Robert Downey Junior does an amazing job in this film. Jeff Bridges' character, Obadiah, does all the work while Tony Stark runs around and plays. It's no wonder Obadiah wants Tony out of the way.
The screenwriter obviously watched "The Greatest American Hero" in the eighties. In that short-lived TV series, a well-meaning but very ordinary man has to learn to use a suit with super powers. The humor of watching a would-be superhero crash repeatedly is a lot of fun, and is used to great effect here.
There is one serious plot hole I found very disappointing. Obadiah paralyzes Tony, steals his power source, and goes and plugs it in to his iron suit. Tony has spent many hours learning to fly and fight, and gets some very good experience flying against two joint strike fighters. Obadiah gets into his suit for the first time, and has no trouble fighting, flying, and using all the gadgets. When did he learn these skills? The following press conference assumes that everyone knows Iron Man has fought a great battle against evil and is excited to find out it's him. How did the media get in on the audience's secret? I look forward to seeing where this concept goes in sequels, and I hope more is done to develop a villain with believable skills.
The screenwriter obviously watched "The Greatest American Hero" in the eighties. In that short-lived TV series, a well-meaning but very ordinary man has to learn to use a suit with super powers. The humor of watching a would-be superhero crash repeatedly is a lot of fun, and is used to great effect here.
There is one serious plot hole I found very disappointing. Obadiah paralyzes Tony, steals his power source, and goes and plugs it in to his iron suit. Tony has spent many hours learning to fly and fight, and gets some very good experience flying against two joint strike fighters. Obadiah gets into his suit for the first time, and has no trouble fighting, flying, and using all the gadgets. When did he learn these skills? The following press conference assumes that everyone knows Iron Man has fought a great battle against evil and is excited to find out it's him. How did the media get in on the audience's secret? I look forward to seeing where this concept goes in sequels, and I hope more is done to develop a villain with believable skills.