Doesn't exactly live up to expectations...but Great nonetheless!

Rating: 10/10 (8 May 2010)

When Iron Man released in 2008 it was pretty much the Dark Horse of superhero films. No one really expected a film based on a character the general public knew next to nothing about to do really well, especially not in the same year as a certain film directed by Christopher Nolan and starring the late Heath Ledger was also due to be released. And yet the film was highly successful, critically and commercially, propelled Robert Downey Jr. to new heights of stardom and pretty much began the renaissance where Marvel superhero films were concerned. But perhaps one of the best things about the first film (apart from the well-structured plot, the excellent dialogue, the brilliant acting etc.) was the cliffhanger ending of Tony Stark revealing his identity as Iron Man to the world! RDJ's line 'I am Iron Man' plainly spoken in a matter-of-fact tone itself, perhaps more than anything else, set the momentum for the high expectations everyone had of the sequel. And the trailers, when they came, set expectations even higher...and then when the film came out...it didn't live up to a lot of those expectations. It certainly didn't live up to mine...But it was fun nonetheless!
The film gives us everything we wanted and more. The dialogue is great (though not as good as the first), the action scenes and visual effects are truly awe-inspiring and even the themes and overall plot is pretty gripping! The theme of the movie is clearly legacy which refers not only to Howard Stark's legacy to Tony but also Tony's legacy of Iron Man to the world (and on a much narrower scale, to his friends Pepper Potts and Jim Rhodes). Many of the plot points, such as the US Government wanting the Iron Man technology, other villains getting their hands on the technology, Tony's struggles with leading a double life (though he doesn't really have a secret identity per se) etc. seem to be natural progressions from the first film. Some others like the Ivan Vanko revenge plot and the backstory involving Howard Stark and Anton Vanko do add greater depth to the film version of the Iron Man mythos (and the whole Legacy theme). Jim Rhodes becoming War Machine and using the Mark 2 armour as well is clearly the culmination of the foreshadowing from the scene in the first film ('next time baby') and the Natasha Romanov subplot was pretty interesting as well (not to mention the fight scenes).
So what WAS this film missing then? Well for starters the plot just didn't flow as organically as it did with Iron Man 1. Of course its not as though this ruins the movie...its only a very subtle difference but it can be felt nonetheless. Case in point, Tony just has a drunken armour battle with Rhodes during his birthday party, blows up about half his house in the process and then...is sitting on a rooftop having donuts waiting for Nick Fury to show up! And Fury's involvement seemed kinda like a deux ex machina to cure Tony's condition and get him off the erratic behavior thats been plaguing him for most of the film and back into action for the final battle. Which brings us to the tone of the film. Iron Man 1, while it did have a fair share of humour, was largely pretty serious in its tone, even dark in some parts. Iron Man 2 was expected to be dark (most superhero sequels are) and one would expect that a film in which a major plot point is the protagonist slowly dying of blood poisoning would be exceedingly dark in its tone, but instead Iron Man 2 has MORE than its fair share of humour (so much so that the last scene itself was more of a joke than anything else). Even Pepper and Tony arguing over his not telling her about his condition was made humorous, whereas it should have been a touching emotional moment. Nonetheless, these issues thankfully do not detract THAT much from an otherwise excellent film though Iron Man 2 could have easily surpassed the original had the afforementioned shortcomings not been present.
That said, I must comment on the whole 'Avengers Initiative' subplot that has slowly been building up over the course of multiple Marvel Studios films that is clearly leading up to the much awaited Avengers film. With this film, I get the feeling that things are clearly escalating on that front as compared to Iron Man 1 and The Incredible Hulk with characteristics of the 'shared universe' becoming glaringly apparent and not so subtle anymore. Nick Fury and SHIELD playing a significant role in the film, Captain America's shield making a clear appearance, the scene with Thor's hammer after the credits, the Avengers Initiative folder etc. seems to be making the notion that Iron Man isn't the only superhero in the world a bit too obvious. It seems now that Marvel is committed to this whole 'Avengers' film project so hopefully they'll see it through without any major hiccups.