In anticipation for Iron Man 3, we will look back into all of the Iron Man movies prior to it's release. So without further ado, let's get to the film that not only started the Iron Man franchise, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Iron Man tells the story of how Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist Tony Stark(Robert Downey Jr.) went from being a narcissistic weapons dealers into becoming the Iron Man.

One of the great elements of the film is Robert Downey's Jr. portrayal of Tony Stark. It was great seeing him from a carefree billioniare into one of the best characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We see the genius and carings side of him in the film(specifically the brilliant first act) as we also see the sarcastic and narcissism side of him. And the reason why it works in this film is because of Robert Downey Jr.'s PERFECT performance as Tony Stark. He pretty much owns the role. He isn't Tony Stark, he IS Tony Stark.

Other than him, Jeff Bridges(aka The Dude) in this film is great as Tony's mentor. And Paul Bettany as the voice of JARVIS(Tony Stark's A.I.) interacting with Tony Stark while he is in the Iron Man suit was great. However, Gwyneth Platrow's character as Pepper Potts was just plain annoying. Every time she was on screen was dreadful to watch. Also, Terrence Howard's performance as Rhodey(James Rhodes) was underperformed.

One of the things that worked in this film was the direction that Jon Favreau took.One thing that Favreau does well was that not only did this film have great action sequences(with the help of great CGI) but this film also had great comedic moments, and is just purely entertaining to watch.

Unlike the other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Favreau directed this film as a standalone film. Sure, it has some Avengers Easter Eggs here and there(SHIELD Agents such as Phil Coulson(who was awesome);Captain America' Shield), but the main focus of the film was to tell the story of how Tony Stark became Iron Man, as this is a Tony Stark story rather than an Iron Man film.

Speaking of which, if it wasn't for this film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn't exist. Ever since the end credits scene, where Nick Fury went on to Tony Stark, and says "I'm here to talk about the Avengers Initiative", the Marvel Cinematic Universe started.

So Iron Man is not only a great start to the Iron Man Franchise, but also a great start to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Add that to a great performance by Robert Downey Jr, and Iron Man is AWESOMETACULAR