Iron Man 2 – arguably the most anticipated movie of 2010. With $133.6 million in the first weekend and ranking number 5 amongst the top weekend openings for movies of all time – I’d say that’s pretty much a sure bet. Though it will have to compete with movies like Harry Potter’s Part 1 of 2 in November, Twilight’s Eclipse and even Toy Story 3 this summer…I’m sure that many would say that this was the movie that they were excited to see! I know I was excited to see it!

Sum It Up:

The movie basically picks up about a year after Tony has claimed that he is indeed Iron Man and we find our hero struggling to juggle all the complications that come with being not only rich and famous, but a super hero as well. Tony is now trying to figure out how to solve a “problem” that the suit is now causing (no I’m not going to tell you – just watch the movie and find out) and he is also trying to keep the government at bay. (the army wants his suit because they’re not smart enough to build their own) Not only does he have to juggle saving the world, thwarting our own government but he has to try and launch the Stark Expo (a side thing of dear ol’ daddy) as well as fend off a new bad guy. Sounds like Tony has his robotic hands full.

the Good:

If you didn’t know, Iron Man is one of the few super heroes in all comic books that everyone knows the identity of the super hero – and it’s this rare plot twist that keeps the movie alive and interesting. It’s so fun to see Tony Stark play off the fact that he is indeed Iron Man and that no one can really touch him. Not only because he is rich, but he’s smart and quite powerful if he needs to be. Throw in his narcissistic nature and it’s pure brilliance to watch a character with as much depth as his on screen.

Of course this leads into the lead role played by none other than Mr. Robert Downey Jr. I’m telling you what, this guy has made Iron Man what it is. Along side with Jon Favreau’s awesome vision – Downey has pretty much single handedly given us cinematic genius at it’s best. He reminds me of Johnny Depp playing Captain Jack Sparrow, where every scene he is in – he completely steals it. Whether it’s him bantering on and on with his “would be love interest” Pepper Potts, or yelling at his machines, or even showing a sympathetic side, Downey as Tony Stark takes the lime light every time and we should all bask in the awesomeness.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not gay over Downey, eh, I might be. But that’s a whole other issue.

Moving on…

A thing I think Jon Favreau has done correctly with this film has to be that he went along the lines of “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”…and he basically did just that. Though I think he took into careful consideration the characters this time around and tried to pay attention to his fans of the first film. They screamed, “WE WANT MORE ACTION” and he delivers it. They screamed again, “WE WANT A BETTER VILLAIN” and he delivers on that one. The fans screamed, “WE WANT TO SEE WAR MACHINE” and if you hadn’t guessed it – yep, he delivers on that request too. It seems that Jon really took to heart what his fans were looking for out of this film and did his best to tend to their needs.

As I mentioned in the first Iron Man review, the CG was spectacular and that it really helped to create the world of Iron Man for you to enjoy. This movie is nothing less. Not only does it stand up to the original but there are certain segments that you just sit back and go “dammmnnnnnn” (particularly if you pay close attention during the car race scene when Whiplash destroys a couple cars – it looks pretty phenomenal)

I also think that this movie delivers on stronger characters with better actors playing them. I know that people will disagree with me on this, but Don Cheadle as Rhodey was a great replacement for Terrence Howard’s ego. It’s true. Had we had Don Cheadle from the get go, I think we would all be very pleased with what he can bring to the table. He seems to have a confidence about him that Rhodey’s character needed, that Terrence’s Rhodey didn’t quite capture. Not only did Don Cheadle get into the mix, but we threw in Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke. Both in my eyes did a pretty good job with their limited roles. (if you can, try and see how many lines that they actually have – there aren’t many but the few that they do have they use them well…no, Rourke’s Russian lines don’t count – I don’t speak Russian damn it) I don’t want to seem like I’m treading on and on about the acting, but Gweneth Paltrow was a delight once again as Pepper, and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer was a great replacement in the weapons department. ( I do hope we get to see more of him in the third installment)

the Bad:

Actually, as much great stuff there was about this movie – I’d have to say it had it’s fair share of downers too.

For example, (and I think that I actually complained about this in the Iron Man review back in 2008) but; WTF!?!?!? Would you please cut it out with the trailers that tend to give away a lot of the very exciting and pivotal points in the action sequences. I MEAN COME ON! If you’ve seen the trailers you already know what I’m talking about. We see Iron Man and War Machine suit up together fighting some type of other “Machine Men” … we see Whiplash “whipping” (in a non-homosexual way) Tony on the race track. We see suits flying after suits. STOP IT! I’ve pretty much described every action sequence that takes place in the movie. Leave some of it out so that when we see it – we’re like OH THAT’S THE SHIT!

It’s funny because the “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” saying I think applies to the bad parts of the movie as well. In the first film, the entire plot boils down to Tony throwin down with his mentor Obediah and the final fight is about 8 minutes long. I’m sure that porn stars can have sex in a shorter amount of time – and that’s just sad. Well you know what is even more sad, Tony and his nemesis Ivan (aka: mad scientist with electric whips) have a final show down with War Machine thrown into the mix, and it’s even shorter than the fight with Iron Monger in the first film! WTF? No, I’m not kidding …

Not only that – but I have a major complaint about the final “bad guy” that shows up to fight Iron Man and War Machine – but I won’t ruin it for you. You’ll just have to go see.

I have another complaint – why exactly did we get Garry Shandling to play the annoying Senator that has to come after Tony? You honestly want to sit there and tell me that amongst all the great actors out there – that we go and get Garry “Hi, I’ve had way too many Botox injections to stop from smiling” Shandling?!?!? Again, WTF?

The last thing I’m going to mention that rubbed me the wrong way was that the movie didn’t seem to pace itself too well. There were high moments of action and excitement, then followed by a lot of talking and really mundane moments where I could look around the audience and see people just get antsy in their seats. All of them, just dying for another glimpse of the Red and Yellow suit kicking ass. If anything I’d say we could’ve seen more of Iron Man and even War Machine. At least with the slow parts of the first film, we were treated to more Iron Man screen time than with this one.

Final Thought:

When it’s all said and done, it’s a fun movie to watch. I am tired of hearing from other critics that, ” it doesn’t compare to the first film” or “it’s good, but not good enough” etc. etc. I think that every film should be judged on it’s own and not as if it was part of a sequel. It’s funny because since the Dark Knight did so well and a lot of people consider it to be better than the first, a lot of them expect the same out of Iron Man 2. That’s a lot for Jon Favreau to try and give the audience. I think that he set out to give you a compelling story of already known and loved characters from the first movie while trying to bring something new to the table. Did he accomplish this? Yes.

Iron Man 2 Review : (8.5/10)