This movie will blow your mind. When Transformers came out, I was sucked in by its entirety. Ok, so I'm a sucker for technology, gadgets, and cool robot thingys. And Transformers was that. But Iron Man goes beyond the cool robot thingys, while still keeping geeks like me satisfied.
The acting in this movie is unprecedented. To me, Jeff Bridges had the hardest acting task in front of him playing Obadiah, and he mastered it. I can't say anything to spoil it if you haven't seen it yet, but the mix of requirements to play his role are quite difficult, and he tackles them all. I felt such a mix of feelings towards his character at the end of the movie; I wanted to hate him, and yet I couldn't. Robert Downing, Jr. fits perfectly into his role as well, an attention-loving billionare who treats his robots with as much emotion as he does the dozens of women he's brought home for the night. Every time he cracks a joke with one of the robots he's built, it's funnier than the last, and he can still be serious when he needs to be. Gwyneth Paltrow is absolutely bangin as usual, and maybe more-so in Iron Man. Her ability to repel Stark's womanizing techniques is all-the-more sexy. I still say Megan Fox is 3945702 times hotter, but Paltrow's superior acting skills more than make up for it.
As far as visual effects, the movie does an excellent job. The HUD of the robot suit is incredible, and as you will find out, comes in handy picking out the bad guys in a bunch. The airborne fight between the two F-22 Raptors (which I believe are the sexiest airplanes man has ever created) is just awesome to watch.
The final battle at the end is quite incredible, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I liked how they tried to keep the corny in-fight one-liners to a minimum, and just let the battle play out.
If you look closely, you will note a few biblical references in the movie, the most obvious being the Jericho missile (don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything). When Stark fires the missile and destroys the mountainside, the shot angle is clearly representing the Walls of Jericho collapsing. There are a few more biblical references that my astute mind picked up on, but see if you can find them for yourself
The ending at first glance is somewhat disappointing, but then once you realize how well it fits into Stark's character, it's just pure genius.
I will finish with this tip: STAY FOR AFTER THE CREDITS. It's TOTALLY worth it.