I guess we can agree to disagree.
Wait, it wasn't sold as a popcorn movie, it was a popcorn movie. "Doing good in the world?" Bob, puh-leeze. I couldn't imagine a more hackneyed and cliche theme for a movie, and that's a supremely flimsy justification to like it. Was Spiderman I, II, The Punisher, both Incredible Hulks, the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and every other possible movie that deals with the horribly worn out GOOD V. EVIL motif uplifted by their uninspiring use of it? I think not.
There was absolutely nothing to Iron Man other than a big budget. The storyline was about as bland and predictable as they come, and even came with a healthy dose of Middle Eastern terrorists getting their asses blown away by a miniature rocket launcher! Hell-fucking-yeah!
BAR was original and clever, that much is untouchable. Hell, even the action was better than Iron Man.
I'll take that a couple thousand times over Jeff Bridges in a clumsy metal costume flipping over cars and falling through a building.
Last but not least, Robert Downey Jr is an insufferable actor. I can't imagine him getting through one scene without his vision being severely blurred by a wanton desire to go pick up an 8 ball and call it a day with a thousand-dollar-an-hour escort.
Fuck Iron Man.