Although “Iron Man 2” is worth seeing, it’s not as good as the original. Typically, with superhero stories, the first one delves into origins and “Iron Man” was so superior that expectations were high for the sequel. And maybe that’s the problem. The first one was so good that anything that follows would be disappointing. The sequel finds Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) dying because the mechanism that keeps his heart beating is also releasing toxins into his blood. Two villains complicate matters: Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a weapons manufacturer who wants to replicate Iron Man’s suit and is determined to get one no matter what and Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a Russian physicist, who holds a grudge against the Stark family. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), leader of SHIELD (a fictional agency in the Marvel Comics universe), returns for an extended cameo. He is joined by combat-ready Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson), who goes undercover as Stark’s new assistant.
The strength of the film is Robert Downey, Jr. He is Iron Man. However, the weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths. One of the problems is the slow pace of the first two-thirds of the movie. There are a lot of scenes of Tony being a jerk, a lot of dialogue about Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) becoming CEO and running Stark Industries, and plenty of setup for “The Avengers” movie. But when we finally get to the climax, there’s enough no-holds barred action to suit any fan. Another problem is Ivan Vanko. The previews set him up as the central villain, but for most of the movie, he is not a factor. Disappointing, too, is the lack of chemistry between Tony and Pepper, which was so evident in the first film. Box Office receipts indicate that there will probably be an “Iron Man 3,” assuming Downey, Jr. agrees. If so, I hope it’s more like the first one. 5/7/10
1 comment:
As we all know, "Iron Man2" is a sequel to the enormously popular comic book action thriller, "Iron Man", from last year. The first "Iron Man" was a well made, well acted film with great special effects, a good story and was kind of a surprise to me when I first saw it. No surprises this time! Still good special effects but very little story to speak of. IM2 needed a better screen play to be as good as the first one.
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