I Am Iron Man

Went to see Iron Man last night. The trailer had me a-titter in a way that, say, the new Indiana Jones' didn't. I thought the casting inspired. Jon Favreau hasn't done me wrong yet. And Rotten Tomatoes had the movie at a whoppingly fresh 94%. Thus, Iron Man was singled out as one of the few films I was going to see in theaters this year.

I wasn't disappointed. Top notch effects, great actions scenes, good acting, a very funny robot pit crew, and it felt distinct from other superhero movies (a must). But what I most liked was that it sounded like a Jon Favreau film. The dialogue, with people constantly speaking over one another, felt very natural and reminded me of Swingers and Made. Comic book movies so often sound "written", with one-liners taking up the bulk of the dialogue, and exposition the rest. Not so here. Between that and the "current affairs" environment, Iron Man had a realistic vibe running through it.

And for the geek (and here come the spoilers, by the way), there's a nice number of references to the comics too. I was impressed at how well they were integrated into the script so as to not usually call attention to themselves or make non-geek audiences scratch their heads, and yet feel like the makers paid homage to the entirety if Iron Man comics through the decades.

Attempting a full list (from memory, feel free to add to it):
-Iron Man's origins in the middle of a war zone (Afghanistan taking the place of Vietnam).
-Tony's problems with alcohol.
-Tony being a billionaire jackass (a mix of the current incarnation and Ultimate Iron Man).
-The original iron suit.
-The gold iron suit.
-The original 60s supporting cast: Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan.
-From the 80s supporting cast: Rhodey.
-Rhodey gives a silver suit a longing look.
-A Mongolian terrorist with a large ring recalls the Mandarin, and his terrorist organization is called the Ten Rings. In the comics, the Mandarin indeed had 10 aliens rings, each with its own power.
-Obadiah Stane and the Iron Monger suit (that name dropped in conversation).
-SHIELD makes an appearance, and it's true that it's a big part of current Iron Man stories.
-The motivation to destroy weapons he's created is reminiscent of Armor Wars.
-The obligatory cameo by Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee.
-Dr. Yinsen suffers a nationality change, but is once again part of Iron Man continuity.
-At the awards show, the orchestra plays the 60s Iron Man cartoon theme.
-The bodyguard cover story is given lip service, but discarded.
-And the big one, Tony's home A.I. is called Jarvis, after the Avengers' butler (and Stark employee).

And in the small bit after the credits...
-Ultimate Nick Fury shows up as played by Samuel Jackson, the man the comic book character was modeled on.
-Not only are the Avengers mentioned, but the word "Initiative" as well.

That's what I remember... anything else you'd call a reference to Iron Man continuity?