The Thousands

Bruce "My Parents Are Dead!" Wayne has great toys and fashion sense, but crippling angst. The first act of IRON MAN, though, is packed with such gonzo joy that you’ll want to be a drunken billionaire arms manufacturer when you grow up.

The movie keeps Stark out of costume as much as possible, but when he gets into the Iron Man suit it feels suitably heavy – made of metal, and not shiny, physicsless CGI. There’s not the same directorial stamp of Burton’s BATMAN or Lee’s HULK or Singer’s SUPERMAN here, as – like in most monthly superhero comics – the character eclipses everything else. **This movie belongs, without question, to Robert Downey Jr. He gives Stark a breezy credibility without compromising the film’s fun B-grade feel, and holds together its schizophrenic pro- and anti- positions of military might in the Middle East. (The answer? Superheroes, not soldiers.)

Like the song says, Tony Stark is a cool exec with a heart of steel. It’s fitting he gets his own blockbuster, and it’s one that’s deserving of your cash.