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.

I just got back from seeing the movie for the second time and I looked for it and he's right... it's there, clear as day. Looks like it's still being built but it is VERY clearly Captain America's shield.

With all the references to Howard Stark as a nazi killer might we learn that Tony's dad created the original shield for Cap back in WWII?

Sooooo cool. Awesome movie. Liked it just as much the second time.

So while I highly recommend the movie for the summer movie syndrome everyone gets, I wouldn't call it among the very best superhero movies ever.

middle east had whoever that guy was..

cells that work autonomously

the head of the organization will be in china.. this will be alluded in pt2/avengers and played in pt3/avengers 2

And to think I was skeptical at Downey's casting at first.Yeah from the looks of it, he's more convincing as Stark than Keaton was for Bruce Wayne.

However, TDK will obviously rake in millions. besides the installed fanbase, there's that morbid curiousity regarding ledger's last performance. it looks very promising unlike the Hulk remake.

Gwenyth Paltrow--- nice segue into the MILF phase of her career, and her repartee with Downey Jr. was spot-on. These two need to do a romantic comedy together.

Terrence Howard--- too young for his role. He should have been a more forceful presence here, but wasn't.

Jeff Bridges--- Thanks for phoning it in, dude. Even with no prior knowledge of the comic book, he might as well had "Bad Guy Flimsily Disguised As Good Guy" tattoed on his forehead from the start. Hey, Jeff... how about a Duracell battery tie-in? Where's Brian Cox when you need him?

The movie itself--- liked the first part where Stark designs the prototype suit to facilitate his escape. Favreau had the good sense not to rush this. Stark's change of heart seemed too abrupt, but the sequences where he revamps & perfects the suit were pretty good. The "Transformers" faceoff at the end was a letdown. At least the movie took a fairly serious tone and spiced it with humor, instead of the other way around. As mentioned previously, it makes one wonder how good the Fantastic Four" movies might have been had they followed this course.

Good movie overall, though. I'd give it a grade of B+. But at a cost of roughly $180 million, I don't think its eventual box office will warrant a sequel.

That said, WTF was with that Crystal Skull trailer? This WAS produced by Uncle George, yes? The guy who could make you practically bust a nut with trailers to three SW Prequels, and only actually deliver with one ("Revenge Of The Sith"). Even the crickets chirping in my theatre when the Crystal Skull trailer rolled out seemed lonely, and God help us if those were among the few good moments we can expect on May 22nd. Cate Blanchett seemed like she was channeling Natasha from the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons of a bygone era, and Ford was utterly listless. That doesn't bode well, amigos.

You're definitely correct about the pseudo-"Transformers" climax, though. It was well beneath his skills.

Personally, I was happy to see a superhero film where the bad guy didn't kill the good guy's parents or wife or goldfish or whathaveyou. It made a nice change to see a guy trying to do something because he thinks it's right and not because he's on some kind of vengeance kick.

RDJ was of course great in it.

And the humor in this is just right, and really what the Spidey movies were sorely lacking.

BSB, you'll have a hell of a good time.

you'll find some interesting stuff in there...

thats awful.

is that ameri-slang for a car?

Earlier someone said something about there not being a superman-tossing-his-symbol or a commissioner-gordon-driving-th e-batmobile type moment and that's big. This thing is pitch-perfect.

I think a lot of folks, myself included, liked Batman Begins because of the tone... it was appropriately dark and serious without being hammy (but darn it all if Gordon didn't drive that car)... this flick is the same way tonally... perfect. Not that it's dark and serious... that's not Iron Man's tone. IM's tone is about excess, genius and hot rods suddenly mixed with a conscience. And this movie nailed it.

RDJJR is perfect as Stark. Rhodes was awesome. I have ZERO problems with the way he was played, with his script, with anything... a few folks have said he had nothing to do or say... I thought he was awesome... the dynamic between he and Stark was perfect... like the getting hammered on the plane thing... but then there were the little touches at the awards ceremony and at the podium at the end of the flick when he says things off mic ("thanks for the save" and "stick to the cards" that were really nice touches too.)

Stane is very well played and I had zero problems with his modus operendi. Now I have to see this thing again to see if he WAS wearing a big ring, like someone mentioned.

If he's one of the ten... ? The nuance in this movie, between Fury, SHIELD, Cap's shield, Rhodey, The Ten... it's just awesome.

Not every super hero flick has to be a dark, brooding, revenge movie like Batman Begins. Iron Man does everything right that BB did right and nothing wrong that BB did wrong (though, admittedly, there wasn't much).

Not trying to convert any of the haters and the "this is only a middle-of-the-pack-adaptation" tools. Just figured I'd chime in with my fifteen cents.

That being said, bring on the Armor Wars dammit!

Many heroes in the Marvel Universe do, indeed, kill. It happens a lot, now, in fact. Not just non-powered civilians, either, but other superhumans. Tony Stark doesn't have a code against killing the bad guys-- He prefers not to, but will do it if it's the choice between saving the day and failing. The only mainstream Marvel heroes I can think of with an "under no circumstances" code against killing are Captain America (the dead one, Steve Rogers. The current one, Bucky Barnes, has no problem with killing his enemies), Spider-Man (Pete's loaded with guilt, and tries to save EVERYONE), The Fantastic Four (although one could argue that they've all killed when it was absolutely necessary), and a few of the remaining X-Men.

Now, what was TOTALLY wrong was Batman 1989, in which Batman killed more people on-screen than the Joker did. The problem is that Batman DOES have a code against killing, unless it's absolutely necessary. In Batman 1989, He was blowing up factories full of workers, killing thugs left and right, and made it his GOAL to kill the Joker. That's just NOT Batman.

Iron Man, though, is a WEAPONS MANUFACTURER and he's not at all naive about the nature of his business. He kills if it's got to be done, even when Captain America would do everything he could to avoid it.

Add to that the fact that the 616 Marvel Universe's Tony Stark is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Ultimate Marvel Universe's Tony Stark has little to no remorse over his function as a government-contracted weapons designer, and you have a character who seems to have few problems with attacking with lethal force if the situation deems it necessary no matter what his universe of origin.

Marvel Studios Move Universe seems to be a nice combination of elements from Ultimate, 616, and other What If? dimensions. They picked the best and most interesting parts, updated for the current year and technology, and made something that pleases almost everybody.

2. Is it just me, or does reporter Zorianna Kit look exactly like Alison Mack (Chloe of Smallville fame)? A quick Google tells me she's an actual reporter, but the resemblance is striking.

3. For those of you looking for some more emotional connection for Stark for the village he saves from Ten Rings (which I don't think we need), I'm 100% sure that the village is where Yinsen, his sidekick in the cave, was from. Gulmira was its name. So, he was saving the lives of the people who are related to the guy who saved his life earlier in the film. Seems like enough justification, if destroying his weapons wasn't enough for you.

4. Favs' character, Hogan, kind of disappears halfway through the film. Kind of strange. Maybe there's more to his story that got cut out, that'll be in an extended DVD cut.

5. Earlier in the thread I posted a clip of the Nick Fury scene after the credits. It was a little shaky, and had some people talking over it, so I recorded it again, from a tripod (yeah, don't ask me how I got it in the theatre). It's a little better quality because there's no shaking. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =QGgLZFdINpg

Alternately, search YouTube for 'Nick Fury Iron Man cropped,' and you'll find it right there.

(2) What the hell was Stane's plan exactly at the end? I think they just tacked in a line about him "going insane" becuase they hadn't actually plotted it out right. Was he going to be CEO in a Metal Suit, crushing anyone who stood in his path? Was he going to sell the suits? Was he going to take over the world? What the hell was his deal exactly?

Personally, I loved this film, but I think that's mainly due to RDjr, sharp writing for the most part, and the fact that Iron Man is fresh to me (not a comics reader or that familiar with the character in general). If anyone has any thoughts on my two questions, I'd like to hear them.

Of course maybe this is because I just enjoyed the film, particularly Robert Downey Jr.'s performance.

Those who like Superman Returns (including me) generally argue that the film focused on themes and character rather than action (I would argue in a more complex way than Iron Man--that's not to disparage Iron Man which I also liked, they're two different movies). I think the lack of action did hurt the box office of Superman, but that doesn't mean the film wasn't good. It just meant people wanted less thought and more action.

Conversely, some shitty films get rave reviews, Oscars, etc. ("Crash," I'm looking in your direction.) Wacky world like that.

Sorry, guess I'm not "convinced" yet about ... uh, something ... Come again?

(And, guy, "hiring the homosexual behind pansy shows"? Seriously? Grow the fuck up.)

Needless to say his more promient role is War machine. (Love that little reference in the movie.).Mark Millar who created Ultimates had based ultimate Nick Fury on Sam's image,who ironically SJ was a fan of the Avengers comics.That explains Fury being Black.

2.That cool big band version of the Ironman cartoon theme during Ceasar's palace.

3.Tony escapes while fragging the terorists.

4.Jarvis is automated!

5.Tony goes at it again with the extremists, this time, rightfully so as the Golden Avenger.

6.John Faverau plays a Marvel sidekick twice from Froggy Nelson to Happy Hogan.

7.Ironman vs Starman; Jeff bridges was great as Obadiah and the Ironmonger fight reminded me of Robocop 2.

8."Maybe next time" Nuff Said

9.Speaking of nuff said, Stan mistaken as Hef. niiiccee.

10.Epilogue following the credits:unforgetable!

Superman Returns: 1, Ironman: 4 golden stars!

if people want a comic book hero for black people to admire why can't they just fucking create an original character instead of fucking hijacking well established characters?

This "Ultimates" idea that Marvel introduced sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. Shit, with that stupid concept you might as well go all the way with it. You can do anything you want. Hell, why not make Spiderman black? Why not make Wolverine black? Hell, they should even make Thor black! Why not? It's an alternate universe.

fucking stupid.

glad I'm not reading comics anymore. looks like they've become way too politically correct.

And INWO, I don't think the ads were great - in retrospect. Sure I watched those trailers too much, but basically I didn't know they gave away the whole movie, and spoiled (as in took some of the joy out of it) the movie for me because I felt like there was nothing new. If it was a Zemeckis movie I would have known to be wary of it because he does it on purpose, but even though I thought it was great I can't deny seeing essentially the whole arc in the ads took the wind from my sails a bit. I'm not watching any more Indy, DK, Speed Racer or especially Hulk ('cause I feel like there may not BE that much more to it) trailers no matter HOW good people think they are!

I can't believe you have a problem with the "Homeland" in SHIELD. And like Chishu just said above, Stark is pro-troops.

But I also agree with with Yackbacker said above: as good as the movie is, some of the community orgasm will subside and we'll have more perspective. That's why I gave it 82 last Friday (out of 100). I thought it was VERY fun, VERY well done, but I did see room for improvements. It's VERY good, on par with whatever else anyone says is the best superhero movie so far, but it's not a perfect MOVIE movie.

And that Indy trailer was fucking great.

The Ultimates(The Avengers) is done in the way Mark Miller thought an Avengers movie should be like, less funny costumes, more cinematic costumes. Each arc written like a Blockbuster movie. it has nothing to do with gaining more black readers, Marvel has been at the forefront of prominent black superheroes, has nothing to do with that. They decided that Samuel L Jackson would be a good cinematic version of Nick Fury and as such they based and were allowed to use his likeness. They also called the Avengers the Ultimates because Millar and Hitch didn't get the avengers name since they never avenged anything. Plus they aren't politically correct, the Ultimates itself is a more fucked up, violent version of the avengers. Cap is more violent, Tony is less redeeming, Hank is a wife beater virtually from the start and a depressive etc. If it was politically correct it wouldn't be so violent and nor would there be allusions to an incestual relationship between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

why are aicn people so quick to take the opinion of others and not that of themselves. Ultimate Spider-man is one of the greatest runs in comic history.

And you're glad you're not reading comics? what an idiotic statement, get a mind of your own and stop assuming and you may find that comic books are better than they ever were. It's a true golden age. Not only are indie comics amazing but superhero comics have stepped up and become pieces of art.

It just goes to show that the Spider-Man franchise, while temporarily all worn out, isn't dead. They can still make it absolutely perfect if they ever decide to restart it one day. Maybe they'd have more freedom too, because they can go the Batman Begins route without actually needing to reboot it.

Although I still think the first Burton Batman film was better than Begins, or at least tied because the origin parts of Begins were amazing, but we haven't really seen Burton attempt that. Batman Returns was also a very decent followup I thought, though that was a better fantasy movie than it was a comic book movie.

it's too focused on the heroes. which it did breathe life into tho.

(ok, I don't know if there are any similarities, but the premise of the characters is similar... a darker, edgier Spidey)

2099 Universe > Ultimates Universe, imo. None of the complaints about rewriting shit either.

The success of the Ultimates (and the failure of the 2099 universe) just goes to show that Marvel can't make new properties that will sell. They wrapped it up in the '80s, it's all about the properties turning into their own brand names now.

And how fucking awesome was the multi-comic plot arc of Doctor Fucking Doom taking over the post-Capitalist Fascist-Corporate remains of the United States of America and IMPROVING it?

did we really need to hear the Hulk threaten to rape her?

even though I mostly dig the new take on the heroes, just wish they had better villainy (although they might have done that by now, i only read the first couple runs over a year or two ago).

World War Hulk was a promising attempt at injecting some life into the old universe, hope they don't give up.

But after Stark is personally affected by his weapons falling into the wrong hands (very easily) and sees what other people are put through because of his cavalier attitude toward the responsibility of creating those weapons, his "eyes are opened". RDJ even has a line in the movie where he specifically says "his eyes were opened" when he got hurt in the beginning.

Assigning some kind fo political stance to Stark is stupid and pointless because it's not germaine to the story. But Stark was only "pro-troops" so long as he was making money from them.

I loved the movie BTW. I am a very long-time IM fan, and I could not wait to see it. It ranks high on my personal pantheon of superhero movies... 1) Xmen2 2) Spiderman2 3) Iron Man 4) Blade 5) Batman Begins 6) Hellboy 7) Superman 2 8) Batman '89 9) Superman 10)Daredevil, Hulk, FF#1