There's a LOT Going On as Iron Man Returns

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2010)

IRON MAN 2 was easily my most anticipated movie of 2010. I was a major fan of the first film and, with all the major players returning for the second (with the exception of Terrence Howard), I was psyched. In a sense, IRON MAN 2 followed the same formula that made the first film great. Unfortunately, they followed it so closely that it felt as if they didn't bring anything new to the mix. The film begins about six months after the first left off, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) publicly admitting his role as Iron Man. News reaches Russia where Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), whose father originally aided Stark's father in his creation of the arc reactor, becomes enraged as his father dies in poverty. He creates a whip harness powered by an arc reactor and soon joins with Tony Stark's rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) in a plan to create Iron Man drones for the military.
Having tried to explain the plot just now, it reinforces just how overly complicated the plot of the film ended up. There are a lot of factors director Jon Favreau ended up cramming into the film: Whiplash's drive for revenge on Iron Man, Tony's illness as a result of the palladium in his arc reactor and the search for a cure, Justin Hammer's catering to the military's desire for Iron Man suits, Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle) becoming War Machine, and the further development of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel film universe. Still, while the film does have some trouble fitting it all in, Favreau manages to keep it interesting throughout thanks to the characters involved.
Robert Downey Jr. has already proved in the first IRON MAN that he is the perfect actor for the role of Tony Stark and he doesn't lose any ground here. Gwyneth Paltrow continues doing well enough as Pepper Potts, and Cheadle does a great job stepping in for Howard as Colonel Rhodes. Honestly, I feel Cheadle did a better job in the role, and you know it had to be fun stepping in as War Machine (which I know I'd been waiting for more than anything). As the villain of the film, Rourke was awesome as Vanko/Whiplash, but the real scene-stealer was Sam Rockwell as Hammer. Rockwell is a fantastic actor and was my favorite part of the film, oozing sleaze while trying to emulate Stark's playboy attitude.
As I'd mentioned, my real complaint lies in that (with the exception of War Machine) this film didn't bring anything new to the table. When you break it down, it's still Iron Man versus another villain in a power suit (or in this case, many suits). My other problem is that Stark never seemed to be in a real danger and it totally robbed the film of any suspense. In the first film, when Iron Man battles Iron Monger at the film's climax, Iron Man's getting beat down until he has Pepper detonate the arc reactor to finally bring Iron Monger down. In this film, when the final battle against Whiplash arrives, it's done so fast that it feels like it's over before it started. Never at any point does it seem like Iron Man's lost control of the situation and he never feels as if he's in any real danger. That sort of takes some of the fun out of it, in my opinion.
When I first saw the film, I thought it could've used more action (there aren't many major action scenes) but in the end I'm glad they focused so much on story. With so much going on, there are no loose ends when the final credits roll and there is some nice character development in the film (at least on Stark's part). I would've liked some more time with Whiplash but overall it's still an incredibly entertaining movie and people who enjoyed the first film are almost guaranteed to enjoy this one too.