Ironman

1st comic book movie of the year!

All critics I had read before going were pretty much agreeing on the fact that this one was "good but not great". I have to disagree. I couldn't see how it could actually better and I have to say I'm the first surprised by that.
I think it's how all comic book adaptations should be: cool & fun, but not completely shallow.

It manages to be light-hearted with very welcome touches of more serious stuff (Tony Stark is at 1st a merchant of death). It's not Lord Of War but it touches similar themes, while still keeping on the fun side. Let's not forget it's a comics adaptation.
Humour is good, well placed and well dosed, while the plot, although fairly unsurprising, is still well written and well paced.

The main highlight here is the cast.
Robert Downey Jr is a perfect match for Tony Stark, managing to naturally carry the different sides of the character: a thrill seeking playboy at heart, making him quite different from other Marvel super-heroes.
Also, although hasn't any super power of his own (just being a man in a suit), he still got a curse as what powers his suit also keeps him alive. In a way, he shares his heart with his armor, which is pretty cool and gives a lot of weight to his fights: if he pushes too hard, he dies... Obviously, that's the case for anyone, but I guess you got the idea: every super hero having a weakness, there lies his and it's a cool one...

The special effects are also excellent, they really nailed the armor and its possibilities. The action is on par and boasts some very cool ideas.

To conclude, I was fairly uninterested at start by the character of Ironman, but this movie, thanks to an excellent cast and outstanding design, made me care and I'll surely watch out for the inevitable (and highly desirable) sequel. I was expecting above average entertainment, it turned out to be of the best adaptations of a Marvel character, up there with Spiderman... For me that's not a small thing to say.

1 more thing, on the small detail things: you obviously get the usual cameo of Stan Lee, Jon Favreau, the director takes a small part of a body guard but I though I recognised Tom Morello as a afghan guard. I would have no idea what the lead guitarist of Rage Against The Machine (and a guitarist idol of mine) was doing there... I need to confirm that...

Edit: IMDb confirmed Tom Morello is in there, I'm quite proud of myself to have spotted him!! :)