Iron Man

What a fun film! We don't see many movies in the theater any more -it's just too expensive- but The Husband wanted to see this one on the big screen. We all went and liked it. Granted some liked it better than others, but we all liked it. Iron Man stars Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role and co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow as his personal assistant, Terrence Howard as a fighter pilot and friend of Tony Stark, Jeff Bridges as Stark's business partner with cameos by Stan Lee and Samuel Jackson. It's making good money and getting good press, and I've read there's a trilogy planned.

trailer:


the 1966 Iron Man cartoon here:


and here:


HT for the TV series videos: The Husband

5/6/2008:
SFSignal has a review saying, "All told, it was exactly what I wanted out of a summer film - action, excellent CGI, and a hero you can root for.".
SFScope has a review.

5/7/2008:
John Wright's review.

5/8/2008:
PositiveLiberty didn't like it:

Look, casting Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark was a stroke of genius and it was wonderful that Downey could work the film into his schedule between rehabs. Gwyneth Paltrow’s quasi-romantic interest works well, giving Paltrow’s much publicized stiletto heel fetish an opportunity to be put on display on the talk show circuit.
...
In fact, everything about Iron Man works except Iron Man. Taken as a whole, it is simply too predictable to engender the slightest bit of dramatic tension from the point where Stark escapes from the cave.

The fact is that Iron Man is splashy and big-screen worthy and just about everything a summer blockbuster should be except a good movie.

Yikes! I thought the rehab crack was a bit tacky in a review, but maybe I'm prejudiced since I thought the film was "everything a summer blockbuster should be": lots of fun.

5/9/2008:
RogerEbert.com:

Not only is it a good comic book movie (smart and stupid, stirring and silly, intimate and spectacular), it's winning enough to engage even those who've never cared much for comic books or the movies they spawn. Like me.