So I finally saw Iron Man. I know, right? I sometimes forget that movies play after their opening weekend. By the time Entertainment Weekly runs their cover story on an event film, I feel like I have six days or less to see it, or else I’ll become totally unhip. Forever!

But sometimes there are cookouts to attend, you know?  Plus, I wasn’t psyched about this movie, despite its “generally favorable reviews.” I love me some X-Men and Batman, but Iron Man has always seemed a little… clunky. Yet people were flipping out about the movie, so I figured, what the hell?

For me, it was decent. Not Batman Begins or the Bourne movies, but not Transformers either. And there were things it did that shook me pretty deeply.

But first: I know everyone has been raving about Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man, and I agree that it’s good. Like everyone else, I enjoy seeing a middle-aged hero, reflections on a life misspent, etc.

I also thought Gwyneth Paltrow was effortlessly likable as Pepper Potts, fleshing out a predictably underwritten role as “the girl in a boy’s movie” with the same charm she brought to Shakespeare Loves Emma. Compare her work in Iron Man to her stilted turn in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and you’ll see what I mean. (Some of you are thinking, “Sky What?” But trust me, that movie happened.)

However, sparkling performances can’t overcome an awkward script that spends as much time explaining fake, boring science as it does advancing the plot. Seriously, do we need to know that much about the flux capacitor, or whatever it is that keeps the metal from entering RDJ’s heart? I appreciate that we aren’t forced to watch loud, seizure-inducing fight scenes every ten seconds, but couldn’t the downtime have been spent telling us more about Terence Howard’s character? He’s a good actor. I’m sure he could have handled it. (Slate‘s Dana Stevens thought the middle hour of the movie was witty and charming, but I thought the writing and direction tried too hard to be witty. Only the actors saved the day.)

(spoilers ahead)

Extra development for the supporting players also might have shrouded the blunt plot devices. As in, “Look! A noble Arab is trapped with our hero in a strange land! Will he survive, or will he die in a way that both teaches our hero a lesson and tacitly apologizes for the upcoming depiction of Middle Easterners as horrible bastards?”

But at least during those ham-handed scenes, I was able to reflect on one of Iron Man‘s subtler qualities–the quality that affected me the most: For a superhero flick, it’s extremely aware that violence has consequences.

In the sound mixing, we hear a lot of screams and groans as people are shot and burned, and there’s a remarkable sequence where Iron Man saves some terrorized Iraqis, then drops their torturer at their feet. He flies away while they decide what to do, but he explicitly tells them to have their way with him. Will they? It’s a disturbing thought, and it reminds us that even the “villains” in war are human beings who are capable of suffering, and that the “heroes” and “victims,” when given the chance, can become brutes. Will the beleaguered villagers go medieval on their tormentor? We’re left wondering.

That’s a sophisticated point of view, and it evolves around Tony Stark himself, since even his attempts to do good are steeped in the language of weaponry. Is he destined to become a murderous thug who just happens to have the popular concept of “right” on his side? We’re left wondering about that, too.

If the sequel explores that question, I’ll see it on opening night.