An excellent film, which only loses a little in some details related to the writing of the script and the conception of some characters.
I'm not a fan of superhero movies, but like any movie fan in general, I've seen a good handful of them. This was the first film made by Marvel and financed by the company itself, and it brings us one of its most acclaimed heroes. The film shows how a young playboy millionaire named Tony Stark, with a fortune inherited from his father and largely made from the production and sale of weapons, becomes a vigilante determined not to allow the misuse of the weapons he sells. I don't know much about comics, but I believe that the film was limited to adapting to the cinema a story already written on paper about the origins of the character, giving it, perhaps, a touch of the present.
The plot is one of the strongest points of the film, not only for the way it introduces the character in the context of the current geopolitical conflicts (with the Middle East issue very present), but mainly for the way it transforms Tony Stark into a deeper character, who lives a catharsis that opens his conscience to questions that he was not sensitive enough to understand. Put more simply, if initially Stark was a rich and spoiled idiot, he ends the movie with another awareness of what he should do and how his attitudes influence the world around him. However, I also felt that once Stark realizes what he has to do, and it becomes clear who the enemy is to defeat, the script quickly loses quality and becomes much more basic and underdeveloped.
With a skillful direction provided by Jon Favreau, the cast gave us a very good performance. Of course, the public's attention is focused on Robert Downey Jr., an actor who started working in the 80s, but only began to emerge at the turn of the millennium, with some productions (Gothika, Good Night and Good Luck, Zodiac) that he entered before accepting Marvel's proposal. He is perfect in character and gives us his life's work as an actor. Beside him, we can still admire Gwynneth Paltrow, in a more discreet but competent role. The villain was secured by Jeff Bridges, but his work is not so well executed and the actor sometimes doesn't seem to know exactly how to behave in the character.
What can we say about the production values and technical quality of a movie with a millionaire budget of 140 million dollars? It is a film determined to be a blockbuster, which fully achieved all its objectives, earning high profits, pleasing the fans and achieving high praise from the general public and the specialized critics. And the money invested is in plain sight, with a declared bet on very high quality CGI, wonderfully well-executed sound and image effects and really good sets and costumes (with great emphasis - obviously - on Iron Man's suit and Stark's mansion). The cinematography is excellent, the filming work was really well done, and the editing was detailed, giving the film a pleasant rhythm that doesn't tire us out. Finally, a note of praise for the excellent and epic soundtrack.