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This is old news to most of you, but I finally had time to see it today. In brief: loved it!

I never read many of Iron Man’s solo stories growing up, and I think I missed his origin story as well. I knew him mainly as a member of THE AVENGERS. That said, I think they only took the broad outlines of his origin, if that, for the film. It’s very modern, involving Afghan terrorists, but it all worked for me, both as a plot and emotionally. I even liked the way they presented it, starting in the middle of the story, then doing flashbacks. Kind of like a comic. Everyone has been raving about Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, and I thought he was wonderful, as well, playing it straight, but with a sense of self-deprecatory humor that seemed just right. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots seemed a little out of place at times…she really doesn’t look comfortable in a business suit and heels, or in a cocktail dress…but she played the character well. Jeff Bridges was quite good as the villain of the piece, Really, everyone was good. The effects were terrific, if a bit too video-game for me at times. But everything worked well on the whole. Loved the way they used the different versions of the suit. Loved all the suit creation and tryout stuff. Great film. Perhaps in the top two Marvel hero movies for me with Spider-Man 1.

Oh, and it was nice to see Don Heck and Larry Leiber co credited as creators with Stan Lee (who makes his usual cameo) and Jack Kirby. If Marvel can do this well with Captain America, and then The Avengers, it’ll be a very cool franchise.