Lyzsi SinclairCinema release review -
Taking my seat in my local Cineworld cinema, I wasn't quite sure of what to expect from "Iron Man 2". Having seen the trailer only a few times before; and dreading the entire movie being backed by AC/DC songs (as much as I love to rock out to them), I had no idea at all really of the plot about to unfold. So here's a brief breakdown of it...
“Iron Man 2” takes place 6 months after the events at the end of the first movie, with billionaire playboy Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr. - “A Scanner Darkly”, “Sherlock Holmes”) revelation that he in fact, was the incredible suited superhero. Finding himself now under immense pressure from both the United States Senate, and weapon's rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell - “Charlie's Angels”) to relinquish his technology for the good of the nation; he refuses, safe in the belief that he is 5-10 years ahead of his competition and therefore has no need to worry. Humiliating Hammer with the aid of his best friend and confidant Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle taking over the role played by Terrance Howard in the first “Iron Man”), it's soon clear he's starting to attract enemies.
Becoming aware that the Palladium core in the arc reactor in his chest is fast poisoning him, and starting to face the possibility that he will die soon without a replacement material for the core; Tony finds himself making rash impulsive choices that are hurting him professionally and personally. Handing over control of his entire company to his assistant and long suffering employee Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow – “Sliding Doors”) and hiring a new assistant to replace her, in the form of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson - “Lost In Translation”) who is hiding a big secret of her own; he begins to act more and more selfishly. Taking over a car in a major race, he's swiftly brought back down to Earth with a bump, when a fearsome foe in the form of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke - “The Wrestler”), arrives to kill Tony Stark in revenge for what Stark's father had done to his own.
Facing the truth that he's not invincible, fighting off new villains (and sometimes even his friends along the way), and meeting the mysterious Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson - “Pulp Fiction”) who seems to know more than he's letting on; can Tony Stark save himself and can Iron Man save the day once more..?
Overall this film is fairly good – obviously not better than the original (that's a rare occurrence in cinema-land) but still pretty watchable. Robert Downey Jr. again delivers a strong performance, this time as a man facing his own mortality and putting an arrogant face on it all. Out of the whole film, his is the best performance – and I'm not sure what that says for the rest of the cast if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong they are all competent performances...but each comes with their own little problems. Scenes that Gwyneth Paltrow was in, she came across as a little dead-behind-the-eyes, even when faced with possibly being blown up at the end...there was just nothing there. Scarlett Johansson was not bad for the scenes she was in, and it was fun to watch in her ass-kicking scene (not sure if that's down to her stunt double, or the fact she looked pretty damn good in that cat-suit); but one scene where she was talking to Stark getting ready for his birthday party, some of her dialogue came out as just a noise to me.
Mickey Rourke was also not too bad, although there's not much more you can say about a villain who had few lines of dialogue, Russian speaking lines and a tendency to go mute on certain characters. It's important to the geek in me that never once in the film is his character particularly mentioned as “Whiplash”, since for those who don't know and don't read the comic books, he is actually an amalgamation of two Iron Man villains – Backlash (or also called Whiplash) and the Crimson Dynamo. He did have a menacing quality about him that made him a perfect fit to be Iron Man's main foe. Sam Rockwell to me will always be slightly creepy and irritating (my personal opinion), and that fit well for his portrayal of Justin Hammer – the weapon's dealer who's more about how things look and sell, than how things actually work. There was a scene with him in an aircraft bunker where his hands were stained with fake tan, (perhaps to implement the fact that he's more about appearances than anything else) which I hope was a conscious decision on the director's part.
Don Cheadle was a fairly well chosen actor in replacement of Terrance Howard, and for the little you see him not in the War Machine suit he does quite well. There seemed to be a nice chemistry between Downey Jr. and Cheadle which fits for the characters and their best friend relationship – although in the senate scene near the start, it doesn't kick in until Downey Jr.'s character gets into his element. Samuel L. Jackson also seems to be laying the groundwork nicely for the Nick Fury character - which is going to become ever more important as more Marvel movies come out.
The special effects and visual graphics in this film were fantastic. As technology gets more advanced, it makes the visual effects team's job easier – and even though the first film was only 2 years ago, the redesigning of the Iron Man suit was definitely nice to look at (although most of it is subtle changes). Scenes where Tony Stark was in his working headquarters were great because of the visual effects of the animated projections in the air that actually felt like they were there, and not just added after filming. The fight and flight scenes were impressive also, and overall everything was outstanding and flawlessly integrated, so nothing felt awkward or out of place.
The music was also a pleasant surprise. As I mentioned before I went in thinking that AC/DC would be all the music I'd hear, but only a couple of tracks of theirs were actually used in the movie. The rest was either scored music or things like The Clash's “Should I stay or should I go” - and considering music is one of the things I moan about most frequently in my reviews, it's nice to be able to say I had no problem with it at all. Set design was good to look at with swift clean lines and stunning glass walls that seem to be the ultimate symbol of wealth in films lately. It's a case of framing a character's house not as a house – but as a giant trophy cabinet, and rightly so if you are portraying a successful character who has it all in my opinion!
The final point which is my most important point, address's the Marvel universe and it's transition into film. If you are a dedicated comic book geek you must be prepared to give a little lee-way to the story. As a film the story's good – not great – but good. There are little issues, things like Johansson's character having a slight name change and nationality change (in the comic books she is called Natasha Romanova, and is of Russian descent); Justin Hammer now being a younger American rather than an older British man; and as I mentioned previously Ivan Vanko being a mixture of two villains and having a new name. I'd say it's a bit like if you read the Harry Potter books first, and then see the films after, only for things to be missing, or change too much for your liking. If you take it too seriously you may not enjoy the film as much – but I'm going to plead that you give it a shot. Not better than the first film, but I'm thinking it's all part of the big Marvel plan heading our way with “The Avengers” movie in 2012. Samuel L. Jackson is signed on for 9 more Marvel movies including this cameo in “Iron Man 2”, and his own character's film “Nick Fury”. If you thought this year was all about the superhero – you wait until next year and 2012 when it all really starts to kick off.
Overall a film that had me leaving the cinema wanting to be a superhero myself (sign of a good film in my book), with a decent story and enjoyable to watch. Definitely falls into the “Not as good as the first film” category for sequels – but not in a way that makes it horrible to watch. Great visual effects and little things that lay more groundwork for the next Marvel films, “Iron Man 2” gets an 8/10 for me. Flix Out.
“Iron Man 2” takes place 6 months after the events at the end of the first movie, with billionaire playboy Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr. - “A Scanner Darkly”, “Sherlock Holmes”) revelation that he in fact, was the incredible suited superhero. Finding himself now under immense pressure from both the United States Senate, and weapon's rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell - “Charlie's Angels”) to relinquish his technology for the good of the nation; he refuses, safe in the belief that he is 5-10 years ahead of his competition and therefore has no need to worry. Humiliating Hammer with the aid of his best friend and confidant Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle taking over the role played by Terrance Howard in the first “Iron Man”), it's soon clear he's starting to attract enemies.
Becoming aware that the Palladium core in the arc reactor in his chest is fast poisoning him, and starting to face the possibility that he will die soon without a replacement material for the core; Tony finds himself making rash impulsive choices that are hurting him professionally and personally. Handing over control of his entire company to his assistant and long suffering employee Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow – “Sliding Doors”) and hiring a new assistant to replace her, in the form of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson - “Lost In Translation”) who is hiding a big secret of her own; he begins to act more and more selfishly. Taking over a car in a major race, he's swiftly brought back down to Earth with a bump, when a fearsome foe in the form of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke - “The Wrestler”), arrives to kill Tony Stark in revenge for what Stark's father had done to his own.
Facing the truth that he's not invincible, fighting off new villains (and sometimes even his friends along the way), and meeting the mysterious Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson - “Pulp Fiction”) who seems to know more than he's letting on; can Tony Stark save himself and can Iron Man save the day once more..?
Overall this film is fairly good – obviously not better than the original (that's a rare occurrence in cinema-land) but still pretty watchable. Robert Downey Jr. again delivers a strong performance, this time as a man facing his own mortality and putting an arrogant face on it all. Out of the whole film, his is the best performance – and I'm not sure what that says for the rest of the cast if I'm honest. Don't get me wrong they are all competent performances...but each comes with their own little problems. Scenes that Gwyneth Paltrow was in, she came across as a little dead-behind-the-eyes, even when faced with possibly being blown up at the end...there was just nothing there. Scarlett Johansson was not bad for the scenes she was in, and it was fun to watch in her ass-kicking scene (not sure if that's down to her stunt double, or the fact she looked pretty damn good in that cat-suit); but one scene where she was talking to Stark getting ready for his birthday party, some of her dialogue came out as just a noise to me.
Mickey Rourke was also not too bad, although there's not much more you can say about a villain who had few lines of dialogue, Russian speaking lines and a tendency to go mute on certain characters. It's important to the geek in me that never once in the film is his character particularly mentioned as “Whiplash”, since for those who don't know and don't read the comic books, he is actually an amalgamation of two Iron Man villains – Backlash (or also called Whiplash) and the Crimson Dynamo. He did have a menacing quality about him that made him a perfect fit to be Iron Man's main foe. Sam Rockwell to me will always be slightly creepy and irritating (my personal opinion), and that fit well for his portrayal of Justin Hammer – the weapon's dealer who's more about how things look and sell, than how things actually work. There was a scene with him in an aircraft bunker where his hands were stained with fake tan, (perhaps to implement the fact that he's more about appearances than anything else) which I hope was a conscious decision on the director's part.
Don Cheadle was a fairly well chosen actor in replacement of Terrance Howard, and for the little you see him not in the War Machine suit he does quite well. There seemed to be a nice chemistry between Downey Jr. and Cheadle which fits for the characters and their best friend relationship – although in the senate scene near the start, it doesn't kick in until Downey Jr.'s character gets into his element. Samuel L. Jackson also seems to be laying the groundwork nicely for the Nick Fury character - which is going to become ever more important as more Marvel movies come out.
The special effects and visual graphics in this film were fantastic. As technology gets more advanced, it makes the visual effects team's job easier – and even though the first film was only 2 years ago, the redesigning of the Iron Man suit was definitely nice to look at (although most of it is subtle changes). Scenes where Tony Stark was in his working headquarters were great because of the visual effects of the animated projections in the air that actually felt like they were there, and not just added after filming. The fight and flight scenes were impressive also, and overall everything was outstanding and flawlessly integrated, so nothing felt awkward or out of place.
The music was also a pleasant surprise. As I mentioned before I went in thinking that AC/DC would be all the music I'd hear, but only a couple of tracks of theirs were actually used in the movie. The rest was either scored music or things like The Clash's “Should I stay or should I go” - and considering music is one of the things I moan about most frequently in my reviews, it's nice to be able to say I had no problem with it at all. Set design was good to look at with swift clean lines and stunning glass walls that seem to be the ultimate symbol of wealth in films lately. It's a case of framing a character's house not as a house – but as a giant trophy cabinet, and rightly so if you are portraying a successful character who has it all in my opinion!
The final point which is my most important point, address's the Marvel universe and it's transition into film. If you are a dedicated comic book geek you must be prepared to give a little lee-way to the story. As a film the story's good – not great – but good. There are little issues, things like Johansson's character having a slight name change and nationality change (in the comic books she is called Natasha Romanova, and is of Russian descent); Justin Hammer now being a younger American rather than an older British man; and as I mentioned previously Ivan Vanko being a mixture of two villains and having a new name. I'd say it's a bit like if you read the Harry Potter books first, and then see the films after, only for things to be missing, or change too much for your liking. If you take it too seriously you may not enjoy the film as much – but I'm going to plead that you give it a shot. Not better than the first film, but I'm thinking it's all part of the big Marvel plan heading our way with “The Avengers” movie in 2012. Samuel L. Jackson is signed on for 9 more Marvel movies including this cameo in “Iron Man 2”, and his own character's film “Nick Fury”. If you thought this year was all about the superhero – you wait until next year and 2012 when it all really starts to kick off.
Overall a film that had me leaving the cinema wanting to be a superhero myself (sign of a good film in my book), with a decent story and enjoyable to watch. Definitely falls into the “Not as good as the first film” category for sequels – but not in a way that makes it horrible to watch. Great visual effects and little things that lay more groundwork for the next Marvel films, “Iron Man 2” gets an 8/10 for me. Flix Out.
