I was never into Iron Man. X-men I liked, Spider-man was OK, but how can I identify with a rich jerk who just happens to be a self absorbed genius? I mean, I'm not rich!

Other people must have felt like me, since I've never heard of Iron Man being of the same caliber as most other comic book heroes. After all, he is a technological Superman who didn't have nice parents. But while Superman battled Lex Luthor or some evil villains from his home planet, Iron Man battles moron competitors, the uselessness of the military and some guy with a grudge. It just doesn't work.

Mickey Rourke again takes on his old, fat, long haired persona, only now he is also dirty and speaks mainly Russian. When he does speak English he doesn't make much sense. Iron Man does a little Go-Go-Don-Cheadle-Gadget and wins. Samuel L. Jackson appears in a few scenes as the parental figure that knows all, can do all, yet he needs Iron Man for an abstruse reason while Paul Bettany does... the voice of Jarvis.

Bottom line: The only thing that doesn't waste one's time is seeing Scarlett Johansson as a hot redhead again, with Gwyneth Paltrow steaming with cat-envy around her. The rest of the film is consistently average, never once creating a moment of true tension or at least great special effects, while it never goes to a moment of bad quality either. So, yeah... meh!