about it is perfect.

I even dig on Paltrow now for the first time in my life.

Baaaaaaaaaah!!!!

The theater was 75% full and people were not really responding well. And it was an 8pm showing. I think people expected more. I know I did. For all Iron Man got right, there was a disconnect I couldnt quite figure out. Maybe it was how formulaic the story was. But again the good acting makes you overlook things. I was left expecting more.

And at an 180 million price tag, the movie should have been able to own our asses. But I didn't leave the theater as excited as I should have been.

9.) It's gotten 1,260 positive reviews from AICN.

8.) Robert will do two lines of cocaine with you after you watch it, and two lines with everyone else who watches it.

7.) You're a loser who has nothing better to do on a Friday night.

6.) The price of admission is less than the price of 3 gallons of gas.

5.) Dude, it has "The Dude" in it.

4.) Favreau is going to use the profits to get on a diet that actually works this time.

3.) It will be better than X-Men. A Billion times better.

2.) Gwyneth Paltrow will suck your dick while you watch the movie.

1.) You couldn't get a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 this week.:(

The theme of this movie is having a change of heart. Only in Stark's case, the change is literal as well as metaphorical. And like Raimi's spider-man, director John Favreau is astute enough to realize, and show, that it is this rebirth of conscience, not superior technology or superpowers, that defines the hero.

I'll just touch on some kibbles and bits that made this such a fun ride. We spend a lot of time with Stark in his basement workshop, and it's great fun to laugh along with his little mistakes as he tweaks each new "mark" of armor, and we also "wow" along with him when he realizes what his toys can do. It's great fun, and even though Stark is an older superguy than Peter Parker, Downey still imbues the right amount of wonder and curiosity into Stark's inventive (and competitive / arrogant) nature.

The FX are good. The CGI is well done enough that I never once questioned what I was looking at. There's a good combination of CGI with Downey in a "real" costume, so the totality of the Iron Man effect is convinving.

The action is good, and occurs often enough throughout the movie that it never gets sluggish.

The only problem I had with it was the ending. I read in some other guy's review that he felt the "big fight" at the end came naturally, and didn't feel "telegraphed" at all. I disagree. You KNOW the big fight between the two armored guys is coming, and it does. The least convincing thing about it is, we see Stark working with his armor and "practicing" with it over the course of a couple weeks. With Stane, he climbs right in the Iron Monger get-up the first time he sees it, and is somehow able to walk competently and operate what must be a very complex system of robotics and weaponry. The fight itself was a little anticlimactic, a la predator vs. predalien or Robocop vs. ED209. It just kinda happens, and Jeff Bridges, who was awesome as Stane up till then, is suddenly spewing cliche one liners like, "My armor is more advanced than yours in EVERY WAY!!" But I don't blame Bridges for that, that's a writer thing. Anyway, the fight is over before you know it, and you're wishing there were more. And the way in which Tony undoes Obidiah is your run-of-the-mill intellect over strength thing. And--go figure--neither combatant is masked for the big climax. So it felt like a Spidey picture in that regard, where the men (not their super-alteregos) have to settle it face-to-face.

The movie has one of the best, most natural uses of product placement I've seen in a while, with Burger King. I won't say more about it.

One thing I didn't get was Stark's new heart. At some point between the end of his captivity and a week of returning home, Stark goes from having an electromagnet disc on his heart to having his ENTIRE heart replaced with his ARC powered device. There's a very funny scene where Pepper helps Tony get things just right, with a funny nod to the old Milton Bradley game of "Operation." But at no point do we see, or is it inferred, that Stark ultimately went to a hospital to have a heart transplant. You can see at various points when the artificial heart is removed, that there's a vacant space in his chest where his old (human) heart used to be, so you're left wondering, "When did that happen?"

But in all, this was a very fun, well-constructed action movie, and Downey was great.

Everyone should take a trip out to see this Iron Man. Except you whiners. Stay at home, whiners. You won't like it.

I loved Terence Howard's "Maybe next time" line, so I've got my fingers crossed for some War Machine action in part two.

Mr. Spawn, I think you took the "rub some dirt on it" from Johnny Be Good a wee bit too literal.

So what's your rating Abom?

RT still has it at 94, the best reviewed movie so far of the year, not just superhero movie, but MOVIE period. I'd say that's a bit high (94) on a 100 scale I'd give it like an 82. Oh, and I should say Paul Bettany does a great (voice of) Jarvis (Stark's computer system at home and in the suit) and Terrence Howard was cool as "Rhodey." Oh, and in addition to ACDC the movie features a classic hardcore Suicidal Tendencies song, which took me completely by surprise, and I was delighted at the choice.

Haven't had a chance to break out the whip, yet, though.

The only one that truly matters isn't here though. VERN, if you're out there...

My, uh, windows like auto-close....sorta liek the "cocooning of the Batmobile in Burton's Batman. yeah. Perilous stakes to retrieve the one and only fedora that day. I felt just like Newt. Which is a CALLBACK to a completely different moment of certain insanity.

Or are you talking about Mike Tyson and I'm just completely misreading your question?

I'm sure a security guard would escort me out.

I know there are a bunch of those things I heard growing up, but at the moment they're all escaping me.

Maybe that thing about needles in halloween candy? Never actually happened but as a kid the idea scares the shit out of you enough that you won't question it when Mom says not to take "open" candy from strangers or not to eat the "homemade" stuff from strangers.

Funny how mom never had any "bad" stories about the fuckers who gave me raisens on Halloween. Fucking raisens!

Look, don't listen to me man, it's after 4 in the morning and I'm starting to make stupid posts. I really don't think much of Mirajeff though. That bit's true. Have you guys seen the Sideshow quarter-scale Indy from Raiders? Superkewl.

'Night from Downunder (you know, the place that got Iron Man 3 days ago!)...

Pillow is probably in the theater right now at this very moment. We'll see what he thinks later! Adios 'ciples

Final tally:

Not as good as Donner's Superman

On-par with Batman Begins

Better by far than The Spider Man films

The X-men movies look like a television series in comparison, especially in the action department

but when Pepper is stealing Stane's files, if you look quickly at the laptop screen, one of the files says "Lebowski".

Yep.

Including the actin scene at the start which many people consider one of the greatest intros ever?

What the hell are you talking about? Nightcrawler's attempt on the prez? It was a great representation of Nightcrawler's powers, but hardly the pinnacle of action scenes. X2 was the best of the bunch, but it has to be judged with its brothers.

idiot.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

And of course, it kicked ass to see Nick Fury on the screen exactly as drawn in Ultimates.

"You're not the only superhero in the world, Mr. Stark."

THAT LINE is why Marvel should have been producing their own movies from the start. It's just too bad Spider-Man and the X-Men are not part of the Marvel movie universe.

I propose we give the movie universe a number, in the spirit of Marvel universes each having a number for their Earth. Since the movies are from Hollywood, let's say this is Earth 323.

That's Hollywood's area code. Seems appropriate for Marvel movies.

Who cares? hah Iron man was geeeewwwddd.

The RoboCop references/tributes were #1 on my list too. Particularly the scene where he punches through a wall to get the bad guy and the bits reminiscent of the ending of RoboCop 2.

I thought the tone was a little too light, and the writing/pacing got off in some spots (the beginning and the ending) but otherwise pretty enjoyable. It doesn't knock off Batman Begins or Spider-Man 1 & 2 or the Burton Batman films and Superman 1 and 2 from their top spots, but it's just at the bottom of that top tier, imo.

Maybe I'd put Iron Man on top of Batman Begins but the writing in the latter was just better from beginning to end and didn't lose its focus, though Iron Man did have good dialogue. And of course the better fight scenes.

It's better than any of the X-Men movies though.

It also makes you realize how good Fantastic Four could've been. I don't know if they're gonna make a third one in that franchise, but hopefully they take some notes from this.

I wonder how much of Hulk Ed Norton rewrote. Hopefully a lot. I hate that crew of guys (Zak Penn and co.) writing all these superhero films, they make the same glaring amateurish mistakes in all of them that bring down otherwise perfect efforts.

Most of the problems I've heard people have with it could be resolved through a Director's Cut. It could gain a lot more from a DC than most films, easily becoming one of the best that way.

And yeah, word to what the other TBer said above. There's no way IM comes close to the satiric brilliance of RoboCop (even the heavy-handed, over-the-top RoboCop 2 which I actually preferred though most people found the first one more in line), but I think that's more due to writing.

I'm just not sure how much of Iron Man's faults should be placed on Favreau and not the writers.

Favreau is NO Spielberg though, wtf @ the other AICN guy who said that in another review.