DK was a lot more ambitious I think. And there was one performance in particular that put it over the top (I am of course referring to Tiny "Zeus" Lister as Ferryboat Inmate #3)... And as PTP has indicated, it gave us a lot of ponderings to ponder and moral quandaries to discuss... But I uphold that Iron Man is the stronger film. It's almost without question the most re-watchable one.

Downey inhabited his role every bit as masterfully as Ledger did The Joker. It might not have been the kind of dark, brooding role that gets Oscar nods or people discussing human nature, but it felt every bit as lived in and natural.

DK has a significant advantage in the "villain" category, to me that may have been the weak link in Iron Man's chain, but DK suffers greatly in an even more important category, namely that of "SUPERHERO AND TITLE CHARACTER." A big problem I have with Nolan's Batman adaptations is that Batman feels a bit like an afterthought in them. Joker chewin' up all the scenery, Batman off in a parking garage punching rottweilers. L.

Iron Man had better effects and action sequences.

Batman had speeches.

Iron Man had the stripper plane.

Batman had more speeches.

Both were good, but I walked out of DK somewhat relieved it was finally over, whereas I walked out of Iron Man wanting to sneak right back in, wondering to myself what kinds of cool extra features the DVD would have. For my money, it was the best action/superhero/nerd flick of the summer.