My last few movie reviews have been of small budget films. This one, not so much. Iron Man 2 is your typical summer blockbuster, heavy on movie stars and action, light on story and captivating characters. However there is something about this film that made it work despite all of its flaws.
First things first, its time to put Robert Downy Jr on the short list of best actors out there. He really is terrific as Billionaire Tony Stark. I think I enjoy him outside of the Iron Man suit more than I do while he is actually Iron Man. He is just a likable character despite his flaws as a human being. Debuting in this film is another billionaire weapons maker, by the name of Justin Hammer, played by Sam Rockwell. Rockwell has been one of my favorites ever since Green Mile and Confessions of a Danngerous mind, he probably does the best job acting as anyone in this film, and he brings some much needed comic relief as a villain in this role. Hammer basically wants to be the next Tony Stark and has the means to do so however, he doesn't have the smarts. Unfortunately this is where the likable characters end. I was worried about Mickey Rourke as the main villain, and he just didn't work for me. I don't know if it was the Russian accent, or the idea that he is supposed to be a genius physicist that I didn't like, but something about that character was off. I guess they felt the need to cast Don Cheadle instead of Terrance Howard as Iron Man's sidekick, War Machine. I love Cheadle in pretty much everything he does, but he doesn't add anything Howard could not. Personally I liked Howard better in the role and with both Howard and Cheadle, I found it hard to buy the friendship between they and the Robert Downey Jr. Scarlett Johansson is probably the hottest woman on the planet, so I never mind her being in any film, but in this movie she seemed out of place. I enjoyed some of the flirting done between her and Robert Downey Jr, but I never really felt that she added anything to the movie besides being eye candy. If you saw the previews than you know the Samuel L Jackson is also has a small part in this film which is good, because he really didn't belong in any of it.
I blame most of the problems with the characters on the bad script. I don't want to spoil this terrible plot but basically Iron Man has to fight a bunch of guys in Iron Man suits, which are created by the son of a Russian Scientist who helped create the reactor needed to power the Iron Man suit. Since apparently the only place you can build one of these reactors is in a dingy basement someplace. I my main problem is not that the story is predictable or that the premise of these monumental discoveries comes so easily, but more so that they didn't build a conflict worth caring about. Not once during this movie did I feel like the antagonist had the upper hand for a second. I have ripped the Christopher Nolan Batman movies for some of its flaws, but at least the story in both films was compelling in where the super hero is really the worlds only hope to stop the evil villain. After all that is basically the way every comic book reads. Iron Man 2 falls far short of creating any story lines that are not only believable, but also creating a tension between the protagonist and the antagonist.
What saved this film for me, was just the overall style and look of this film. The technology that is portrayed is a really cool vision of the future. Pretty much everything I loved about the first film I loved about this film. Tony Stark is a cool likable guy that creates some really cool toys to play with. The action scenes were all done very well, and surprisingly the music of ACDC does add to the feel of this movie. Despite the flaws with characters or story, not once in the movie was i getting bored. Iron Man does not break any ground in the comic book genre, but it will entertain you. I think that is exactly what I look for in my summer blockbusters, and this is really one of the few that I think will be worth seeing.
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