Well one of my most anticipated movies of the year has hit. After creating one of the best comic book movies of all time with the first Iron Man film, Marvel was faced with the daunting task of seeing if lightning could strike twice with this sequel and gathered an all star cast to rival that of the first film. I was there at midnight for this with my nerd flag flying high and much like the first film I had multiple nerdgasms over the course of this one, but something seemed a little off.
I'm not saying Iron Man 2 is bad, in fact far from it. I'm already dreading the fanboy backlash though seeing how nowadays if a superhero isn't amazing than it automatically "sucks". But in this case we still have a very well done film and I'm sure that when you compare it to other inferior superhero sequels like Transformers 2, Spider-Man 3, and X-Men: The Last Stand you will see that it is far beyond those movies, but sadly this film just couldn't recapture the charm of the first one.
I'm not sure what it was about the first film, maybe it was due to most of the film being improvised that gave it a frenzied, fun feel, or maybe the real world but comedic take on an already established character. Whatever your reasons, the first Iron Man was a surprise to fans and general audiences alike, and while this sequel comes close in parts, it sadly loses the charm that made the first one great.
The first flaw with Iron Man 2 is that it just seems like it runs way to long. I think it ran over two hours but it seemed longer, especially during the second act. Many scenes go on for far too long and we can tell that the writers got far too involved with the witty banter than actually advancing the story and many other scenes could have been cut entirely without hurting the film at all. The beginning and ending are both fairly solid but in the middle when all of the multiple subplots are in full swing is when we start to lose interest, thankfully the powerhouse performances keep us watching.
This sequel also suffers from another common problem: subplotitis, when the filmmakers decide to throw everything they can in the damn movie. I will hand it to Iron Man 2 because it managed to juggle the multiple storylines much better than other super-sequels (*ahem* Spider-Man 3) but once again, some trimming could have easily uncluttered the story. In one movie we have Tony Stark learning that he's dying of blood poisoning from the very thing keeping him alive, Nick Fury trying to recruit Stark for the Avengers, the government trying to get Stark to turn over the Iron Man suit, Whiplash wanting revenge on Stark, competitor to Stark Justin Hammer trying to make his own Iron Man suit, Rhodes becoming War Machine, and a love triangle between Stark, Pepper Potts, and The Black Widow. Whew.
While most of these subplots are weaved together well enough, the one about Stark dying really could have been cut out entirely seeing its a subject that really needs a whole movie to explore (not to mention that it is very abruptly resolved) and the Stark vs. The Government is a far more fascinating plot angle. Nick Fury's scenes are all fun but really just serve as a build up to an Avengers movie by setting up and hinting at possible plot elements and characters ( I was digging the Easter Eggs though, the nerd in me out did the film critic).
Much like the first movie, the acting in this is superb. Robert Downey Jr. once again shows the charm and sense of humor that made him a superstar with the first one, and manages to not get drowned out by the many characters running around this movie. Mickey Rourke gives possibly the second best performance in this with what really was a two dimensional villain role. Rourke takes badass to a new level with Whiplash and gets the film's best scene when he tries to kill Stark on a race track, and he also nails the Russian accent too (a friend of mine actually remarked that he forgot Rourke was really American). My future wife Scarlett Johanssen is possibly the most badass woman alive after being in this movie and she also gets one of the best action sequences in it as well, badass enough for me to forgive her not having a Russian accent. Sam Rockwell was a scene stealer as always and Don Cheadle brought more cred to the role of War Machine that Terence Howard ever could.
So yeah, it doesn't quite reach the levels that the first film did, but Iron Man 2 is by no means a bad movie. Its really just an entertaining popcorn flick at heart, but with a little editing could have been much more. I still enjoyed the quips, the action, and the geek moments (the after credit scene made me have to change pants) but it just seems like a continuation of the first film instead of something fresh and new. While it doesn't reach Dark Knight levels of awesome, it hits far above Spider-Man 3 and other inferior sequels.
