Iron Man

As the initial installment of the Iron Man film franchise, "Iron Man" is pretty solid, but I wasn't wowed by it, and felt it to be a little too simple in the plot department. I enjoyed watching Tony Stark's technological ingenuity come alive on the screen, and Robert Downey, Jr. is well-casted as Stark, in fact, all the footage with him developing the Iron Man suit is fun and nifty. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts was awkward for me, she just seemed off her acting game in many scenes. Jeff Bridges and Terrance Howard were solid in under-written roles.

Directorially, I thought Jon Favreau's direction to be mildly boring and staid in long stretches at a time, but the 2nd unit direction with the action scenes to be more entertaining and lively, though I was hoping for a little more imagination in the action sequences. Favreau's main problem is that he settles for giving the viewer "coverage"/wide shots, and as the film rolls on, it's visually uninteresting, and I wished he'd use some more background music to prop up some of the scenes. Also, the cinematography is average and serviceable, but doesn't quite hit the right overall tone throughout the film.

It may seem I wasn't thrilled by the film, and on some levels, that's true, but it won't disappoint the masses, and I think most viewers will enjoy it. I will look forward to the next installment, but I hope Favreau won't be directing it.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

P.S. Oh yeah, stay for the extra scene at the very end of the credits, that was pretty neat.