IRON MAN 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2010)

The original entry in this Marvel Comics-derived superhero franchise was one of the best and most enjoyable among the myriad such adaptations to have emerged in recent years. Consequently, I had great expectations for its follow-up (especially since this was afforded a considerably bigger budget) but, while certainly not a bad film per se, it proved by and large a disappointment!
To be fair to it, the jaded nature of the whole was actually inherent in the plot – but sometimes it was still taken too far: for instance, Robert Downey Jr.'s alcohol-fueled dance to the disco-beat in full 'Iron Man' attire; similarly, why on Earth would a Scientific Expo necessitate the speaker (in this case, geeky Sam Rockwell) to arrive on stage to the rhythm of pop music?! And what is up with that anti-climactically brief and unimaginative final confrontation between heroes and villain? Other aspects of the storyline, then, were unconvincing (Mickey Rourke's technological prowess or, for that matter, Don Cheadle's – who is able to take on the guise of 'Iron Man 2' {sic} at the bat of an eye-lid!), messy (all of the hero's various complexes – personal, physical and emotional) or otherwise drew unwarranted attention to themselves (Scarlett Johansson's apparently effortless expertise at aerial martial-arts – which, ever since THE MATRIX series, has come to be a prerequisite of action movies). Besides, while I know Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury subplot, which here overlaps into the main narrative rather than being relegated to the after-credits sequence – incidentally, a good part of the audience stayed behind for it this time around! – is intended as a transition between the various superhero flicks already released or else are in the pipeline, I cannot help feeling it stretched out the proceedings unnecessarily!
As for the rest, it was pretty much par for the course: a plethora of effects-laden mayhem (at their best during the Monaco Grand Prix, where the grudge-bearing and electricity-charged whip-wielding Rourke first confronts Tony Stark/'Iron Man'; the one-on-one between Downey Jr. and Cheadle at the former's mansion; and the climax in which they combat an army of similar robots – which the power-hungry Rockwell has built – as well as the 'geared-up' Rourke himself) and cynical wisecracks (with the hero lashing self-destructively as much at overbearing authority figures as his own most intimate collaborators, including a returning Gwyneth Paltrow).
In the end, my lukewarm reaction to the film has not dulled my interest in an eventual second sequel as such: after all, the third SPIDER-MAN and fourth X-MEN entries in each respective franchise were, likewise, definite come-downs from their predecessors