Director: John Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Scarlet Johansson
Rating: 3/5
Spider-Man gave us the superhero code that “with great power comes great responsibility,” to which could have been added, “but not much fun.” Recent comic book movies such as the Spider-Mans, Hulks,
X-Mens, Ghost Rider and
Watchmen all make the life of the superhero look a pretty miserable one. Batman’s last outing even renames the caped crusader ‘
The Dark Knight’. Tony Stark is the exception: a superhero that the viewer might actually want to be. For him, being
Iron Man is so much fun that he isn’t Stark’s alter ego – they are, as he admits publicly, the same person.
That’s his defence to slimy Senator Stern (a terrific cameo by Garry Shandling), who wants Stark to hand over the Iron Man “weapon”. Stark asserts that Iron Man isn’t a weapon; it is a suit – his suit. Ivan Vanko (Rourke) would also beg to differ, and to demonstrate that Stark’s arc reactor technology was originally developed by his dead father, he attacks Stark on the Monaco racetrack using electrified whips powered by his own arc reactor.
I’m not going to bother going into the film’s surfeit of plotlines and characters, although director Favreau and his writer Justin Theroux skilfully manage a story that is surprisingly light on action. That Monaco ambush is the film’s best action scene – the rest are largely CGI replacements for armoured characters having such frenzied fights that you wonder how, when Iron Man’s suit opens up, red liquefied slop doesn’t pour out.
With so much going on, Iron Man 2 suffers from a lack of a proper villain or evil master plan, but the strength of the characters is more than ample compensation. The heart of the film lies in the relationship between Stark and Pepper Potts. Although their bickering is a little too screwball this time around, the fun that Downey Jr and Paltrow are having with these characters is infectious. Rourke’s low-key vengeful warrior makes a fine contrast to both the cocky Stark and Stark’s business rival Justin Hammer, gleefully played by Rockwell in full-on jerk mode.
For me, the entertaining Iron Man 2 is on a par with the first film, and sets a challenge for Marvel’s grand plan of tying all of its heroes together (including the upcoming Thor and Captain America) into an Avengers movie. The problem is this: two films ahead of the rest of the pack, and fitting Stark’s skin so comfortably, the Avengers are going to have a tough time competing with Downey Jr’s charismatic hero. Even Samuel L Jackson doesn’t make much impact in his extended cameo here as SHIELD director Nick Fury. It’s hard to envisage Tony Stark playing second fiddle to anybody else – except, perhaps, a certain Miss Potts.
Iron Man 2 - better or worse than the original? Got you excited about the Avengers? Tell us what you thought below.
Posted By: John on 17-May-2010
Really like your reviews. I personally thought the film was a nice contrast to the first. This really excelled in the humour and light heartness, compared to the first which was a bit more 'the world will end if Stark doesn't do something about it' and so is this one but I think that Favreau has done a rather good job.
I do however, disagree with the action scene in Monaco, I thought the CGI took my eye away from the action, which is a shame because I thought the idea (especially when I saw the trailer) was fantastic. Strange to think that the FX guys and create his 'laboratory' so well and watch this scene suffer. Odd. But truly worth a watch! I will be getting this on Blu-Ray straight away!!
17/05/2010
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