Iron Man 2
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If Iron Man 2′s AC/DC injected soundtrack is any indication, one could expect their socks to be effectively rocked off on May 7th. Jon Favreau reprises his dual roles as director and affable chauffeur, Harold “Happy” Hogan, bringing with him almost the entire main cast from the first film, keeping hopes up that this sequel will stand up to the first incarnation of our favorite red and gold tin man.
I don’t think it disappoints . . .
Right off the bat, Iron Man 2 gets the story going the minute the previews are over, barely giving you a chance to settle in to enjoy the title sequence. The opening montage both introduces you to our (almost) sympathetic villain, Whiplash, a.k.a. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and shows what has transpired since Iron Man’s big reveal in the first film. Who said the cold war was over? Vanko, armed with a family grudge and a little elbow grease, is able to modify the plans of Tony Stark’s chest piece to suit his own diabolical needs, leading to my favorite scene in the movie – the carnage at Monaco.
The opening scene after the montage gave me 2 pauses. In this scene, the United States wanted to get Tony Stark (Robert Downey JR.) to turn over the Iron Man “weapon” to be utilized by the military. The first pause came when we’re introduced to James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle). The first thing I noticed was that he got a tan and lost some weight since the last movie. Somehow he shrunk a little as well. The second pause came when I recognized Garry Shandling as the lead senator. The reason it took me a second to realize it was actually Shandling was because whoever administered the botox was a little over zealous. I don’t think there was a spot that missed on his face. It was almost as if someone whacked it with a wooden plank before each scene. How he was able to move that mouth to form words was beyond me.
All kidding aside, Cheadle did very well reprising the role set forth by Terence Howard. In fact, I didn’t even notice Howard was missing. Shandling, on the other hand. Dude…get some ice on that thing.
Iron Man 2 succeeded where Spiderman 3 failed. It was able to weave multiple villains into a relatively simple story without killing it. First villain, the palladium in the chest piece, was killing Stark slowly by making his blood toxic. Second villain, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a sleazy used car salesman type of guy and former competitor to Stark Enterprises, is dying to get his hands on Stark tech to win back the favor of the military. And the third villain, Vanko, who peaked early and fizzled as he played computer nerd for the last half of the movie. You could probably add Tony Stark to that list, since his daddy issues and reckless/eccentric behavior always drives his handlers crazy. All these were masterfully intertwined to make a solid, if not fantastic, story. Sony should take notes.
Now, after all that, I have to say, there are some places that left me a little flat. Rourke’s portrayal of Vanko was pretty well done. I’m no language expert, but I think his Russian accent was spot on. Unfortunately, Vanko was too calm for me. For someone with such a deep rooted hatred for all that is Stark, the final fight scene with Whiplash was very emotionless on Rourke’s part. Leading up to that, the action was done pretty well and the CGI was great, but I never really felt Iron Man was in mortal danger. Even Michael Knight had to get out of K.I.T.T. every once in awhile to keep up the drama.
And what kind of review would this be without a little nod to the red-headed bombshell that is Natalia Romanov a.k.a. Natalie Rushman a.k.a The Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson)? At first, I questioned the reason for this operative to even be in this film, but it was revealed in due time. In the meantime, guys can get some new visuals to play out their office fantasies. Johannson doesn’t really have to do much to get attention on the screen, but Black Widow’s high-octane fight scene reminded me of Hit Girl from Kick-Ass fame (go see it) – just a little older.
Her action was just as fast, just as awesome, if a little too short in duration and quantity also lacking on the musical accompaniment side. I bet Widow gets her own spin-off.
Iron Man 2 satisfied my action needs. It had humor, a little sexual tension, tons of explosions, nasty robot on robot action and an eye pleasing Black Widow performance. The only thing missing was ample unshackled boobage. Maybe Favreau will think about it in the next installment.
And if you like to wait ten minutes to see a two minute clip, you may want to stay after the credits. It was showered with thunderous applause from the audience I was with. For those with the quick eyes, I defy you to pick out Stan Lee’s cameo. It’s there, trust me. Excelsior!
May 9th, 2010 at 4:12 am
I think Iron Man 2 was only just barely a hair worse than the last one. My main complaint was the climax. That last battle with Ivan was WAY too short. I was anticipating this huge badass fight between the three of them… but no. And Rourke was awesome too bad he died in this. I would have loved to see more of Ivan.
May 10th, 2010 at 5:04 am
Yeah, I agree. The final battle left a lot to be desired. I think they used Vanko/Whiplash very poorly after such a great opening at Monaco.
May 10th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
I preferred the first one, but this one was great too. All the darn plot got in the way of having more action and then, like everyone commenting here agrees, Whiplash went down too fast. Overall, still a really good movie.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Comic book purists have been ripping this one to shreds for "accuracy" – but I think as Amadarwin said above, kudos need to be given for entering multiple antagonists to Iron Man – and making it work fairly effectively. Much like Spiderman 3; however, the vanquishing of the lead antagonist, Whiplash, left me wanting more from Favreau. I can forgive comic book inaccuracies, but I can't forgive flat fight scenes with the head honcho. Loved the ex-wife rip though, and loved how the friends' earlier conflict gave them the way to defeat Whiplash. Essentially "crossing the streams". It was an enjoyable movie experience to me, my only gripe was with Cinemark – apparently they DO NOT stock Snocaps!!! Is this America anymore?????!!!!!!??????
May 13th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Part I – I must admit I was a little disappointed. It was okay but definitely not as good as the first movie. A few points that irked me …
Rhodey, Hammer and Black Widow characters I felt were weak (Rhodey was completely emotionless (can Cheadle even smile or convince anyone he’s angry?) and I became bored with him very quickly, Hammer simply came across like a complete buffoon and I wasn’t convinced BW was as an extremely intelligent spy at all (but at least the fight scene she had was good)
They didn’t do a good job of showing Stark’s issues with alcohol. One night of overdrinking does not mean you’re an alcoholic and the reason he drank was because he was dying and couldn’t figure out how to help himself. Showing Tony’s bottoming out from alcohol was a total “Whiff” (aka “a swing and a miss”)
They didn’t explain who Ivan was at all in the beginning. You don’t find out he’s a physicist until much later in the movie
At times Pepper was simply all over the place … composed, emotional wreck, composed, emotional wreck … that became pretty old pretty fast
May 13th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Part II –
How did Ivan get control of War Machine when he didn’t even get the opportunity to work on it?
Also, IM reaching Pepper before the bombs exploded could have been done better, like how about the bombs exploding behind him to show how much time he had. The beeping more quickly that was going on what seemed like forever was annoying. If you saw the bombs starting to explode from where Ivan was, heading towards Pepper, that would have had a better effect than the beeping
There’s actually a funny glitch early when Ivan’s pounding the metal to shape it. He’s hitting it twice, one firm hit followed by a much smaller one and then he delivers a firm hit and raises the hammer and starts to go right into another firm hit but then delivers a small hit (the one he forgot to make). I started laughing out loud.
Shandling’s acting was better than I thought it would be, a nice surprise. Samuel was okay but I still want to see a little more of him. I guess that won’t come until the Avengers movie. Overall, a 3.75. Not a 3.5 but also not quite a 4 either.
May 13th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Who or what was War Machine? Was that all the Armed Forces drones or Rhodey's suit? I thought the Pentagon worked on that one, not Ivan.
Yea, I def bought Shandling as an ahole Senator who had to eat shit at the end.
May 22nd, 2010 at 3:49 pm
War Machine was Rhodey's Hammer Industries modified suit.
May 27th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Awesome post! I can not wait to see the film, it looks awesome. And isn’t it awesome that ACDC is playing the background music!
October 30th, 2010 at 12:28 am
Sober Living…
Thanks! I realy love your designs keep up the good work….