Iron Man 2 | Review
The original 2008 ‘Iron Man’ is a prime example of one of the few, good live-action superhero films. It was smart, had humor, great acting, and was both a dialogue and action–driven movie. ‘Iron Man’ was a wonderfully-made superhero origin film. The sequel, ‘Iron Man 2,’ has the same qualities that made the first film great. However, it also has the same qualities that flawed the first film, and then some.
‘Iron Man 2’ takes off shortly after the events of the first film. The world knows that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is Iron Man (since he revealed this fact at the end of ‘Iron Man’.). The United States government wants to take ownership of “Iron Man,” for they believe it is a dangerous weapon of mass destruction. Stark won’t let the government take his Iron Man technology, and ironically he has also effectively created world peace with the Iron Man suit.
The plot of the film also involves weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell from ‘Moon’) as Tony Stark’s rival, and who is also trying to create his own army of Iron Men for the country. Rockwell portrays Justin Hammer just as charming and funny as Robert Downey Jr. portrays Tony Stark, which makes for great competition within the film. Also involved is a physicist named Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash), played by Mickey Rourke (‘The Wrestler’), who is trying to bring down Tony because their fathers were once partners until Tony’s father apparently did Vanko’s wrong. Also involved are Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson). Both are involved with S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret espionage and law-enforcement agency that.
At the end of the first film the organization requested Iron Man’s participation in the agency’s “Avengers Initiative.” For anyone who doesn’t know, an Avengers film is currently in the making, which includes various superheroes from many of Marvel’s live-action films, such as ‘Iron Man’, ‘Thor’, ‘Captain America’ and ‘The Incredible Hulk’. And this is the problem with ‘Iron Man 2.’ The film has quite a lot of storylines, almost in the same sense as ‘Spider-Man 3’, though thankfully not as sloppily-made or dumb. The S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline has too large of a role. The film spends too much time setting up for the inevitable ‘Avengers’ film that it sometimes distracts from the film itself. Whiplash sort of takes a backseat to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Justin Hammer; he isn’t featured enough in the film. The final fight of ‘Iron Man 2’, though slightly better than the original’s final fight, has a lack of payoff, just like the original film. Iron Man is a badass, so he deserves a badass final fight. Both of the ‘Iron Man’ films didn’t offer a great Iron Man fight that he deserves.
Despite the sequel’s problems with a little too many plotlines and a bad final fight, the film thrives with its strong cast. Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant, charming, and amazing as ever in his portrayal of the cocky, egotistical, but hilarious Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow is great as his loving assistant-turned-CEO of Stark Industries. Sam Rockwell is a great actor to have rival Robert Downey Jr., and Samuel Jackson does what he does best – yelling. The film is smartly written, witty, and really funny. The Iron Man films are probably the most humorous superhero films to date. The ‘Fantastic Four’ films tried and failed horribly at that (good thing they won’t be in the Avengers film).
‘Iron Man 2’ is a good, but not better, follow-up to its predecessor. It’s strongly acted and humorous. Surprisingly it’s a superhero film with lots of dialogue (a “Talking Movie”) as well as action, and it balances the two fairly well. Though flawed and sometimes hectic with its multiple storylines, it’s a decent addition to the ‘Iron Man’ franchise.