Iron Man 2 Review
Saturday, May 8. 2010
Iron Man is often cited as one of the greatest comic book movies ever, and with good reason. But that left some people nervous about the sequel: would it be as good? Could it be as good? What they failed to consider with these concerns s that 90% of what made the first movie so great was Robert Downey, Jr. He was so much fun to watch as Tony Stark that the rest of the movie pretty much fell into place. As he said as the final words of that movie: "I am Iron Man."
Gweneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also return as Pepper Potts and Lt. Col. James Rhodes, and get even more screen time to the movie's benefit. The only thing that felt a little off with either of these characters was Rhodey's scene selecting the upgrades for War Machine. It was well done, but the tone seemed off from the scenes on either side of it. Fortunately, this was only a minor misstep, and was more than made up for by the performances of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.
Whiplash was fully believable in everything from his intellect to his motivation, a tough combination for any character, let alone one who hardly speaks (his lines used in the trailer are about half the lines he has in the entire movie). And Hammer was the kind of guy you hated just seeing his face, and even moreso hearing him speak. The two worked together beautifully, and avoided any of the easy-to-fall-into traps that always spring up when you try to have multiple villains.
The story itself was very well done, providing us with more backstory for Tony (including a fairly subtle "like father, like son" moment as Tony is watching old movies of his father). The action sequences are at least as good as they were in the first movie, and appropriately left the best for last when Iron Man and War Machine teamed up to fight Hammer's drones and a powered-up Whiplash.
Overall it was a great time, all the better because it was clear that the team making it was having a blast. Seeing the first movie isn't a prerequisite, but several of the facts that were presented in that movie are taken for granted here, so you ought to have at least a basic familiarity with the Iron Man universe before seeing this one. Marvel fans: make sure to stay past the credits!
Collector/Modeler Interest:
Most of Tony's garage remains intact from the first movie, including the Deuce Hot Rod (seen even more this time around). The Audi used in the promos and featured in the movie is not currently available in any form, but it's possible that we'll see this in the future. Also, keep watch in the action figure aisle for Hammer Drones.
Gweneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle also return as Pepper Potts and Lt. Col. James Rhodes, and get even more screen time to the movie's benefit. The only thing that felt a little off with either of these characters was Rhodey's scene selecting the upgrades for War Machine. It was well done, but the tone seemed off from the scenes on either side of it. Fortunately, this was only a minor misstep, and was more than made up for by the performances of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.
Whiplash was fully believable in everything from his intellect to his motivation, a tough combination for any character, let alone one who hardly speaks (his lines used in the trailer are about half the lines he has in the entire movie). And Hammer was the kind of guy you hated just seeing his face, and even moreso hearing him speak. The two worked together beautifully, and avoided any of the easy-to-fall-into traps that always spring up when you try to have multiple villains.
The story itself was very well done, providing us with more backstory for Tony (including a fairly subtle "like father, like son" moment as Tony is watching old movies of his father). The action sequences are at least as good as they were in the first movie, and appropriately left the best for last when Iron Man and War Machine teamed up to fight Hammer's drones and a powered-up Whiplash.
Overall it was a great time, all the better because it was clear that the team making it was having a blast. Seeing the first movie isn't a prerequisite, but several of the facts that were presented in that movie are taken for granted here, so you ought to have at least a basic familiarity with the Iron Man universe before seeing this one. Marvel fans: make sure to stay past the credits!
Collector/Modeler Interest:
Most of Tony's garage remains intact from the first movie, including the Deuce Hot Rod (seen even more this time around). The Audi used in the promos and featured in the movie is not currently available in any form, but it's possible that we'll see this in the future. Also, keep watch in the action figure aisle for Hammer Drones.
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