"Hi, my name is Tony Stark, and I'm an alcoholic."
Iron Man (2008)
entertaining, but nothing special. the script told a story clearly, but nothing in it was astounding or novel or clever.
the casting was both good and bad -- Robert Downey, Jr is a gifted actor and his talents were fully on display here. but I was never able to see Tony Stark, only Robert Downey, Jr. I also could not take the villain seriously; I kept thinking that Obadiah Stane was being very unDude.
otherwise, Jon Favreau made a passable first entry in a franchise. he was given all the tools and talent to make a movie I would like, except a compelling origin myth. tony stark lacks the alienation of a comic book hero that would appeal to me; others have pointed out that he's basically batman without the angst.
I can't help comparing it to other recent comic book origin movies: Sam Raimi's first Spiderman movie was superior, as was Batman Begins and X-Men. (But I thought it was better than Superman Returns.)
hopefully, the success of this one will inspire Robert Downey Jr to keep his shit together long enough to make some Serious/Funny/Seriously Funny Movies in between Iron Man sequels.