If there were any new ideas, I failed to spot them, as did my bone marrow, which slept through most of it anyhow.

I don't think the story was nearly as strong as that of The Dark Knight, but it sure was entertaining and surprisingly funny... and sets up The Avengers quite nicely.

As for the actual grand finale, Downey Jr. and Cheadle seem like they're already network gaming the PS3 release instead of facing any actual threat, and Rourke goes out like a chump.

A movie is only as good as its conflict/villain and both were kind of lame. This movie only works because of Robert Downey, Jr.