What I think sets Iron Man apart in this movie, is its ability to humanize it's superhero. This is the one thing which has drawn us to comic books from their very beginnings. That somehow no matter how far fetched at times many of the characters are, we can somehow in a smiling place in our brains, still dream of having such gifts and powers, and still relate to the every day stuggle of walking the Earth as we know it for ourselves and relate that to our hero.

Iron Man and Robert Downie Jr. captures this well in the movie. Damn I want me an Iron Man suit now.