Oscar Caliber On Every Level (Story, FX & Especially Acting)

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2010)

Everyone will rave about the action but Iron Man 2 delivers a beguiling character study behind and above the special effects. You do not leave your I.Q. at the door with this summer movie as you too often need to do. The award winning cast doesn't back down and delivers up to their talent. They're rising to the material, and even elevating it to levels rarely seen in a comic adaptation film. Robert Downey Jr delivers another remarkable performance. Giving one of our generation's greatest actors such a cool character to bring to life happens once in a lifetime. Watching him draw on ALL emotions is as good as it gets. Not to give any spoilers but there's a dark side to Tony Stark because of his impending death and that aspect of the film makes Downey shine. Add the flair and superhero text and we may be talking Oscar. Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also bring their top stuff.
Aided by those great performances, the writing delivers genuine wit and is strong across the board. I think a lot of summer films are lost in pre-production when they decide to shoot a dumb script or make it up as they go along. Clearly, Iron Man 2 must have had a strong script and great writers. They avoid a lot of the mistakes other films like this make. The story is as good as any comic book adaptation I've ever seen. The plot actually tugs at the heart strings, makes you think and still hits the funny bone more then once. The story and epic battles make perfect sense. What I liked about the first Iron Man is that it was somewhat grounded in reality. No teenage boys or small girls as superheroes or men dressing up as rodents, not that there's inherently anything wrong with those turns. I simply like fantasy grounded in reality. The effects really did surpass what they did before and I actually thought the last time out they deserved FX Oscar consideration. These are some of the best scenes out of any action film ever. Best of all, I couldn't tell what was Computer Generated Images and what was practical.
Yes, that's twice I mentioned Oscar so I might as well do it a third time. A nomination for best picture wouldn't surprise me at all at this point. I really loved this movie.