Iron Man 2 (Paramount Pictures)
Tin Man
Iron Man 2 had an uphill battle in reclaiming all of the audience that loved the original film. Those audiences had already been subjected to the quirky charm of Robert Downey, Jr.; they had already seen the metallic suit and watched the hero fly; and they had the full background story explained. It was obvious the sequel had to come up with something different and hopefully even better than the first one.
This led to adding a new villain Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a new James Rhodes (Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard), and a possible new love interest Natalie Rushman (Scarlet Johansson). Mickey Rourke however ends up playing another crazy Mickey Rourke character while Cheadle is just window dressing on the whole thing. Then there is Sam Rockwell who plays another villain, Justin Hammer, and he just annoys the audience.
What does work in the film is Downeys smart mouthed attitude, Gwyneth Paltrows perked up Pepper Potts, Johanssons physical ability to take on a full team security force and best them all, and the guy who steals the show. This is Jon Favreau who plays Starks driver. He also directed the movie but thats another story. As Happy Hogan the driver, Favreau is both comical and heroic.
The movie is full of peaks and valleys. There is a great scene at the Monaco Race that introduces Ivans powers as well as a climactic battle at the Stark Expo. But between these two bookending events there is a lot of talk and blather that accomplishes nothing.
The first film had some heart to it in addition to the action, but this time out the heart is missing and so the Iron Man comes off like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. You need to be rooting and cheering for Tony Stark/Iron Man but you arent. You want him to win but you have no personal interest in the outcome.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Downey, Jr. is still the one ingredient that makes the film interesting. Even if he doesnt draw the audience in on a personal level he still charms them with the superficial. Being such a natural actor he brings out the best in Paltrow. Although her character is poorly written, Paltrow manages to bring her to life.
Johansson manages to make Natalie sexy and mysterious. When her true colors are finally revealed she turns into a fighting machine extraordinaire. Not as lucky is Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes, Tony Starks best friend. Cheadle never warms up to his role and seems just embarrassed to be flying around in a metal suit.
The special effects and the acting by Downey and Paltrow make this a movie worth seeing. Still the long stretches of nothingness that occur make this kick off for the summer movie season less entertaining than expected.
I scored Iron Man 2 a metallic 6 out of 10.
