Iron Man 2

Spoiler Alert: I will be talking in detail about plot points throughout the movie, so if you have not seen it yet, be warned...

First off, let me state from the get go that I am a HUGE Iron Man Fan (he is probably my second favorite super hero after Spider-Man), and absolutely loved the first Iron Man (2008), which I thought, did not have much to complain about. So my (passionate and thorough) review may be a bit long for most normal readers to bear through – my apologies. It is my regret to state that overall, Iron Man 2 is not as strong as the original. But still - Iron Man 2 is an awesome summer ride. When dealing with sequels, they usually never live up to the original, and this is the case here.

This time out, the “cat is out of the bag” so to speak, and the whole world knows Tony Stark (superstar Robert Downey Jr., born to play the character) is Iron Man. The story takes place 6 months where the 1st film left off, and Iron Man has brought about a sort of “world peace” throughout the world, because let’s face it – no nation wants to mess with Iron Man! But all is not sunny in Tony’s world. First, the US wants to possess the Iron Man weaponry for defense purposes and they think all that power the suit is capable of should not belong to one man. Secondly, the element (Palladium) that powers the arc reactor technology that keeps Tony alive is slowly poisoning his blood levels. The more Tony uses the suit, the faster his blood (and health) condition worsens. If Tony cannot find a new source to power his chest piece with, he might as well be called “dead man walking.” Finally, two new villains are introduced in the film, Ivan Vanko, a.k.a. Whiplash, (played by Mickey Rourke, who again demonstrates that his career is on the “up and up” after his excellent turn in The Wrestler), who is connected to Tony’s past, and Justin Hammer (played by the always good Sam Rockwell), the CEO of the largest weapons manufacturer in the world, now that Stark Industries has left that field. Ivan’s father knew Tony’s father, Howard, and the two developed the arc reactor technology together. Ivan blames the Stark family for his family’s demise, and is out for revenge. Hammer is a sort of rival of Tony’s – he wants to be everything Tony is, and more. A lot of reviews I have read compare Hammer’s character to that of a “used car salesman with money and power,” and I have to say, that description is very apt. Needless to say, Tony does not think too highly of Hammer, and does not wish to hear his name whispered in the same breath as Hammer’s, yet alone share the same space with him! So, how does Tony deal with all of his feelings of mortality and problems in front of him? To find out, you have to watch the film!

I guess my 2 biggest complaints of the film are the “plot holes, or lack of real world believability” (which I know is asking a lot from a comic book movie, but thought the first one did a fine job of doing), and the fact that this time out, the story has kind of lost its “shine.” This time out, the witty one-liners and jokes in the film are less memorable and I found myself laughing less, and that “wow and awe” factor was less present. I think what compounded this was the fact that in the end, the battle royale is similar to that of the first film, or even the Transformer films, with all of the robot-on-robot action, and users can only see so much of scrap metal being destroyed on screen before you start to get the feeling of “been here, done that” (don’t get me wrong though – I still thought the final scene was bad-as$!). One cool note to add was Tony’s suit in the sequel did showcase some new weapons, and the new War Machine (Don Cheadle’s character Lt. Jim Rhodes operates this suit) armor is impressive as well. The only “downer” about the War Machine armor was, in the comic books, the suit also had a rocket launcher over its left shoulder that was sadly left out in this incarnation (perhaps the suit was too bulky to include the weapon, but as a die-hard fan of the comics, I would have appreciated the inclusion).

In regards to the plot holes, let me count the ways…
1. In the fight scene with Vanko in Monaco (an awesome scene visually I must say, and the films 1st major set piece), Happy comes to the rescue of Stark by hitting Vanko with the car multiple times (or at least the bottom half of his body and legs). Shouldn’t Vanko not be much of an adversary after say, maybe the 2nd or 3rd hit? Either Vanko is on some PCP, he has “bionic” legs, or he’s just really a tough SOB! This part of the film definitely requires some “suspension of disbelief.” Side note - this scene includes the iron man “suitcase” armor transformation - one of the dopest scenes ever filmed (and brought up the “awe and wow” factor)!
2. Tony’s birthday party scene where he is partying with his guests with the Iron Man suit ON while being in a drunken stupor. I doubt this would EVER happen in real life or in the comics books. I don’t think Tony would be this stupid or irresponsible, so this is definitely a polarizing event in the movie for most fans/movie watchers. You are either going to “go with it” or not, and it’s definitely a “tough sell.”
3. During the party, Tony starts to go a little crazy and starts blasting at random objects with his “repulsor rays.” With him being drunk and his guests being in harm’s way, Rhodey tries to get Tony to calm down and to end the party. Tony refuses, and to “fight fire with fire” so to speak, Rhodey has to put on one of Tony’s old iron man suits to make it an even playing field. But this idea also has some holes in it. I may be wrong in my understanding of the Iron Man mythology, but I was under the impression that Tony’s chest piece powered the suit, and that was “battery” that made the suit go. If this is the case, the film did not do a good job explaining why Tony would make a suit with the technology built in. In the comics, Tony hits a rough patch and hands over the “Iron Man” duties to Jim Rhodes for a while, which would explain the need to create a suit with the energy source already incorporated into it. But the movie makes no mention of why a suit like this would ever be created in the first place, and Rhodey easily enters Tony’s lab, (since he is one of Tony’s most trusted friends and has an access code) and puts on a suit. This is a BIG hole in the storyline too because hypothetically, anybody could have stolen the iron man armor if they could sneak into Tony’s house and break down the (glass) walls of his lab. All they had to do was put on the armor, and off they went. Seriously, the security precaution that should have been in place is that only Tony could have powered up the suit because of his chest piece, and if someone else was going to commandeer a suit, the energy source would have to be built it. Or at the very least, if Tony’s suits are already built with the arc reactor technology in place, shouldn’t these suits have higher security measures to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands? Perhaps make a vault in Tony’s lab that only he could access via biometrics (i.e. eye scanner, finger print, voice, etc.)?
4. Once Rhodes dons the armor, I would have also thought that he would have been “shaky” at best when operating it. Kind of like driving a car for the first time, and going through the herky-jerky moment and stalling and what not? How does Rhodes already know how to fly and activate the repulsor rays, with no formal training? A plausible scenario would have been getting help from J.A.R.V.I.S. (Tony’s A.I. computer assistant/smarter half [voiced by Paul Bettany] that was better used in the original film) on what commands to do or how to use the suit - that would have made some sense to the thinking person as well. After all, this is his first time wearing the suit, no? Or if it’s not, then maybe they could have mentioned in the movie that Rhodes was already training with the suit that Tony had built specifically for him. What ensues is a no holds barred wrestling match between the two, and is the 2nd major set piece of the film. Basically, in the end of the fight, Rhodey does not see Tony as a capable ambassador and protector of human peace, and decides to “jack” Tony’s suit and resume the role. That part of the plot was kind of silly in my opinion – that Tony Stark lost a piece of his property so easily and without much of a fight. I suppose Tony was OK with it though because Rhodey is a close friend and he knows he will use the suit for “good.”

I guess the main things to remember when watching movies of this genre are these words: “comic-book” and movie. But these are prime examples of when writers don’t pay attention to comic book mythology and plot details that drive hardcore die-hard fans crazy and result in lower ratings when it comes to film reviews!

The second half involves Samuel L. Jackson’s character Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he gets a little more screen time in this movie to shed more light about the “Avengers” project and to help Tony in his search for a cure. It turns out, S.H.I.E.L.D. might be the most well connected government agency in the world, and had access to research and materials on Howard Stark’s work that might aid Tony in his quest. Scarlett Johansson does an awesome job as the sexy new assistant to Tony, Natalie Rushman, a.k.a. Black Widow, although her role and screen time are a bit on the short side. She looks great in spandex, and she does not disappoint when it comes to her action scenes. Her moves are very acrobatic, kind of like a gymnast, showcasing her agility with a mix of elbows, kicks and take downs. Gwyneth Paltrow is back again as Pepper Potts, the former assistant that is now the new CEO of Stark Enterprises. The 2nd film works to build on the chemistry and sexual attraction and witty repartee seen in the 1st film between the two, but only does a so-so job with it, and was better handled in the first film. Pepper and Tony’s romance feels a little rushed and forced in my opinion. But with so many characters and plot lines going on in the 2nd film, I am sure it is hard to do and get everything right.

The last action set piece involving Iron Man, War Machine, Vanko, and Hammer’s robot army is quite a doozy and alone, is worthy of the price of admission. It is a site to behold, and further reaffirms the belief of all comic book fans that the pages in the comic books can really come to life nowadays, with the technology and special effects at Hollwood’s disposal. Any comic book can now be made into a real live action film! Kudos to Industrial Light and Magic, who worked on the film and again, displayed their awesome skills and talent. And also, kudos to director Jon Favreau, who realizes that the true star here is Downey Jr. and all the other actors, and uses the iron man suits and action to help facilitate the story, rather than making the film all about seeing the Iron Man suit in action. This universe is about the characters and story first and foremost, and the action comes second.

Overall, I still definitely give the movie a “thumbs up” and the positives of the film far outweigh the bad. Part 2 has enough action, effects, comedy, and acting to keep everyone entertained for the 2 hour running time. Overall, I give it a thumbs up, and on par (or even better) than Ed Norton’s The Incredible Hulk. It is definitely better than X3: The Last Stand or X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and is a worthy addition the Iron Man series!