Fancast: The Big Picture

Iron Man - 5/2
There has been far too much made of the supposedly "risky" casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the brilliant billionaire playboy who oozes charm and smarm at the same time before learning the harsh lessons that drive him to build a high-tech suit of armor and fight crime. Sure, he's had a checkered past, but who hasn't in his line of work? The fact remains that Downey is and has always been an unbelievably talented actor, boasting a completely natural charisma so inherent to his persona that we believed he could talk both Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner into the sack after they caught him two-timing them in Two Girls and a Guy, so it's no stretch to think of him as a billionaire playboy like Stark with that same brand of charm. There is nothing risky about it.

Director Jon Favreau knew that, too, and he did his level best to build a big crazy film about guys in robot suits fighting around Downey to make sure everyone else got the point as well. Getting a great cast that includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard to back him up, as well as knowing personally exactly what a comic fan wants in these movie adaptations of their beloved books - not to mention having a knack for dialog himself - has served to create what might just be the best superhero movie of all time. Downey's contribution to the material, however can't be diminished. As he told David Letterman: "I basically came into the trailer every morning and balled up the script and threw it against the wall, and [Favreau] said 'Good morning, Robert! I take it you'd like to rewrite the scene!'"

Basically, this looks like a godsend for genre fans, and it's catching the eye of people who ordinarily wouldn't think twice about this kind of film. There's a reason it's firing on all cylinders like it is, and it comes down to something else Downey said to Letterman: "We thought 'why don't we make one that doesn't stink for a change?'" From your lips to whoever keeps hiring Mark Steven Johnson and Tim Story's ears, good sir.

Watch the trailer for Iron Man.
Check out The Onion's take on how awesome that trailer looks.
Watch a clip of Tony Stark being interviewed by a reporter.
Watch Stark and his assistant Pepper Potts' debate when exactly her birthday is.
Watch Stark debate Obadiah Stane about the future of Stark Enterprises.
Watch a clip of Tony Stark taking the Iron Man armor on its maiden flight.
Watch Iron Man deal with a pair of fighter jets.
If for some reason you doubt Robert Downey Jr., watch the trailer for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, then go rent it and realize you are wrong.
The trailer for Two Girls and a Guy will also prove you wrong.