Anaemic – More Iron Needed

Rating: 2/10 (21 May 2010)

The first Iron Man was a delight to behold. When Tony Stark eventually took to the skies in his fully-operational red Iron Man suit and flew to Afghanistan, the movie took on a giddy, magical feel not seen since "Superman" with Christopher Reeve back in the day. It was so clear what Iron Man could do and who his enemies were.
The same cannot be said for "Iron Man 2" which is lumbered with a script that is just dreadful and fails to deliver on every level.
Take the first scene between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. The makers must have been trying to do some sort of rapid-fire screwball comedy dialogue but all they succeed in doing is getting the actors to talk over one another so its hard to make out what's being said. What they say isn't funny or interesting either, it's all shallow sound bites.
Superhero movies are only as good as their villain, e.g. Doc Ock in "Spiderman 2" or Lex Luthor in Chris Reeves "Superman" movies. The villain in "Iron Man 2" is a Russian called Whiplash played by Mickey Rourke (I hope he was paid well, as it does nothing for him or his career.) Whiplash makes his big arrival in the movie by attacking Tony Stark's racing car with electrified whips. This is a good start but once Whiplash has his whips taken from him, he becomes a very ordinary villain indeed with no other special powers to threaten Iron Man with. He is taken off to jail almost immediately and fades into the background for most of the film. It makes Whiplash look foolish instead of menacing and the character never recovers. His motivation for attacking Tony Stark/Iron Man is also not very clear or convincing, something about his father being betrayed by Stark's father but it's never explained any further(a flashback might have helped).
Scarlett Johannson looks gorgeous and tough as Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff. She has some killer moves but strangely never gets to use them on the villain Whiplash. That would have made the script more interesting.
There is also an appearance by Samuel L. Jackson wearing an eye-patch that seems to set up the long-in-development Avengers movie that teams up the Marvel characters. It's a diversion about money that we don't need, it takes us out of the story when it should be all about getting Whiplash.
Then there's the finale. Whiplash attacks Stark again and fails...again (he's clearly incompetent). The resolution is far too easy. There's no twist to make Stark work hard for victory and that's boring.
Sam Rockwell, as the other villain, unveils a series of drone-style Iron Men and they gang up to attack Iron Man and his pal (Don Cheadle also in an Iron Man suit) but there are so many flying around at the end and the editing is so rapid that it's hard to tell what's happening. It's muddled, where the original "Iron Man" was crystal clear. That's the problem with this sequel. It feels rushed. The stench of desperation to top the first movie comes off the screen. Better take more care with "Iron Man 3."
P.S. Sam Rockwell's dancing is hilarious. It's almost worth another star.