Iron Man

While I tend to refrain from advertising anything on here that isn't free, I'm obliged to tell you to go pay to see the movie Iron Man. Marvel has had a shaky history of films before now, including The Hulk, Spiderman 3, and anything with the Fantastic Four in it (In related news, I'm officially considering Rise Of The Silver Surfer to be non-canon. It never happened). Where they're coming from now is a much different place. Iron Man and the upcoming Incredible Hulk film will be the first two Marvel films to be produced entirely in-house. All of the above (much worse) films were funded by outside studios, but now Marvel has complete creative control over all aspects of the movies bearing their name. It's a good thing.

Mild spoilers. It's really not even worth mentioning.

Moving on to the film. For those not in the know, Iron Man is billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, spectacularly portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. After seeing the carnage for which he is responsible (and escaping the antagonists using his prototype suit), he gets all "what hath I wrought" and decides to take the law into his own hands, blowing up some tanks and such with his new, shiny suit. Then there's some betrayal and drama and whatnot. It all ends with a young, svelte Iron Man and a hulking 10-foot steel Iron Man (dubbed the Iron Monger) duking it out on a crowded freeway. Many cars are hurled, and good times are had by all.

End spoilers.

Yeah, go see it. If you need some more persuading, check out the trailer (I would embed a YouTube vid here, but it deserves nothing more than the largest size your browser can handle). The movie also features a neat little cameo by S.H.I.E.L.D. (For you comic nerds). Now I've nothing to look forward to but Indiana Jones and Batman.

P.S.: A neat little Steampunky memory just popped up in my head. In one of the original Iron Man comics, Tony Stark found himself trapped in a 19th-century community, where he found it necessary to build a steam-powered suit to save the day (Thanks to Brass Goggles). Also, here's Black Sabbath's iconic "Iron Man". Now I'm done.