I saw Iron Man on Saturday and thought it was quite possibly the strongest Marvel comic adaptation made so far. Robert Downey Jr really does bring out Tony Stark in a way that I don't think anyone has accomplished except, to a lesser extent, Toby Maguire through his rendition of Peter Parker. The special effects are the best yet of any Marvel movie, and if nothing else, the scene where Stark goes to Afghanistan to personally take care of the problem that his company created over there is worth watching.
Some reviewers have said that the movie is anti-American, but it isn't. Not in the least. Not only is the military portrayed as entirely good in the movie, but the fighters in Afghanistan are portrayed as vicious, civilian-murdering thugs who don't have a single thought for the well-being of Afghanistan. The closest thing to "anti-Americanism" is when Stark announces that his company will be getting out of the arms dealing business until it can find new direction for itself after he finds out that someone in his company has been double-dealing. It is made very clear that his change of heart comes primarily from seeing American servicemen and civilians killed with the very weapons he had sold to our military to be used to make our military more effective.
It is worth seeing in theaters, and I largely don't like going to the movie theater anymore. It is that good, if you like Marvel comics.
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