One of the last decade's larger contributions to the cinema was the Superhero genre, popularized by Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002. Since then, we have seen an abundance of hits or misses within the genre. In 2008, moviegoers were treated with arguably two of the best superhero films, Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Expectations for the superhero genre have been increased ten-fold since the release of these two films, especially after the third Spider-Man sequel left a sour taste in the viewers mouth the year before. This year, Marvel released the anticipated follow-up to the popular Iron Man film. Although the sequel doesn't quite live up to the prestige of the first film, Iron Man 2 does find a place among some of the better superhero films.
Iron Man 2 takes our beloved, eccentric Tony Stark into the world shortly after his public revealing as the armored hero. Everybody wants a piece of him: The public, the government, his rival, and even an imprisoned physicist who wants to seek revenge for his father. Stark has been taking all of this in a true rock-star fashion that only he can, until he realizes that his Iron Man technology is harming him. He begins to live his life carelessly which begins to put a strain on all of his relationships. Iron Man 2 does what few superhero sequels does, which is add further development to its characters and deliver on the action that viewers demand. It doesn’t go over the top with tons of action and no character development.
The first film did so well because it was a more subdued superhero film. It perfectly executed the origin story and not going over the top or losing site of the development of the hero. The second film takes that development one step further by giving us a story about how Tony Stark deals with his power. In Iron Man, Tony is a highly intelligent inventor who doesn't care how is inventions are being used. He is kidnapped by terrorists and forced to design a weapon, and in the process he is mortally wounded. He manages to take his weapon and turn it into a weapon/life-supporting device that he uses to escape and vows to use is invention to protect the world. In the sequel, he says he has "successfully privatized world peace." Unfortunately, the technology he is using to keep him alive is killing him at the same time.
This is just an example of one of the internal dilemmas that all of the characters are dealing with in the movie. It’s in the middle of the movie where all of the character development comes into play where you can feel the movie drag on a bit. Unfortunately, this is needed to advance the story and probably could have been executed better to keep up the pace of the movie. Despite this drag, Jon Favreau does an excellent job giving most of his characters enough depth, to be interesting. In addition to Stark's life-threatening issue, he has to deal with some of his daddy issues. Pepper, Stark's girlfriend, has to deal with running Stark's enterprise and Stark's new reckless-turned lifestyle. Rhodes, Stark's best friend, has to deal with whether his loyalties should lie with Stark or with the USAF.
Even Stark’s rival is dealing with the fact that he just can’t compete on the same level as Stark. Sam Rockwell does well with his role as Justin Hammer. You can just sense the desperation that Rockwell injects into the Hammer character. The best scenes with Hammer were when he is interacting the main villain of the film.
Unfortunately, the only place that Favreau falls short in the character department is with the main villain, Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash). He is so bent on seeking revenge for sins committed against his father my the Stark family, that he seems too one-dimensional. Of all the characters, I would have liked to see a little more depth to the main villain. Mickey Rourke is such an excellent actor that he was unarguably underused in the role. I don’t know much about Iron Man comic and how much of a threat Whiplash truly was, but I just feel that there could have been more done with the character.
The highlight of the sequel is still Robert Downey Jr’s delivery of Tony Stark. The Stark we love is just as arrogant and self-centered as ever. Very few actors can pull of the swagger and confidence injected into the character that makes him so charming and endearing, and RDJ is among those elite. He seems to be able to deliver enough charisma and humor into his role without detracting from the scope of the film. It never feels forced or out of place.
I would be lying if I said I was thrilled with the climactic battle. It could have been so awesome to watch Iron Man and War Machine battle a squadron of androids, but Favreau seemed to copout by utilizing Iron Man’s laser beam to end the battle within seconds. The prior fly-around the expo sequence was exhilarating and was exciting to watch, but the end result was just so disappointing. Even following battle with Whiplash left something to be desired. Whiplash arrived in a suit that appeared indestructible, but Iron Man and War Machine were able to end the battle in no time at all.
I guess part of the reason that the end battle was so anticlimactic was because of the poor soundtrack. Honestly, I can’t even remember how any of the tracks go. The only music I can even remember is the iconic ‘Iron Man’ tune by Black Sabbath that was used in the first one, and I can’t even remember if it was utilized in this film. Superhero movies are supposed to have iconic scores that captivate the audience and enhance the movie going experience. When you have a soundtrack that fails to support the movie, the movie is unable to live up to its true potential. A soundtrack can make or break a movie, and I just wish that the Iron Man movies had a great one because it would make them a million times better than they already are.
On a side note, I love how Marvel is tying all of their movies together for the Avengers movie that will be hitting silver screens across the world in only a couple of years. One of my most favorite things that a movie can do is make references to other movies that take place in the same universe. Marvel has been doing this by making reference to other superheroes in its recent films. Iron Man made a brief cameo in The Incredible Hulk a couple of years ago and Captain America’s shield made a brief appearance in Iron Man 2. The one commonality that is tying all of these films together, of course, is the presence of SHIELD, which is the organization that puts together the Avengers. If you see the film, make sure you stay until the end of the credits because there is a scene that introduces Marvel’s next superhero film.
Overall, there isn’t much wrong with the Iron Man 2 as the positives far outweigh the negatives. Despite the weak soundtrack and the slow middle, the movie is exciting enough to keep your attention and leave you wanting more. The film offers a little bit of everything for everyone and is definitely worth every penny. I would check it out if you haven’t already.
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