the most appealing factor to me about iron man, as pro said, was that the movie was fun -- which is an aspect missing from most all super hero movies lately (that, and the traditional super hero theme song). i also loved the origin of the character, as well as downey's defining portrayal. i think i might have even liked the movie more if it ended after he blew up the terrorist guys. the movie's overall story was a little weak towards the end, after establishing iron man, and i thought the final battle was pretty lame. that should be a big enough scar on the film for me to not like it at all, but the first hour or so of the film was so goddamn good, they could actually be ignored.

comparatively, i think tdk was without question a better film.

though, if i were ranking an all time best movie list, i'd probably put batman begins above both of them. even though i think, confusingly, TDK was a better movie, i'd rank BB higher because it was the definitive origin retelling of batman, and the movie that revolutionized the character / genre.

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