Re: Iron Man 2 - Grading & Discussion Thread (spoilers guaranteed)
I would grade it Above Average, or *** stars out of ****.
My review is below, and I caution that there are some spoilers.
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Jon Favreau impressed a lot of people with 2008’s Iron Man, a comic-book adaptation based on a superhero that was more second-tier than big league, and not quite known with movie going audiences. It proved that you don’t need to be Batman or Superman to have a movie that will impress and awe movie goers, but what you need is a compelling story and some good intentions. Iron Man had plenty of those, but what made it a real gem was Robert Downey, Jr.’s scene-stealing performance as Tony Stark, who was just as entertaining out of the Iron Man suit as he was in (if a little bit more interesting out of the suit), and it was Favreau’s improvisational nature of storytelling along with Downey’s cocky, witty ad-libbing that helped made Iron Man something truly special and unique.
Well, Favreau, Downey Jr., and pretty much most of the main players from the first film are back with Iron Man 2, the obligatory superhero sequel that continues the adventures of industrialist and entrepreneur Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.). Picking up where the last movie left off, Tony Stark has announced to the world that he is Iron Man, forgoing the traditional secret identity complexities of most comic-book movies and instead focusing on the celebrity nature that leading the double life of Stark, the wealthy, famous tycoon, and that of the superhero Iron Man brings to his life. We find out that being both Tony Stark and Iron Man, and being known for being both, is not a walk in the park, with the US military wanting his technology for the betterment of the country. Tony argues that he’s already bettering the country, having “privatized world peace”. He claims that his technology cannot be duplicated, and assures that the Iron Man weapon is in good hands.
It isn’t long before Stark is challenged by that robust claim, when he is confronted and attacked by Russian Ivan Vanko (Rourke) while Stark is living up life driving a race car on the tracks of Monaco. Vanko proves that Stark’s technology can be replicated, and furthermore, presents Stark with the idea that his father, Howard Stark, was not the one solely responsible for creating the arc reactor technology that powers Iron Man’s suit, and in fact, stole credit from the real creator of the arc reactor technology, Vanko’s father. Meanwhile, Stark’s own technology is presenting a health problem, causing him to deteriorate on a personal and physical level, and must face the conflict not only presented by Vanko, but himself as well. Vanko teams up with rival industrialist Justin Hammer (Rockwell, who does the best job he can given the material), who you might say is Tony’s wannabe doppelganger, while best friend Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard from the first film) has to balance his obligation to his country along that of his friendship to Tony.
Those are just some of the plot threads permeating Iron Man 2, while still trying to interweave the romantic subplot between Stark and Pepper Potts (Paltrow), who is given responsibilities of leading Stark Industries, which faces some scrutiny and garners some tension when Natasha Rushman (Johansson) enters the picture as Tony’s new assistant. Potts eventually succumbs to the stress of leading Tony’s fledging company and managing Tony’s increasingly erratic behavior, and one of the joys of the film is watching the witty banter between Downey and Paltrow. They both have an almost electric chemistry that shoots right out of the screen, and one is reminded of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman of Casablanca, echoing back to an era where sparks flew on the screen from the infectious exchanges between the lead and the romantic love interest. Iron Man 2 has those moments in spades, and its that joyous connectivity that becomes the emotional epicenter of the film.
Those moments are a plenty in the film, and it also juggles the comedy and the action sequences with aplomb. One of the biggest complaints over the first film was the lack of action sequences, and while Iron Man 2 doesn’t quite raise the bar in that category, the action sequences that are in the film are stunningly photographed and arranged. A sequence at a Monaco race track is almost perfectly paced, with such gorgeous imagery and visuals, that make it a marked improvement over the first film and shows Favreau’s improved skills as a filmmaker when dealing with visuals and imagery.
However, even given those improvements, Iron Man 2 does falter in some unfortunately crucial areas. One of the strengths of the first film was Favreau’s almost improvisational style of storytelling mixed with Downey’s ad-libbing, that gave the film an almost unpredictable vibe, and while one might say that he clearly implements the same structure here to entertaining effect, it just doesn’t quite work as well as Favreau and his team are hoping it will. The second act, for instance, drags considerably with no real narrative drive forcing the story to stagnate with characters including Stark sort of standing around from scene-to-scene doing almost absolutely nothing. The villains are also cardboard card-outs with no real sense of purpose or relation to the story. Ivan Vanko is an interesting villain who seems to have a compelling relation to Tony Stark, and Rourke gives Vanko some eccentric personality traits, but even with Rourke’s reasonably strong performance, the character just doesn’t connect with Stark the way he needs to in order to make the film feel immediate.
Additionally, while Sam Rockwell is a considerable actor who more than holds his own during his banter with Robert Downey, Jr., his character Justin Hammer falls prey to this effect even more detrimentally than Rourke’s character does. For many scenes in the film, Hammer and Rourke sort of just stand around, talking about their villainous plans, but there’s nothing really interesting happening that makes either of these characters all that interesting or compelling. There is some really juicy material here, including Stark’s own personal arc (no pun intended) where he becomes ill from his own technology, but most of this stuff is just browsed over in favor of funny dialogue or flashy action sequences.
Therein lies the problem of Iron Man 2. While the ingenuity of Favreau’s loose structure and Downey’s witty and frenetic performance may have made Iron Man an entertaining and unique experience, Favreau and Downey cannot get lighting in the bottle twice. Iron Man 2 flounders and sort of meanders through its story, and while there are some genuinely affecting moments, there’s something to be said when your most emotional moment in your story consists of a character connecting to a 16mm reel of film. Not to disparage the intent of that scene, because it works especially given the context of that subplot, but there’s just this thematic weightlessness to Iron Man 2 that fails to captivate the way the filmmakers intended. Sad to say, but what was so unique and interesting in the first time around is not enough the second time.
Instead, Iron Man 2 feels slightly regurgitated and unoriginal, and suffers because of that. With that said, the film delivers in a lot of different ways, supplementing with fantastic action set pieces and some genuinely funny moments that don’t feel forced or contrived, and are therefore even funnier because of that. Robert Downy, Jr. is probably one of the most enigmatic and charming actors working today, and can make even the most uninteresting material work, and he does so here, but Downey’s charming personality alone cannot support this movie. Favreau has a lot of compelling and interesting elements at play, with a lot of talented people and a lot of really cool ideas, but he somehow cannot manage to juggle them in an effective and satisfying way. Let’s hope that if he does return for Iron Man 3 that he finally delivers on that promise which has been dangling but never utilized for the past two films.
)'s Bethany Cabe play in the movie?
Was she cut out completely or is it just a small role?
That's perfect! (Actually, "Hef" was perfect.)
