The sequel to 2008's most surprisingly good movie, Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2 had quite a lot to live up to. The first Iron Man was just about the first Marvel film not featuring one of their AAA characters to have critical and commercial success, and so the pressure was on for the sequel to continue the winning streak. Fortunately, it doesn't disappoint. It's not better than the first film, and the moralising about the arms trade is all but gone, but it's still a thoroughly entertaining film and perfect summer blockbuster fare.
Don't let the title fool you: this film is, first and foremost, about Tony Stark, which is the way it should be. He is a very interesting character, and though everyone has said it hundreds of times, Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant as Stark. He gets to play up the idea of the drunken millionaire playboy a lot in this film, while still retaining the noble streak that allowed people to relate to him in the first one. Fortunately, Favreau is smart enough to keep him out of the suit for as much as possible, allowing us to relate to Stark the man, as opposed to Stark the hero. Joining him is a top-notch cast, with Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Gwyneth Paltrow returning as Pepper Potts, and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. Rourke is, unfortunately, somewhat underused and only has a few scenes of importance in the film, but his scenes are all good, and the cast all play their parts well. A particular favourite is Rockwell, who is wonderfully slimy as a business rival of Stark's who will do anything to get even with him. While having to recast a character often leads to problems, it does not in this case, with Don Cheadle, as Col. Rhodes/ War Machine, proving an excellent replacement for Terence Howard, able to trade one-liners with Downey Jr. as if he had been here the whole time.
The heart of the film remains the relationship between Pepper and Stark, with a very well-written and frequently extremely funny script giving a strong sense that these are real people on the screen. They care a great deal about each other, but bicker constantly nonetheless, with one particularly memorable argument occuring during the film's climactic fight scene. Speaking of fight scenes, ILM have done great work with the CG, with the fights being just as impressive as in the first film, the ones involving both Iron Man and War Machine being a particular favourite. That being said, it's a pity that the final fight sequence is ultimately little different from the one in the previous film: Iron Man vs. bigger Iron Man. Nonetheless, the fight with Whiplash at the Grand Prix is very impressive, with the briefcase that unfolds into a suit sure to prove very popular among fans. However, the most impressive fight is Black Widow's kung-fu sequence, made doubly so by the fact that Scarlett Johansson did all her stunts herself. And if you don't think "I want one" when you see War Machine's suit for the first time, there's something very wrong with you.
It's not a perfect film: there's none of the underlying message about arms dealing that pervaded the first one; the sequel is, arguably, more shallow than the original. And while it's nice that they're trying to expand the universe, at times it seems like they focus too much on setting up future films and not enough on developing this one. Black Widow is a particularly egregious case of this, since, in spite of her great fight sequence, she contributes very little to the plot, and amounts essentially to a walking teaser trailer for The Avengers. There's no denying that the brief appearance of Captain America's shield is a nice touch, however, and Samuel L. Jackson makes a very welcome return as Nick Fury, fortunately getting more than a cameo this time.
It's not a film that will stay with you for years afterwards, and it sure as hell won't result in any epiphanies: it's perfectly happy to be nothing more than a good, fun summer action movie. In this regard, while not perfect, it succeeds admirably, with sharp writing, likeable characters, and undeniably impressive action sequences. If you just want a good time at the cinema, you could do a whole lot worse than Iron Man 2.
NB: Everyone wants to get hold of the Iron Man suit for its weapons potential, but has no one noticed that Stark has a fully functional, sentient AI running his house? Surely this is the greater scientific breakthrough?
Don't let the title fool you: this film is, first and foremost, about Tony Stark, which is the way it should be. He is a very interesting character, and though everyone has said it hundreds of times, Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant as Stark. He gets to play up the idea of the drunken millionaire playboy a lot in this film, while still retaining the noble streak that allowed people to relate to him in the first one. Fortunately, Favreau is smart enough to keep him out of the suit for as much as possible, allowing us to relate to Stark the man, as opposed to Stark the hero. Joining him is a top-notch cast, with Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Gwyneth Paltrow returning as Pepper Potts, and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. Rourke is, unfortunately, somewhat underused and only has a few scenes of importance in the film, but his scenes are all good, and the cast all play their parts well. A particular favourite is Rockwell, who is wonderfully slimy as a business rival of Stark's who will do anything to get even with him. While having to recast a character often leads to problems, it does not in this case, with Don Cheadle, as Col. Rhodes/ War Machine, proving an excellent replacement for Terence Howard, able to trade one-liners with Downey Jr. as if he had been here the whole time.
The heart of the film remains the relationship between Pepper and Stark, with a very well-written and frequently extremely funny script giving a strong sense that these are real people on the screen. They care a great deal about each other, but bicker constantly nonetheless, with one particularly memorable argument occuring during the film's climactic fight scene. Speaking of fight scenes, ILM have done great work with the CG, with the fights being just as impressive as in the first film, the ones involving both Iron Man and War Machine being a particular favourite. That being said, it's a pity that the final fight sequence is ultimately little different from the one in the previous film: Iron Man vs. bigger Iron Man. Nonetheless, the fight with Whiplash at the Grand Prix is very impressive, with the briefcase that unfolds into a suit sure to prove very popular among fans. However, the most impressive fight is Black Widow's kung-fu sequence, made doubly so by the fact that Scarlett Johansson did all her stunts herself. And if you don't think "I want one" when you see War Machine's suit for the first time, there's something very wrong with you.
It's not a perfect film: there's none of the underlying message about arms dealing that pervaded the first one; the sequel is, arguably, more shallow than the original. And while it's nice that they're trying to expand the universe, at times it seems like they focus too much on setting up future films and not enough on developing this one. Black Widow is a particularly egregious case of this, since, in spite of her great fight sequence, she contributes very little to the plot, and amounts essentially to a walking teaser trailer for The Avengers. There's no denying that the brief appearance of Captain America's shield is a nice touch, however, and Samuel L. Jackson makes a very welcome return as Nick Fury, fortunately getting more than a cameo this time.
It's not a film that will stay with you for years afterwards, and it sure as hell won't result in any epiphanies: it's perfectly happy to be nothing more than a good, fun summer action movie. In this regard, while not perfect, it succeeds admirably, with sharp writing, likeable characters, and undeniably impressive action sequences. If you just want a good time at the cinema, you could do a whole lot worse than Iron Man 2.
NB: Everyone wants to get hold of the Iron Man suit for its weapons potential, but has no one noticed that Stark has a fully functional, sentient AI running his house? Surely this is the greater scientific breakthrough?
