The best superhero movie yet? Iron Man is certainly vying hard for the title. While not clearly trumping past and recent classics like Superman (1978), Spider-Man (2002), or Batman Begins (2005), Tony Stark’s adventures can stand proudly alongside the genre’s elite.

Iron Man tweaks the formula in that it isn’t set in a heightened comic book world distinguished by large set pieces or pop-art direction. Rather, it exists in the “real world” - the one we recognize from nearly all mainstream Hollywood fare and Prime Time television.

Balancing obscene luxury (private jets and Malibu mansions) with decidedly middle-class pleasures (Access Hollywood and Burger King), the life of arms-manufacturer billionaire playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is no doubt meant to be envied by viewers. Though he can toss off cynical one-liners as needed, he lacks the tragic, world-weary undertones of the archetype he updates, defined by Howard Hughes and William Randolph Hearst (or Charles Foster Kane, if you prefer). While his kind mentor Yinsen (Shaun Toub) says Tony has nothing without a family, his inner circle is a reasonable substitute, comprised of executive assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), and military consultant Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard). Indeed, these characters develop only insofar as their development aids that of Stark.

Kidnapped by a terrorist group in Afghanistan (an update from Vietnam in the original 1963 comic) who have been buying his cutting-edge weapons under the table, Stark sustains a heart injury and only a powerful magnet keeps shrapnel from entering his heart. He is forced to build his latest missile by hand, in a cave. He creates instead an exoskeleton (powered by the same glowing blue blub that’s keeping him alive) that allows him to exuberantly escape. His armor then trashed and left for scrap, he limps through the desert before he is spotted by American servicemen. Returning to the US after presumed dead for months, he is not welcomed with as as much warmth as expected. But the feeling is mutual.

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Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Written by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Stark’s transformation/ awakening/ whatever is one of the film’s weaker points. It’s not convincing he could be so naive as to think that his company’s weapons would never be used by anyone but US troops, and for the Greater Good - especially in the complex and ambiguous conflicts in which America is now involved. In any case, he is motivated to publicly shut down his weapons division, and privately to improve on his powered armor and become a superhero. His first mission is rescuing some tormented villagers, and he then resolves to personally destroy his own weapons. These are noble and convincing actions in line with traditional super heroics.

The villains of the piece develop naturally from previously-introduced characters and situations, while giving Iron Man another hulking machine to fight in the climax, Iron Monger. Effects sequences such as this battle are suitably thrilling without calling attention to themselves. The Iron Man costume is a sleek and attractive adaptation of its contemporary rendering in Marvel comics.

Iron Man, for all its strengths, would be lifeless without Robert Downey Jr. at its center. Tony Stark’s initial bad-boy cool and later revelations about the wider world and his place in it are played with equal panache. His witty improv punches up otherwise routine scenes in which he tests his newfound capabilities. When in his suit, we still see close-ups of his head inside. Sam Raimi’s uses a similar technique in his Spider-Man films, in which Spider-Man loses or tears his mask in several significant moments so we can see Tobey Maguire’s face. Iron Man director Jon Favreau realizes the importance of Robert Downey Jr.’s eyes in selling this film.

And sold it has: with a near-$100 million opening weekend, Iron Man already has a already has a set release date for its sequel, on April 30, 2010. One wonders whether the second film will keep to the semi-real world or go deeper into comics lore and visual style. Regardless, as long as its star continues to bring the energy and expression of a Jack Kirby drawing to the screen, we need not fear.