Picking off where the first Iron Man ended, Tony Stark has just revealed to the world his identity as Iron Man. Now he reaps the whirlwind consequences of his actions as both the military and unscrupulous competitor Justin Hammer vie to obtain the secrets of Stark’s Iron Man technology for their own gain. Too add to the flames, Stark soon discovers that the very technology that is keeping his heart alive is also poisoning him. As he tries to salvage a life that is slowly falling to pieces and his growing feelings for his long time assistant Pepper Potts(Gwyneth Paltrow), Starks has to contend to with a foreign weapons genius named Ivan Vanko who seems to bear a deep seated grudge against the ailing billionaire; a grudge that stemmed from the legacy of Tony’s father, Howard Stark.
Iron Man 2 is also very much Iron Man’s superior, although partly by default. The first movie was stuck with a pedantic origin story. However, the sequel had no shortage of possible paths to take. Which did it choose? The way you should always go; the road of characterization. Rather than tediously expand upon its universe, Iron Man 2 simply reprises its dramatis personae and sticks them into situations graver than before, upping the ante but reiterating the overall heart and spirit of its predecessor. The characters are well-etched, each snappy exchange rendered with a mature pathos that contrasts with the spurious scenarios that they feature in between of. Iron Man 2 could easily be called a comedy, but the naturalism of the comedy is seamless; you get the sense that it would be impossible to write this movie without having these vibrant characters joke and jeer.
The supporting cast is top-notch as well. Samuel L Jackson just raised Nick Fury’s bar on my Marvel meter of awesomeness. Scarlett Johanssen seems to have fit into the Black Widow role like a glove. She looks quite fetching in latex and her stunt scenes are very well choreographed. Her physicality is realistic, especially where she punches through an entire goon squad in a corridoor in front of Tony Stark’s flustered bodyguard. Comic book fans might be a bit disappointed with her American accent, but then again, Natasha Romanov IS a super-spy fluent in several different languages – it makes sense that she’s a bit more discreet in the movie. Mickey Rourke is believable as Ivan Vanko (Whiplash) and seems menacing at the best of times. Jon Favreau is delightful as Happy, Tony Stark’s happy-go-lucky bodyguard.
While the movie was great in my opinion it was not without a few issues of note. I found it interesting that Ivan Venko arrived at the race in Monaco in order to confront Iron Man yet it was a last minute change that even brought Tony out onto the track. Quite a large oversight for such a high profile movie.
Also with regards to Tony Stark’s relationship with Pepper Potts. Throughout the movie there was little to no sexual tension or overt attractions between the two. However at the very end they seemed to unnaturally pin the two together for something more serious. It seemed rushed and out of place in my opinion.
As is said with my Iron Man Review Iron Man 2 also is no perfect comic book adaptation. With that said I’ll leave the rest to imagination and you to see the movie to discover the great storyline, incredible action sequences. If you read my review on Iron Man you would notice that i thougt it had to little action, Iron Man 2 made up for all that.
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