The event that comic book geeks and fanboys have been waiting for with equal amounts of dread and excitement has finally arrived: Watchmen, arguably one the most important and influential comic books of all time, has arrived on the silver screen.

It’s been an arduous journey, to be sure. Over the years, the film has passed from writer to writer, director to director, with nothing ever coming of the efforts but more frustration and doubt (Terry Gilliam once described Watchmen as unfilmable, which ought to tell you something). But that’s not really surprising: Watchmen is an incredibly complex work, full of deeply layered narratives and intricate visuals. That, combined with the cynicism, and even nihilism, that runs through its pages, as well as the alternate timeline setting, would be daunting for any filmmaker.

And so it was somewhat surprising when a relative newcomer—Zack Snyder—was eventually chosen to direct the film. Snyder burst onto the scene with the 2004 remake of George Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead and 2006’s 300, an adaptation of a Frank Miller comic. Given that he had just a few films (and music videos) under his belt, it was surprising that he, and not a more, shall we say, “experienced” director, had been selected.

With the hyper-stylish 300, Snyder proved that he had more than enough panache to pull off any of Watchmen‘s visuals. But 300 was all style, and little else, which just wouldn’t fly with Watchmen, with its convoluted plot-lines, philosophical ponderings, genre deconstructions, and moral dilemmas.

So how did Snyder do? From a technical standpoint, the film is a smash, full of dazzling visuals, impressive casting and production design, and plenty of Snyder’s trademark style.

But that doesn’t necessarily make Watchmen a good film.

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For the past several decades, whenever someone wanted to find the cream of the martial arts film crop, they (rightly) turned to China and Hong Kong. Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chang Cheh, Gordon Liu, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao—the list goes on and on, stretching back to form an unparalleled cinematic legacy.

However, within recent years, martial arts cinema has spread throughout the globe. Inspired by the aforementioned names, and the many films tied to them, other countries have begun their own vibrant, ass-kicking cinemas which blend together the influence of Hong Kong and China with each country’s own unique martial arts offerings.

Thailand immediately comes to mind, thanks to films such as Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong and people like Tony Jaa, Prachya Pinkaew, and Panna Rittikrai, which showed Muay Thai kickboxing in all of this bone-breaking glory. France burst on the scene thanks to Banlieue 13, Cyril Raffaelli, and the rise of parkour. Chile has contributed Kiltro and MirageMan. And now, with The Rebel, Vietnam is stepping up to the plate, and showing off some pretty impressive moves.

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I was as dazzled by the visuals in Speed Racer‘s initial promotional materials, teasers, and trailers as anyone. But as is always the case with such things, there’s the nagging suspicion that the film will be nothing more than such, and that the film won’t live up to the razzle-dazzle. And the fact that the Wachowski Brothers were behind Speed Racer‘s camera only made that suspicion worse. I don’t think the Matrix films were shallow by any means, but arguably, the brothers had definitely placed everything but sheer visual spectacle on the backburner by the trilogy’s end.

And when you’ve got the folks behind such films working on a children’s movie that is a remake of a Japanese anime series that, classic status notwithstanding, is more often the butt of jokes than anything else, well, let’s just say that I totally understand folks’ hesitation.

But the thing is, they’d be absolutely wrong.

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Iron Man is that rare summer blockbuster movie. It can certainly be taken at face value and enjoyed as a big budget popcorn-type of movie—the cinematic equivalent of a bacon double cheeseburger with a big side of greasy fries (to quote my review of Hot Fuzz). However, like Batman Begins and X-Men 2, there are deeper subtexts and themes that you can tease out if you so desire, and you can do so without ruining the pure, thrill-packed entertainment one bit.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr. in a bravura performance) is a brilliant inventor and, thanks to his company, Stark Industries, a multi-billionaire. When not showing off his company’s latest weapons, he’s bedding supermodels and living the playboy lifestyle—much to the chagrin of his close associates, such as personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and military attaché James Rhodes (Terrence Howard). That all changes when, during a trip to Afghanistan to demo Stark Industries’ latest missile system, his convoy is attacked by terrorists.

Stark is critically wounded in the attack—by one of his own weapons, ironically—and captured. An emergency and unorthodox surgery saves his life and he is put to work building weapons for his captors. There, Stark undergoes a startling revelation, that the weapons he so blindly assumed were being used to defend America have actually ended up in the hands of its enemies.

This, combined with some soul-searching brought on by the man who saved his life, a fellow captor named Yinsen, propels Stark to seek a new direction in life. But first he has to escape, and being the brilliant inventor that he is, he does so with the aid of a giant suit of powered armor complete with rocket launcher, flame thrower, and jet engines (natch).

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