America is an ailing nation. You could even say that that America is a wealth industrialist nation with numerous character flaws, but one with a robotic heart that is gung-ho about fighting evil--that is whenever it finally discovers what cave it is hiding in. Iron Man is a pro-American movie all the way, even if it does subtly jab the nation's capitalistic excess and misguided chivalry. With so much American criticism in mainstream cinema, most of which targets the Iraq war and Bush administration, it is rather interesting to see an iconic superhero such as Marvel Comics' Iron Man pump up the patriotism level, especially after Bryan Singer's disappointing Superman Returns in 2006.

Iron Man is depicted effectively sterile and inhuman, whereas billionaire playboy Tony Stark is played as a very humanistic and realistic, even if he has a dash of Tom Cruise's obliviousness and Richard Branson's snark. The dichotomy of superhero and patriotic war weapon is fascinating in Iron Man and director Jon Favreau boldly presents an Iron Man for a cynical but comic-reverent age: quite literally a tank of destruction. The monster's weapons are capable of causing great good or great evil. The Iron Man suit, made out of iron, titanium and gold alloy, is both something we fear and something unfathomable. The only characteristics that make the new Iron Man mythology relatable at all is the human character of Tony Stark and the Artificial Intelligence robot J.A.R.V.I.S., which constantly gives loving reassurances to its hyperactive master even inside the Iron Man suit.

Performances in the movie are near pitch-perfect. Robert Downey Jr. has finally found the mainstream hit that has eluded his crowd-pleasing abilities for so many years--the same begrudging dues that Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale had to pay, convincing important people they could "look" as well as act. Robert Downey Jr. attempts to walk carnivorous circles around his heroic competition, spouting off intellectual garble as easily as he tosses back sexual innuendos. He enjoys playing all stages of his character--his childish narcissism, his soppy transformation into serious adult and his befuddled action hero gaze. Anyone who says they were surprised to see Downey Jr. pulls it off needs a bit more iron to the brain. This is the lowest level of acting, something that Downey Jr. could pull off in his sleep. The fact that the actor had some well-publicized scandals involving Hollywood excess (and sure he's the only celebrity on crack, people!) only helped to prepare the audience for his triumphant transformation into reformed superhero.

Jeff Bridges is surprisingly powerful as Obadiah Stane, friend and nemesis to Iron Man. He is everything Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor should have been--menacing, relevant and dedicated to his objective. Bridges plays Obadiah as the ultimate weapons man, a president-meets-oilman bald suit, still in love with the ugly America that everyone wants to change. Though Gwyneth Paltrow is still "retired from acting" judging by her commitment to Pepper Potts, she still manages to bring grace, innocence and a bit of reluctance to her mostly objectified character. Scenes between Paltrow and Downey Jr. are indeed heartfelt and probably very honest, as we can only visualize how a meeting between a presenting snake like Downey Jr. and a prude mommy like Paltrow would play.

However fascinating Stark and his supporting cast are, it is Iron Man's stoic, high-tech recreation that is the film's real achievement. This technological approach to comic book cheese creates a vehicle for loud, stomping visual effects (far more sensible than Transformers, which took beloved robots and turned them into rotating scrap), approved-by-Stan Lee comic book absurdity, and even a gulping afterthought about America's responsibility in global affairs. By the time Iron Man's robotic villain "Iron Monger" shows up sporting a laughable southern drawl we forget all about the real Afghanistan horrors and turn our minds to hammier issues. One of the comic book Iron Man's most provocative features was its tie-in to real American wars, such as the Gulf War or Vietnam War. While taking the action to the Middle East doesn't quite feel ballsy, it does at least manage to pull on your artificial heart string.

The film doesn't quite criticize or idealize Military America . It wags its finger at the source of the problem but stereotypes foreigners like a well-oiled propaganda machine. Instead of doing good or evil to the country's reputation, the film paints a comic book caricature of every American's noblest intentions. After all, every flawed human being wants to imagine that the iron they are made out of is amazingly hard and unbreakable, not the soft and lustrous material that reacts to other factors. Iron Man is a flawed movie featuring characters that don't quite measure up to the definition of heroism...but if it were any better we really wouldn't buy it. Perfection, after all, is un-American. Grade: B+