“Iron Man 2” has a lot of hype to live up to. 2008’s “Iron Man” was a smash hit that both played into everything a superhero movie should be while giving something new that audiences had not seen from the genre before. Now, “Iron Man 2” follows the continuing adventures of millionaire superhero Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and director Jon Favreau’s quest to top the first film.
With its bombastic imagery and driving soundtrack (AC/DC is the score for practically all of the film), “Iron Man 2” sets out to quickly up the ante and raise the stakes. The film is jam-packed with storylines, from the Stark Expo and Stark’s quest to upgrade his power source to archenemies Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) plotting Iron Man’s downfall. Throw in repeated setups for the upcoming Avengers movie as well as several other Marvel films and you have a movie that is as much of a juggling act as it is an adventure.
But “Iron Man 2” is a fairly skilled juggler. The main focus above all is Stark himself and his struggle to balance publicly being Iron Man while trying to have a normal life at the same time. Downey, Jr. is great once again as Stark and, despite being surrounded by a talented cast, never has the spotlight stolen away from him. He’s just as great as he was in the last film and although his character comes off as a little more rude and abrasive this time around, you never stop rooting for Stark to straighten his life out and take it to the bad guys.
Rourke and Rockwell are good as the villains, but are given surprisingly little screen time with so many plot lines going on at once. As such, they never become fully realized characters and it takes away from the suspense and anticipation that should have filled their storyline. They make an interesting duo, with Rourke’s ultra serious Russian bruiser juxtaposed with the aloof and comical Rockwell who becomes his benefactor. It’s quite unlike any villain pairing in recent memory and both the characters and actors are so different from each other that it makes for an exciting pairing whenever they are on screen.
As for the other side characters, most of them don’t get much screen time either. Stark’s friend James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, replacing Terence Howard) has his own story arc as well that sees him turn away from Stark and go on to become the much-anticipated War Machine. But he doesn’t have enough time to develop and reasonably come to the decisions he makes. Cheadle does a great job, and War Machine is very cool for the limited amount of time he gets, but his role is begging for more time to shine.
The same goes for Scarlett Johanson as Black Widow, an undercover government agent and superhero in her own right. She acts more as eye candy than anything, although she provides the only action scene that is not almost completely CGI-based.
For all the villains and storylines going on, “Iron Man 2” is a high-energy film with not all that much action. The main battles take place near the beginning and at the end, and while the final battle goes absolutely wild, there are not many any other fight scenes. There’s nothing wrong with that and the movie moves at a brisk pace, but those expecting “Iron Man 2” to be one long action scene will be severely disappointed.
Most of the action sequences, however, still seem a little too short and could do with more time to ramp up and give the viewers what they really want. A good movie fight starts out simple but exciting and then builds and builds until it leaves the audience stunned at each turn of events. “Iron Man 2’s” fights tend to start big and get smaller, ending somewhat abruptly. The film still does a good job with its action, and the fight with Vanko on the racetrack in particular being raw and hard hitting enough to leave a lasting impression. Not to mention the suitcase armor is one of the coolest pieces of movie technology ever.
Where “Iron Man 2” succeeds the most is in fan service. Those wanting to see cool new characters, eye-popping special effects and new suits of armor will get their money’s worth. With Marvel using the film as a major stepping stone to its upcoming films “Thor,” “Captain America” and “The Avengers,” devoted fans will get a kick out of seeing the wider Marvel universe being developed throughout the story.
For all its ambition and scope, “Iron Man 2” is best when it comes down to Stark and his struggles, and the film provides plenty of that. The film is a fun ride that never slows down and has more ideas in its two hours than most franchises do in their entire run. It doesn’t always work to its benefit, but when it does, “Iron Man 2” delivers exactly what the audience wants and paves the way for even more adventures of the ironclad avenger and his superhero brethren.
