Iron Man 2 Review


Initially, I liked it in first viewing but certain aspects of the story that didn’t sit right with me. Like Howard Stark’s puzzle to the palladium replacement (a little too convenient for the plot), Rhody’s transition into War Machine, Mickey Rourke’s acting in the opening scene (particularly Ivan Vanko’s scream after his father dies), or Sam Rockwell’s performance as Justin Hammer, but the second time didn’t bother me as much.

Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t just play Tony Stark, he is Tony Stark. Director, Jon Fevreau gives his cameo role of Stark’s bodyguard, Happy Hogan an extented role. Yes it’s a shameless plug, but it was okay and humorous when he fought one of Hammer’s goons.

Gwyneth Paltrow is given a much bigger role in the sequel, taking charge as CEO of Stark Industries since Tony is dieing from arc reactor poisoning. The charm of the relationship between Pepper Potts and Stark is still there but it’s less prominent. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff aka The Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury appearance didn’t upstage themselves in Shellhead’s movie.

Don Cheadle was okay in Terrence Howard’s role but I still missed the original actor. But aside for that, the big problem is that during the fight in the bachelor pad, at no point did Rhodes stumble in trying to operate the Mark II, it’s like “he’s in the suit and poof he’s War Machine.” which hurt his overall arc.

Now, I understand Hammer was only a side villain but at no point did Rockwell felt like an equal to Downey. Especially during his scenes with Rourke, he comes across as the company suck up then the head of another weapons manufacturing corporation that rivaled Stark’s, he’s more like an up in-upcoming rookie who gets outsmarted (very easily I might add) by the main bad guy.

We get prototypes of the Iron Soldiers that were foreshadowed in the previous, but their sequence was longer compared to the triple threat match with Crimson Dynamo/Whiplash was short-lived (very anti-climatic).

The Ten Rings were out of the picture completely, but Hammer’s line when he’s being arrested towards the end suggests he’s one of them since The Mandarin has his jeweled fingers involved in the countries that double deal under the table with devices of mass destruction.

The after credit scene with Agent Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents’ discovery of Mjolnir in the crater in has me really pumped for Thor next year, even more so then Green Lantern.

Rating: 7 1/2