Downey Jr. and Rockwell are outstanding, but this sequel lacks the balance and energy of its predecessor

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2010)

Without a doubt, Iron Man was a total knockout when it was released in early 2008. It was an all around awesome movie that surprised just about everyone with how well made it was. Having Robert Downey Jr. sizzle in the lead role likely helped, as did the blend of action, thrills and laughs. It was a great start to the summer, and one of the few movies people remembered even came out that year after The Dark Knight was unleashed almost three months later. With hype running high on Iron Man 2, is there any way it could even possibly match up to the original film?
The film opens with an interesting introduction to Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a Russian physicist who does not appear to be much of a fan of Tony Stark (Downey Jr.). Rather quickly, the film jumps a few months after Stark's announcement to the world that he is Iron Man. He has become an even bigger celebrity, has helped bring peace to a few warring nations, and the US government is hounding him to hand over the technology for military use. And that is just the start of his new set of problems to go along with his new public identity.
While Iron Man was a fairly straight forward story with fairly little jumping, at times, Iron Man 2 feels like a convoluted mess. On top of Stark coming to terms with his new life and problems with long time friends and colleagues Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Jim Rhodes (Don Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard), writer Justin Theroux throws in rival weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) to turn up the heat alongside Rourke's Vanko, new "assistant" Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) and a more fleshed out Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). While a movie like The Dark Knight was able to use its multitude of story lines to its advantage (with no small help to its longer running time), Iron Man 2 seems to have problems not too long after blasting through the starting gate.
The multiple stories going on and weaving throughout the film are not bad, they just lack the interest and the drive the story at the heart of the original film had. At times, there is just so much going on that it becomes boring and feels like it is dragging the film out. I originally envisioned the added emphasis on S.H.I.E.L.D. and the first real push towards 2012's The Avengers would hinder the film, but at times, they are the most interesting things about it. Their mere mentions and initial origins feel more fleshed out, and more developed than half the ideas Theroux seems keen at throwing at the audience. They are the elements that stick, and despite having just come from the film, seem to be the only real integral things I can take from the film.
Even worse is the character development. With the exception of Stark and Hammer, the rest of the cast gets very little time to really do much of anything. We get hints at how deadly an adversary Vanko is, but outside of a moderately thrilling sequence at a racetrack, we never really see how devastating he can be. Rushman is more of an enigma if anything, and seems to be here strictly to offer a tease for what may be a pivotal character in a later Marvel film. The chemistry between Potts and Stark is the only thing worthwhile thing Paltrow really gets to offer in the film, and Rhodes seems even more downplayed here than in the original film (even though Cheadle seems to be a much better fit for the character than Howard ever was). Spider-Man 3 had this same problem of adding too much to a good thing, so why did anyone think it would work out for the best here?
But I digress. Downey Jr. was perfect the first time in the role as Stark, and looks even more at home in the role here. We really get to see the psychology and inner workings of the character more in this film, and Downey Jr. pulls it off with finesse over and over again. There are times where he looks like he should and wants to be doing more, but even at his most subdued, he is chewing up everything around him. He was born to play this role, and at no point does he ever seem to lose track of who the character is or how he should be played. At the same time, Rockwell knocks his role right out of the park. He plays Hammer with just the right amount of sleaze and sarcasm that he nearly steals the show in some sequences. He does great as the villain, and while some may be annoyed by his character, I could not get nearly enough.
The effects are stellar across the board. I had heard some of them were not quite up to par, but I could not find any scene where I was not impressed by what was happening on screen. They are not perfect by any means, but the wow factor of the original film is still on display here. And thankfully, the extended ending battle scene for the most part more than makes up for the stilted and much too short battle from the original film's finale.
Jon Favreau took a gamble on Iron Man and it paid off. For Iron Man 2, I think the gamble was a bit too much. I really enjoyed his extended performance as Happy Hogan, but the film just lacks the balance and the energy of the original film. There are some awesome sequences, and excellent performances from Downey Jr. and Rockwell. But as a cohesive whole, the film just feels like a bit of a disappointment. A decent disappointment, but a disappointment nonetheless.
7/10.
(This review also appeared on http://www.geekspeakmagazine.com).