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Iron Man 2
Movie Review
May 9, 2010
Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett
Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Jon Favreau, Gary Shandling,
and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Backstory
Alright, when the first Iron Man came out two years ago, I was suitably
blown away to see this Marvel character be given such a fantastic big
screen treatment, even if it did succumb to a few cliches of the
superhero genre. I was looking forward to the sequel with
great gusto, but then something weird happened. I've been
phenomenally disappointed with every movie I've seen so far this year,
so I went into Iron Man 2 with greatly lowered expectations.
Would it be worth those lowered expections?
Plot
It's been six months since Tony Stark stood before the world and said,
"I am Iron Man." And it's been a stressful six months for
Tony. The US Government is breathing down his neck, wanting
Stark to turn the Iron Man armor over to the military.
Without having turned it over, Stark created a new arms race
for other companies to build armored sutis...namely, Stark's corporate
rival, Justin Hammer. It turns out that the ARC Reactor --
the glowy thing in his chest that keeps him alive -- actually uses a
toxic substance and is slowly killing him. The final straw
comes when the villanous Ivan Vanko shows up, using technology exactly
the same as Stark's, claiming that Stark stole the invetions from his
father and Vanko swears vengeance. Has it all become too much
for Tony Stark to handle? Can he get his act together, cure
his poisoning, and save the city from Vanko's rampage?
What I Liked
I was completely shocked at how funny this movie is. Don't
worry, it doesn't become all campy like 1960s Batman, but there are
enough clever quips to really make you laugh. The action
scenes are amazing...it truly is an impressive climax with armored
suits mowing down giant robots. All of the actors bring their
A-game to the table. And I know, with all the new characters
and heroes and villains introduced, there was some worry that others
would get overshadowed. But, I found a nice balance was
struck. Oh, and John Debney's score was a vast improvement
over ol' whats-his-name who did the music for the first film.
What I
Didn't Like
Well, just like the first film, it still falls victim to some of the
cliches of the superhero genre. And, unlike other superhero
sequels, like The Dark Knight
and Spider-Man 2, it
really doesn't push things to the next level. It's more
content to just give us more of the same.
Final
Assessment
It's a hell of a good ride, a very entertaining film. Not
better than the first one, but truly on the same level as the first one.
3.5 Nibs
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