Hugely Entertaining, But Slightly Disappointing

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2010)

It seems like an unwritten rule; in the world of comic-book movies, No.2's are the best. The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Superman 2, X2, Hellboy 2; all better then the originals. So it's disappointing that Iron Man 2, the sequel to one of my all-time favourite comic-book movies, doesn't join the club.
The movie kicks off where the last film ended, with playboy inventor and millionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) revealing his secret identity of Iron Man to the world. Little does he know that a Russian genius named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) plans to take revenge on Tony for an old family grudge. Six months later, whilst Tony is soaking up the public love for Iron Man, Vanko strikes hard. This couldn't come at a worse time for Tony. Unbeknownst to anyone but himself and Vanko, the palladium in Tony's chest reactor (the thing which is meant to be keeping him alive) is slowly killing him. Whilst he races to find a cure, he promotes his assistant and love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to CEO of his company, Stark Industries. Slimy Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) and oddball rival arms dealer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) are snapping at Tony's heels trying to get him to hand over the Iron Man tech, with Tony's military pal Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard) caught in the middle. And what's up with Tony's new, mysterious assistant Natalie (Scarlett Johansson)?
For the first and third acts, this film rocks hard. One minor quibble (why say that the soundtrack is made up of AC/DC songs, then put just two of their songs in the movie?) Apart from that, these 75 minutes are the most sensational fun that I have had at the cinema so far this year. The performances are great, the dialogue crackles, the visual effects are fantastic and the action is electrifying. For those glorious 75 minutes, I would rank Iron Man 2 as one of my favourite comic-book movies.
Unfortunately, director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux trip up badly in the second act. There's some action (Vanko's jail break and a punch-up between a drunken Tony and Rhodes in another suit), but this part is mainly talking. Based on the snappy dialogue of the first act, this shouldn't be a problem. But, apart from the occasional burst of inspired writing and some brilliant in-jokes (I loved the Captain America reference), this part of the movie is surprisingly dull, drifting off more than it should and lacking the rock'n'roll energy of the other 75 minutes. Tony's burgeoning alcoholism (apparently the most emotionally potent storyline in the comics) is tossed aside in an embarrassing party sequence, whilst his heart poisoning is dealt with too quickly and confusingly. Plus, Rourke's brilliant villain gets relegated to scenes in a laboratory. The acting, humour, action and occasional bursts of wit save this act. But the energy and pizazz of the first and third acts is gone, making these 45 minutes the spanner in the works which stops Iron Man 2 from matching, or topping, its predecessor.
The acting is consistently brilliant. Don Cheadle is an improvement over Terrence Howard. Cheadle's more convincing as a colonel and in his relationship with Downey Jr. than Howard, whilst bringing grit and humour to the part. As Pepper, Gwyneth Paltrow is both warm and witty. The bickering between Pepper and Tony is a highlight, showing the love-hate relationship between two people dancing around their true feelings for each other. As with the first Iron Man, you could argue that Paltrow imbues the proceedings with welcome heart. As Justin Hammer, Rockwell is hilarious, yet he is also edgily intriguing. Hammer is a ratty, strange copy of Tony before he experienced his epiphany of the first film. He reminded me of Venom from Spider-Man 3, except better utilised and more suited to the performer. Rockwell nails the role with his quirky brilliance. As Vanko, Rourke creates a character with commendable humanity. Whilst Rourke could have easily been comic thanks to his exaggerated Russian accent, he instead comes across as an imposing and intelligent character, simmering with barely compressed rage. Scarlett Johansson does what she needs to do in the role of Natalie AKA Black Widow; she remains enigmatic enough for a spin-off to be welcome, and provides a sexy attraction for the men in the audience. One thing that Johansson excels at is her stunt work. In the final 30 minutes, she faces off against a hallway of goons, and the results are breath-taking. Garry Shandling is note-perfect as Senator Stern (he gets the film's last and best line), whilst Samuel L. Jackson brings his usual cool and charisma to the role of Nick Fury, the director of the mysterious S.H.I.E.L.D organisation.
But the film belongs to Downey Jr. As Stark, Downey Jr. is magnificent. He is funny, smart and spot-on with the one-liners. He combines super-human energy with a humanity which makes even Stark's most selfish actions forgivable. Downey Jr. is one of my favourite actors, and he doesn't disappoint with this superlative performance.
Iron Man 2 is absolutely top-notch blockbuster entertainment for its first and third acts; thrilling, hysterically funny, written with envious wit and brilliantly acted and directed. I'd say that these portions even surpass the first film. However, one thing that Iron Man had was consistency in its brilliance, something which its sequel lacks. The middle act of this film drags it down into the middle tier of comic-book movies. Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe when I see it again, I'll change my mind and show it more love. For now, Iron Man 2 is a half-stunning, half-lacklustre film which overall makes a blast of fun at the cinema, and a solid, if not great, kick-off to the summer season of movies. Be sure to stay after the credits for one mouth-watering teaser, which has me excited for one particular upcoming Marvel project.