The best superhero movie made so far, I was amazed it held its entertainment value after a few revisits.
The good:
- The relaxed and superb performance of Robert Downey, Jr.
- The charming performance of Gwyneth Paltrow
- The unique performance of Clark Gregg
- The great designs of the Iron Man suit, and all related visual effects
- The laid-back humor (first scene being the best example)
The bad:
- None of the villains are any interesting
- I wish the main villain had a bit of practice before managing to use the giant suit with such competence
- The hero manages to fool his captors of what he's building for a long time, especially given that he's under camera surveillance
- He also survives way too much physical pounding
You'll wish the filmmakers would invest as much in plausibility and common sense as in the gorgeous suits on display here.
I really hated these bad things on the first revisit, but they were easy to overlook this time around... the good stuff managed to distract me well enough.