"nostalgic is not one of them"

let me be clear about a couple of things.  i love gadgets.  i love superheroes (and heroes without superpowers), and i love guys with cocky bastard attitudes.

did i find all of these things in iron man?  hell yes i did.

in all honesty, i feel like robert downy jr. was a great choice for the character of iron man.  he had the right attitude, certainly the right look, and was able to keep from taking himself too seriously.  however, i feel that the character of pepper potts could have been more developed.  whether this was the fault of gwyneth paltrow as an actress, mark fergus as the screenplay writer, or jack kirby and stan lee as the originators of the story, i'm not sure.  maybe it's all 3.  

additionally, in general, i dislike it when "the man" in the movie industry assumes it'd be a good idea to make a sequel without some serious thought and evaluation.  however.  samuel l. jackson as nick fury?  who can beat that?!  i do think the iron man story line has more to give us as hero lovers, as long as they stay true to the comics and don't turn him into a truly "upstanding citizen."

on a final note, i would like to mention that i really really really strongly disagree with this "most american superhero" bullshit that someone thought would be a good marketing plan for the movie.  in terms of selfishness, obsession with money, arrogance, womanizing, and merchant of death-ing, yes, it is an american flick.  however, i seriously doubt that was what jack kirby and stan lee were going for with this one.  a scathing commentary on american ways, maybe.  but a celebration of "true patriotism" iron man is not.

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