In rolls the first of the summer's blockbuster action superhero films, the highly anticipated Ironman 2.
So let's get right to it- is it as good as the first Ironman? That's a tall order, being as I consider Ironman 1 to be the possibly the best superhero movie of them all.
Ironman 2 is a lot of fun, it's, as you would expect, bigger, louder, more explosive, but when it comes down to it, not nearly as inventive or fresh as the original. Why? Script.
The film is positively loaded with big-gun stars: Downey as Tony Stark, Don Cheadle as military liaison, Gwyneth Paltrow reprising her role as Pepper Potts, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell as a competing weapons manufacturer, Mickey Rourke as a revenge driven russian with a grudge against the Stark legacy, and finally Samuel L. Jackson as SHIELD boss NICK FURY. But they're all pretty slim in the character department. Rockwell bee-bops as a Stark wannabe, Paltrow has little chance to show her conflicted relationship with Stark that was a highlight of the first. Rourke needs a way bigger part, as it is he mostly mumbles in russian. Johansson is never believable as a kick-ass secret operative, and Jackson does what he usually does- overact to the point of being a caricature.
Ironman 2 opens with Tony Stark defending his right to be IronMan and keep control of the powerful suit technology. An old enemy surfaces in Russia- Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeks to avenge his father, who turns out to be the disgraced partner of Tony Stark's father. Soon, Stark is facing Vanko, who has developed his own Iron Man style of weaponry. He’s also dealing with a rogue weapons manufacturer(Rockwell) who wants to swoop in and take the Stark technology. There are subplots within this basic framework and, for the most part, they work fairly well. That is, other than the disastrous Shield/Nick Fury storyline, which was ludicrous in the first place and not helped by Johansson and Jackson's flat performances.
So that leaves us with the fight scenes, mostly the prolonged end battle, with dozens of ironman like drones. It' good, but not memorable. And never approaches the fun of first flight in the original.
Here's the deal, Ironman lives and dies with Downey- he, as he tells the pentagon when they want his suit, is Ironman. There is no Ironman without him. More Downey- better picture, less, worse. See how it works. The screenplay in the first was probably about as well done as an action screenplay can be, with Stark receiving the call to a be a hero. The only call he gets in 2 is from SHIELD to join them in their generic fight against evil. Compare that to the cave scenes in the first where the doctor saves Downey's live , telling him "not to waste this chance" and you get the idea. They're just not of the same caliber.
Rather than driving into the character of Stark and to a lesser degree, his romance with Pepper, the film goes the opposite way and blows outward, bigger in size, bigger in superficiality. It's a enjoyable diversion, yes, but that's all it is.
Rating:
Presentation: 28
Plot: 26
Character:26
Total: 80
