Steel Yourself!

Iron Man Review(s) part II

alright, now that we got the comic book portion out of the way, on to the movie!

IRON MAN 2 (or: when superheroes take a coffee-and-donut break from saving the world)
Let me say this right here and right now: this review is mostly about the technicality, not the substance itself. The movie was decent, it continues the series faithfully, I wholeheartedly recommend you go see it, anon and soforth. Everything I have to say today is focused essentially on nitpicking.


I've had a lot of thoughts about this film over the course of the past week. While watching the film, I had a few reservations because I'd heard the Early Critic Reviews spoke of a poor film.

As a fanboy, let me tell you that those were dissuaded, for me, in the first gorramn minute or so.

Now, that being said, I do have some arguments with the film.
The movie, as a whole, is enjoyable. I think that this is a fine continuation of the series, it continues the overzealous, arrogant, playful impression of Tony Stark that RDJ has solidified into my memory as THE Tony Stark. the man who hides behind humor because he wants to be a steely as the armor he dons. Of course, good drama happens when that mask breaks, and we see Tony in way over his head this time around and that's a great thing. I think that the writers and the director have set a very clear approach and stuck to it.

I had a few nitpick problems with the film. For one thing, I was a little disappointed that so much of the movie was an Avengers set-up. Now some people argue that's what made the movie better. Personally, I enjoyed it greatly BUT felt that it was still heavy-handed and we could have been set with, say, five to ten minutes less of it. The sheer volume of it brought Samuel L. Jackson to ludicrous standings with me this time around. Sure, I believe that Nick Fury is a sarcastic bastard and humor suits him. But the writing for this film, matched with Sam's ability to Bring It, meant that Nick Fury was cheesy to a new degree. I say this disappointed me because there was a temperance to him in his little cameo last time that suggested the badass but didn't overshadow it with a slightly campy approach. Having the Captain America Shield, Thor's Hammer after the ending credits, totally cool; they were there briefly and we moved on.

Also, there was NOT enough Mickey Rourke in this film. I had hoped for so much more screen time. I blame Heath Ledger's similarly short screen time in Dark Knight for setting the bar high now in films like this to bring their best in bursts.

The storyline itself only dragged when the Avengers stuff happened and the War Machine/American Military part happened. While I understand the need to dumb it down and explain, we could have fit most of that stuff into the "I'll take it. all of them" scene and the brief scene where Rhody sees it's being taken out of his hands. that's it. Even a non-comic-book fan should be able to pick up on that stuff without it.

Sam Rockwell plays down-on-luck, sleazy guys really well. I look forward to more Justin Hammer in IM3. That being said, he conveyed it so well that I reiterate, it could have been done in a shorter amount of film reel and still had the same potency.

Scarlett Johansson was a pleasant addition to the cast in that I wasn't sure how Black Widow was going to be in this interpretation. I was pleasantly misguided in my worry, and look forward to her in the Avengers film continuing this role.

Needs more Jarvis/garage fun time. the Papa Stark stuff was nice, and "inventing" a new element was something that screamed Comic Book Approach so effectively that I am thrilled to see it happen, and in a cool way, on screen.

I suppose that my biggest argument with the film is that there was no imminent sense of urgency to it. For awhile we had the techno-virus in his bloodstream, but then that got turned around with a one-shot cure. YAAY. oh wait. there's still forty five miuntes? ho hum. what to do?

the action? great. the humor? beyond iron-clad. i just needed a bit more drama.

all in all, i give it Three Out Of Four Stars.