It's true. I had glasses growing up. Was in the smart kid classes. Playing sports and I were not friends. Most of the cool kids and I were not either.
I read a LOT of comic books. Still have some around. So the glut of superhero movies around has given me much joy and nerd-heartache.
Bad comic book movies are a crime. See: Punisher (both Tom Jane and Dolph Lundgren), Daredevil, Ghost Rider, etc.
For me, good comic book movies however are a guilty pleasure like no other.
Iron Man is just that. Made by nerds. Jon Favreau is clearly one of us at heart. Yeah, he's cool now that he's a Hollywood big-shot, but you can tell he was a nerd once.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Fast paced. Solid action. Stupid jokes. And more nerdy tech-heavy sequences than you can shake a plastic lightsaber at.
Robert Downey Jr. was a questionable call in my mind before I saw this movie. He really surprised me though and made the lovable jerk billionaire come to life. It's a good thing too because we'll probably see at least a couple of sequels.
The supporting cast was perfect too. Gwyneth Paltrow is super-hot as a redhead. Oh, and she plays Pepper with a depth and complexity that I never saw in a comic book, since most comic books write female characters that are one-dimensional props. And Gwyneth looks hot as a redhead. Terrence Howard is always great, so there is nothing new there. Jeff Bridges makes a pretty tough bad guy. Who would have thunk Tucker could be so b.a. Not to mention a minor but awesome role played by Clark Gregg who directed the upcoming film rendition of Chuck Palahniuk's masterpiece of modern fiction.
A perfect balance of fever-pitched action and exploration of the origins of the Iron Man makes this an ideal distraction from real life.
Iron Man gets a B+.
--John Berry, online editor--