Excellent Action Scenes With a Lot of Talky Scenes

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2010)

Iron Man 2 is not too easy to describe. When there are explosive action sequences, it was very very good. The first appearance of Whiplash at the Monaco race track, the confrontation of the two Iron Men at Stark's birthday, and of course the spectacular finale fight sequence at the Expo. However, the rest of the film was beset with a lot of talk! This actually surprised and disappointed me.
Robert Downey Jr.' Tony Stark goes from a very haughty showoff to a depressed man wallowing in self-pity. No one plays cocky like Downey. No one plays drunk like Downey. While this may be a good acting vehicle for Downey, unfortunately, it also dragged down the middle portion of the movie quite a bit. I felt this part was quite prolonged for a cartoon-based action movie, and may be boring for young audiences. The time could have been used to develop the new characters some more.
Mickey Rourke as Whiplash seemed to be an extension of his Oscar-nominated role in "The Wrestler." His character has an arresting presence, such that the simplistic way he was neutralized was a major letdown for me. Sam Rockwell was appropriately annoying as Hammer, the business arch-nemesis of Stark. Scarlett Johannsson was smart and sexy in her role as the Black Widow. Her scene infiltrating the Hammer compound was truly great kick-ass action.
Overall, it was a very entertaining film, a good second installment in this franchise. The script can be very funny (anything with Pepper Potts), as it can also be quite serious (anything with Stark's dad). Enough hints are dropped about the coming Avengers sequel, including a funny scene with Captain America's shield. There was a scene at the end of the credits (which I failed to see because my kids wanted to go already). This was supposed to have involved Thor's hammer. The next film in this trilogy promises to be a bigger action blockbuster.