A Worthy Follow Up To The First One

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2010)

When I finally saw Iron Man a time after it came out, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Initially, I was reserved as comic book films were kind of just coming into their own. But, with so many now producing high value entertainment, expectations going into Iron Man 2 were slightly elevated. While I don't hold this series as dear to heart as the Batman reboot films or Spider-Man, they are extremely entertaining and RDJ's Tony Stark is one of the best comic book heroes to grace the screen. Thankfully, IM2 proves to be both highly entertaining and a great next step from the first film.
First, let me go through what didn't really work in the film. My biggest gripe, much like the first film, was there felt like kind of a lack of action. And when there was action, it didn't feel like there was enough. With the final battle scene aside, most of the action was short lived. They were some really well developed set pieces, but it felt like we were just being shown a sample. And it's too bad, because the Whiplash character is a pretty cool villain and War Machine makes a pretty awesome sidekick. Secondly, it felt like there was a little too much happening in the film. There has been some complaints about this pulling a Spiderman 3 and stuffing too much into it. And, it does suffer a bit. There's the Hammer storyline, the Vanko storyline, the SHIELD storyline, and this isn't even getting into all the personal stories involving Tony himself. It's just unfortunate, because so many of the stories don't get fully developed to their potential, a mistake that creates a bit of disconnect.
With those being the biggest complaints, there is more good in the film than bad. The acting ranges from excellent to serviceable, but most of it is excellent. All the leads: RDJ, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Don Cheadle are fantastic. Don Cheadle actually does a better job here than Terrence Howard, as Cheadle seems to provide some challenge to Stark that really gave the relationship some umph. It should be noted that this film really demonstrates how RDJ is the perfect choice for Stark. He is endlessly entertaining and is at least 50% of why this movie is so great. He's consistently funny, shows great depth to a character that is egotistical and a little unbalanced, and proves once again why he has returned to having such a great career as an actor. The other actors are sufficient. Scarlette Johansen doesn't have a whole lot going on, showing up for a few small parts before a big action piece at the end, but she handles it naturally and shows she could even come into action pretty well. Gwyneth Paltrow provides a nice foil for RDJ as their dialog and scenes are just the right kind of bittersweet. Even director Favreau plays off some nice comic relief as personal aid Happy, who gets a bit more meat in this film.
Speaking of Favreau, his directing here is once again spot on. He further turns Stark into someone of a complicated nature. He's self centered, sure, and he boasts and gloats in the spotlight, but he's also quite complicated. He's not exactly the hero type, but he is a hero, and that makes him one of the more intriguing Marvel heroes. The layers in the film aren't all bad either. There is a lot in the film about family, but it isn't completely shoved in your face. While it could have been easy to have Tony go into some very dark places and brood over his family, it is instead dealt with just enough to add that extra layer to Stark and touch on the element of the story. This is one of the few additional story elements that I truly enjoyed. The dialog here is also very well written, and it helps as it keeps the whole movie very entertaining. Because, as mentioned, there isn't a whole lot of action.
What action there is, is fairly entertaining, if on the short side. Mickey Rourke here is way underused. He does a great job, and his character is very fascinating, but there isn't really enough of him. It felt like he could have come out like Dr. Octopus from Spider Man 2, a villain whom we could sympathize with and got to see plenty of. Sadly, there are so many antagonists here, that most of them interweave through each other and no one villain comes off as intriguing as they should be. The action falls into this line. Because of all the villains, the action plays light and interweaves in the story. We get short action scene in the beginning at Monaco, one in the middle between Iron Man and War Machine, and the climax. And while they all look fantastic, each scene feels like a preview or merely a taste. There isn't nearly enough of what we think we're going to get, and it is disappointing when the scene ends before we are ready for a conclusion. The problem here is my same gripe with the first film: the action never fulfills it's ambitious promise.
But, don't let these facts keep you from the film. Much like Tropic Thunder, if there's any reason to see the film, it's for RDJ. Luckily, he's also the main character, so you see quite a bit of him. Also, it's quite lucky the film is actually well written (as was the first film). But beyond Downey Jr., this is quite an entertaining film and one that will truly kick off the summer film season.