Messy storyline, no real plot, no theme

Rating: 5/10 (3 May 2010)

Just saw Iron Man 2, and while I thought the first one was a bit overrated, I had hopes. They quickly dissipated.
Firstly, there was no theme. The first Iron Man had a theme - it was about Tony Stark changing his life and becoming a better man. Iron Man 2 had no theme at all.
Secondly, the plot was messy: there just happens to be another brilliant scientist who can build an advanced power source in a squalid Moscow shack? Okay, we had to swallow that Tony Stark could build one in the middle of freakin' Afghanistan, but twice? That's too much.
Weren't Pepper and Tony supposed to get together at the end of the first film? In this one they stay at arm's length, and I wondered if there was any romance there at all. That scene from the preview where Pepper kisses his helmet and Tony jumps from the back of the plane after it? Gone.
The Avengers? Samuel L Jackson with an eye patch? Who the hell wears an eye patch today and doesn't get laughed at? Why introduce paper-thin characters that really do nothing? And it's not like anything actually happened with them anyway, so why waste out time and goodwill?
Thirdly, the film didn't really go anywhere in terms of advancing the Iron Man story. There were a few interesting concepts - what does Iron Man do now that everyone knows who he is? Will the US military get their hands on it? - but these, while addressed, where never really given much thought. Instead, Tony's best friend (Cheadle) steals the other suit. What? Even after being given an order to do so, why would his friend do that?
Fourth, the acting: Gwenyth Paltrow is a terrible actress. So it Scarlett Johansson, but at least she's smoking hot. Don Cheadle is no Terrance Howard. While Howard himself isn't a great actor, he owned the role in Iron Man 1. Cheadle just didn't have the personality and charisma, and you'll note he gets very little screen time too.
It wasn't a completely horrible film, but it wasn't worth the 7.9 IMDb gives it. Much closer to a flat 5.0. The direction is a bit messy - the action scenes aren't as clean as they should be. Some great SXF, as you'd expect. Save your money for the DVD.