Iron Man is studded with easily recognizable names camping it up for the story. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Tony Stark's assistant Pepper Potts. She runs around in four inch heels, maternally tending to Tony's needs. Her dialogue is fun but a little grating at times because she is a deep as a teaspoon. Terrence Howard plays Jim Rhodes, Tony's friend in the Air Force. He puffs his chest in ways that would make a Marine commercial blush.

Iron Man isn't a huge modernized Rock-em Sock-em Robots revision, nor is it a strict superhero movie. It deals with the very beginning of the Iron Man legacy, so it is more Tony's personal development story. He begins as a self absorbed, uncaring, skirt chasing billionaire dilettante with no regard for the consequences of how his money is made.