If you want to make a good superhero movie, you gotta have good fights. With that said, here is how I'd like the Iron Man movie to go. And btw, I'm a true Iron Man fan, even though some of the suggestions I make are going to deviate from the comic book.
1. From the onset, the Iron Man armor should be red and gold. The original armor never looked that good, and since we are in the high-tech environment, this is the way to go. Besides, old iron man was clunky.
2. Iron man's main villian, IMO, should be some other suit of armor or mechanized threat. I'm thinking Ultimo. Yes, Ultimo...or maybe Crimson Dynamo. In either case, you're allowing Iron Man to use his powers at full throttle. Plus, Ultimo nearly killed Iron Man as I recall (cracked his suit all up, gave him a heart attack, etc).
3. The plot should be fairly simple and also an origin. Tony Stark is a dying man. Brillian Inventor, but dying. The reason he is dying is subjective. In the comic books, he was hit by shrapnel from a grenade, causing him to use the suit also as a form of life support. I think this is a great idea to continue.
Have Ultimo or Crimson Dynamo attempt to destroy one of his labs, and give-him a near-fatal injury. This ignites his attempt to save his own life with the Iron Man armor, and creates the Iron Man.
4. Alchoholism: Yes, add it. However, don't emphasize it in the first movie. Just put aspects of it there. With an origin in the works, you can't throw too many angles in there or it will get muddled.
5. Special Effects/Battles: Just make one thing clear, don't make a 2 1/2 hour movie with one and a half hour of no Iron Man. Get Iron Man in there in the first 30 minutes. Fighting, Repulsors Rays, The Chest Beam, Jet Boots, this is what we want, plus other gadgets.
6. War Machine: It would be possible to put War Machine in there, just make sure that it works with the rest of the movie. War Machine would be great, though, as part of the sequel.
The Mandarin is often the 1st true choice of villians for Iron Man, but I'd request that we pass him up. He's a product of more mystical things, his 10 rings of power, Fin Fang Foom (sp?), etc. Whiplash is nice, The Unicorn is nice, but let's be frank...You want Iron Man to have an all out battle and do some destruction.
What do you think?