Iron man 2 (2010)

The sequel to a big blockbuster. But is it as good?

Tony Stark: Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in. You can't have it.
Senator Stern: Look, I'm no expert...
Tony Stark: In prostitution? You're a senator. Come on.


So the story carries directly on from the last film. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is still a wealthy man with bits of metal in his chest. The only problem is, the Iron Man suit is killing him slowly due to its toxic battery, and this is starting to show, as all his veins are slowly turning black. His main competitor in weaponry (Justin Hammer played by Sam Rockwell) is desperate to get his hands on the suit so it can commercialise it and use it to make money from the government. At the same time there is a crazed Russian (Whiplash played by Mickey Rourke) trying to kill Tony because he caused the death of someone important. Whiplash is caught early on in the film but then escapes from prison with even more motivation for revenge.

The story sounds very packed for a single film, and that wasn't including Tony's past being brought up, new suit designs and new characters being introduced to link this film to the Avengers. So it felt very packed when I watched it and many scenes felt like they were cut short to make room for even more plot points.

The film itself looks very good, the animation works well for the vast majority. Explosions are sometimes over used and look silly but there are some wonderful shots. Despite this, they do have some very good looking sequences in the film (see pictures below) which are used effectively, if not a little too often.



Tony Stark is annoying. VERY annoying. He acts like a spoilt child with endless money, which he is. However, when he is in the iron man suit he needs too be a little more serious. It does lead so come clever witty puns between him and anyone else he is fighting but it isn't worth it. Yes, it does lead to some great comedy moments, yes, it helps develop the moments when he has nothing for a brief period but it is too much and too full on and the serious moments with Robert just doesn't make up for it. Upon saying that, RDJ did a sterling job, as he always does, and I have to applaud him with doing so well for such an oddly written script.

The other cast also did really good jobs. I especially liked Gwyneth Paltrow and Mickey Rourke in their roles. I feel Paltrow played off RDJ wonderfully and they should do more films together. Rourke did a wonderful job. Unlike many of the other supporting characters he not only sounded and acted the part, he also looked the part. Everything about his performance looked genuine. From the slight look of confusion on his face to the way he held himself and walked. Without a doubt Rourke was my favourite actor in this film.

This film had its highs and its lows. Its highs were the serious moments, especially when RDJ had his serious scenes, and Platrow and Rourke's acting. Unfortunately its lows to too often and too low to ignore. The animation was good, but often felt like they were showing off the budget they had, therefore not really putting all the hard work to good use. The script was OK with some good funny moments, and other boring parts. The music was the same. Not something important or special.

Although not a good as the first film, I did enjoy this one more than other superhero films I have seen before. I look forward to watching number three when I get the chance.

rating; 6.1/10