Iron Man

During a period where film adaptations of Marvel comics were falling off the deep end, Iron Man came as such a pleasant surprise. The storyline is not unlike that of a certain caped crusader — billionaire industrialist Tony Stark is orphaned at a young age and takes up the superhero mantle later in life. Jon Favreau keeps the action and effects as streamlined as the film's pacing, all of which harmoniously pairs with a brisk, witty script to make this one of the rare examples of a popcorn flick done right.