Iron Man is, for better and worse, a superhero for our times. Played with charismatic aplomb once again by Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark is a bundle of contradictions—narcissistic yet selfless, deeply flawed yet ultimately heroic. While some superheroes skirt the celebrity culture that surrounds them, Tony dives in and swims in it, constructing for himself an outrageous public persona that both reflects and protects his true self. He struggles with his flaws, trying to correct them even as he excuses them. So for a man of iron, Tony is the superhero who seems, paradoxically, the most familiar to us—the most like ourselves.

And that, I think, is where the power in the Iron Man series lurks. Tony is not a “too good to be true” halcyon like Superman, nor is he a tragically flawed antihero such as those found in Watchmen. He’s a frat house kind of guy who wants to do good, and often does so—in spite of himself.

Iron Man 2 has all the baggage you’d expect in a 2010 superhero film. While it’s a touch less problematic than its predecessor, it still fires up some foul language, some gratuitous sexuality, some heavy-duty (though not grotesque) violence.

But it also gives us a prism through which we can examine evil, ponder good and see someone who’s willing to face down the former to hold up the latter. Tony Stark should not be a role model. But he does suggest that furiously flawed folks—jerks like us—can be heroes.