Iron Man

I always feel I little bit awkward talking about my love for comic book movies when in fact I feel like I am comic book illiterate. I don't have anything against the medium mind you, I just never grew up with much interest in comic books. I do have faint memories of being at the Meijer in Okemos and hanging out in the comic book aisle but I never read anything that made an indeliable impact.
But over the past twenty years some of my favorite movies have been comic book movies. Whether it was the Batman films, X-men or Spiderman I have been a big fan. I even remember enjoying lesser known or lesser quality comic films like Daredevil, Dick Tracy, Darkman, The Phantom and The fantastic Four. Of all these however, I believe Iron Man was perhaps the most surprising when you consider how little I knew before the film began and how quickly I feel in love with the character.
In truth though it should be no surprise that I loved this film. How couldn't I when you consider it's director Jon Favreau's previous films included Zathura and Elf, it's title character was played by Robert Downey Jr. whose previos action roles included U.S. Marshalls and Air America and the remaining characters were played by actors who had seen less time in action films than Downey had.
Of course that's the genius of it really and one of the main reason's I love this films is that it serves as a reminder that films are at their best when those involved in making them are more committed to the story and character development than noise and explosions. With Iron Man the audience gets treated with respect while being treated to a every fun and entertaining film.
The film itself also provides Hollywood with a nearly perfect framework for handling an origins story of a comic book character. I say that not knowing the actual comic book origins of Iron Man but believing that this film does exactly what is needed to connect an audience to a super hero character it otherwise may know little about. Downey plays Tony Stark as if he were a rock star without ever being too pretentious. He is like Bruce Wayan from the standpoint that his super hero work is possible because his endless bank account, but he also has a charisma to him that makes him more likable than Bruce Wayan. The film is Robert Downey Jr. making us like him and to that end he does an extraordinary job.
The rest of the cast does there part as well. Gwenyth Paltrow provides great banter as Stark's assistant, Jeff Bridges bad guy turn is tremendous, and I'm still trying to figure out why Terrence Howard was replaced in the second film. As for the story, it seamlessly mixes the fun of a comic book film with real to life issues such as the manufacturing of weapons and the power wielded by terrorist organizations.
There are parts of the film that could be nit picked but I don't recommend doing that. This movie does not require you to shut your brain off and still manages to be more fun than most of the tripe that gets made and does require you to shut your brain off. I guess that's what happens so many titans of the action film makers universe converge to make a comic book film.