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Marvel Comics, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Jeff Bridges & Iron Man? This will either be a brilliant fantasy or a nightmare.

I was bored, hanging around the house, Friday and realized that Iron Man had started it's theatrical run. I almost ran to my car to get to the new (well, new to me) Regal Riviera Theater downtown. I ponied up the dough for my ticket, popcorn & coke (or soda, pop, dope - depending on where you live; here, it's all coke). Since I had chosen a matinee, I got a great seat. I was treated to some amazing looking trailers for all of the other superhero movies coming out in the next few months. Then the thrills began.

The opening scene was hilarious, thought-provoking and frightening. Downey seems to adopt the character of Tony Stark effortlessly. Somehow, the idea of a hard-drinking, womanizing industrialist being played by a hard-drinking, womanizing actor doesn't seem that far fetched.

Jeff Bridges portrays Obadiah Stane nearly perfectly. I found myself trying hard to not like the bad guy of this film. He is a great actor, maybe so much so that I will think of "The Dude" every time I see him. Still, a great performance.

Gwyneth Paltrow plays the same sexy, sassy bitch that she seems to attempt in every film. Luckily, she is just cartoonish enough that it sort of works here.

Terrence Howard give a strong performance as Stark's military liaison, Jim Rhodes. I would have liked to have seen his character developed a little more but I am sure we will get a whole lot more of Rhodes in the next installment of the series.

Iron Man is a typical comic book adaptation in a lot of ways. It also breaks the mold in spots. I am DYING to give away the ending but refuse to include spoilers. All I will say is - stay through the credits... it's worth it.

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