Before the 1st Iron Man movie came out no one knew who the character was. Sure he showed up in the Marvel vs Capcom games, various appearances in animated series including his own, and even Island of Adventure but compared to the likes of Batman or Spiderman, no one knew Iron Man till the movie came out. When it did it became a critical and box office success, propelled Iron Man to an A-list character, reignited Robert Downey Jr's career and kick started the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. So does it hold up after all this time?
Yeah it does and it still kicks major ass.
Robert Downey Jr owns every scene he's in; he's very charismatic and funny in the role and when the drama comes he acts his ass off. I love the character arc for Stark in the movie; like how he sold weapons and when he gets captured, he realizes what his tech is doing and when he busts out makes sure that he uses the tech to protect the world. My favorite scenes are him in the cave and in his house when he's developing the tech for the Iron Man suit. Just seeing Tony creating the Iron Man tech is awe inspiring and almost makes me want to tinker technology.
The supporting cast are great too: Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts does a great job and I really like the chemistry between her and Downey Jr. Terrance Howard is really good as Rhodey though it is bittersweet seeing that this is the only time we're ever going to see Howard in the role. I like Jeff Bridges' performance as Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger but because of the way how that character is written I wrote him off as the villain that Iron Man has to overcome at the third act.
The movie is not as action packed as I remembered; there's still some action but the focus is really on Tony Stark and his character as a war monger turned superhero. What action there is I would say the highlight is the opening when Tony is in the Mark One Iron Man suit blowing away the terrorists as he make his escape. The other action sequences are fine but they're not as memorable to me as the first action scene.
I know people criticize the score of the other MCU movies but I dare anyone to say the score isn't great. The track "Driving with the Top Down" is still one of my favorite tracks in cinema and just gets your blood pump.
Overall Iron Man is a great standalone film with terrific performances, great characterization, and a wonderful way to start the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I give Iron Man a 9.2/10