Ironman 2 (Favreau, 2010)

[ayaa1977]

82% after 17 reviews...but is likely to drop!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_2/

The reviews even the positive ones aren't really that high on it, like this one from Brian Lowry of Variety:

Iron Man 2 isn't as much fun as its predecessor, but by the time the smoke clears, it'll do.

Its RT score is likely to drop to 70s or even 60s in my opinion. Anyway, although I liked the original but I didn't go gaga for it, that is why I am not really in a big rush.

[ozzylogic]

I'm keeping my expectations low, I have a feeling it'll be as noisy as Transformers 2. Hell, I think I was more excited about Clash Of the Titans as I had 0 expectations!

[shariqq]

I wonder why Sam Rockwell has been kept away from all the publicity of this movie. None of the posters show him either, and we hardly see him in the trailers.

[ayaa1977]

I wonder why Sam Rockwell has been kept away from all the publicity of this movie. None of the posters show him either, and we hardly see him in the trailers.

May be they think he is not a big draw, and the sad truth is they are probably right. He is a marvelous actor who is only appreciated by cinephiles.

[shariqq]

Or perhaps they want him to be the trump card?

[ozzylogic]

So guys...how was it?

73% on RT already.

[ozzylogic]

Fun flick. Not as good as the first one, DUH, but worth a watch nonetheless. Wankers cut the crazy credits though. 4/5

[animatedude]

argh big boycott from me

[ozzylogic]

You boycott every other movie. Is that response an auto reply or something?

[fizz]

In Iron Man 2, Tony Stark’s ego swells to enormous levels. Written as some kind of Steve Jobs meets Richard Branson amalgam in a superhero costume, Robert Downey’s wiseass treatment of the character (still at tangents to what he represents in the original comics) seems self absorbed and cheeky. How could anyone find him likeable as a hero? But beyond all of this is a simple fact, this sequel fails to do what every sequel must i.e. expand on the original and take the premise into uncharted territory.

Stripped down in this second outing to its bare essentials - one liners and scant cartoonish action - the films defects (glaringly obvious even in the first) conspicuously swell and rise to the surface. The story puts Stark in mortal danger; the miniature arc reactor that keeps him alive is now poisoning his body, discharging lethal toxins that weaken him and leave limited time to find a cure. Amidst this he finds himself embroiled in a wrangle with the US government over the ownership of the Iron Man armour and what it represents (weapon or instrument of peace).  If all of this weren’t enough, he is threatened by the random appearance of Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko, who as Whiplash thumps Start and his Iron Man armour in the movies best scene, set in an over-crowded Monaco racetrack.

Once the initial dust has settled though, the film turns into a faux character study. This superhero Bucket List setup, where our hero may be dying and therefore disregards all concerns about his image and worldly perception, does not make for good entertainment. Even with all its flaws, the original film never sank to a level where it didn’t amuse us, whether it was in exploring (but also exploiting) the socio-political landscape of the war on terror or Stark’s guilt-stricken conscience, bruised by the extent of his organizations exploits. Because director Jon Favreau is no Sam Raimi, even his attempts at parodying the character (ala Spiderman 3) in self deprecation mode – with Tony Start dancing around in full armour on his birthday - feels embarrassingly unfunny. For action junkies, the cluttered night time scenes with Stark and Jim Rhodes (underwhelming Don Cheadle in armour as War Machine) lack the aerial panache of Iron Man fighting it out with Jet Fighters from the original.

The film makes one fact glaringly obvious; comic book movies are not comic books themselves, they are movies and are expected to function in ways that films do. That Iron Man 2 doesn’t is a failure that stems out of its short-sightedness to connect itself to something bigger and greater. Intended as a tie in to the upcoming, proposed (and so far non-existent) Avengers movie, it instead becomes filler for it. The movies tone implies it is a setup for the teams ultimate formation, and the blink and miss appearance of Captain America’s shield and Thor’s hammer, intended to provide drug like highs in audiences viewing pleasure, only confirms this observation. This is not a film but bait for a much bigger commercial franchise on the horizon and depending on how you see it, you will either enjoy it or feel duped by it.

Rating: 2/5

[shariqq]

In 2008, Iron Man smashed the box-office by defining the concept of a fun modern superhero movie. Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 falls into the same formulaic trap that many big sequels fall into: more being mistaken for better. It does boast of two wonderful action sequences, but Iron Man 2 undoes the strong characters that held together the action sequences of the first movie, reducing them to caricatures here, and in turn disconnecting the audience from a world that was so well defined in the first film.

Iron Man 2 brings back Robert Downey Jr. as the egoistic genius playboy Tony Stark. The arc reactor in his chest, while keeping him alive, is also poisoning him, driving him to alcoholism and more recklessness, whilst he also searches for a cure. Meanwhile, one Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) wakes up in Russia to avenge his father’s death & misery by unleashing technology and fury on a pride-blind Stark. Love interest, ex-PA and now  CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), buddy Lt. Col. James Rhodes (now Don Cheadle trying hard to fill Terrence Howards’ uniform), rival weapons industrialist Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell in a wondrous turn as a “wannabe”) and new PA Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson, uber sexy but little else) inhabit what eventually becomes a filler story for the larger Marvel movie universe.

The opening scene of Iron Man 2 brings the audience back into the familiar world of the superhero. However, the constant dismissal of believability, even in the world defined within the movie, leaves you either laughing or scratching your head. It reaches a peak with the dues ex machina appearance of Nick Fury, inspiring Stark to even discover a new element. Now this is not too far-fetched, considering the source material. The absurdity is in how Stark finds the idea for his new element. This is perhaps the biggest oversight the director makes - taking the audience for granted. Iron Man 2 seems like a rush-job, of quickly putting together the familiar characters, adding staple villains to the fold and filling in the rest with inanity. The wafer thin plot hardly explores the multitude of characters that have been carried over or been newly introduced. It is to the credit of Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell who succeed in bringing fantastic charisma to their roles, sadly something that Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johannson are unable to do. Cheadle’s first appearance as War Machine is downright silly.

Although Iron Man did not break new ground, it was a rewarding & entertaining watch. It also established Robert Downey Jr. as a star. The sequel falls back on the now-established star power of its lead actor, taking him from charming to annoying. Iron Man 2 is also populated with references and introductions for the upcoming Marvel movies. Captain America’s shield, Thor’s hammer and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Avengers initiative are blatantly advertised to invest in a future audience.

Favreau does not have an excuse. The likes of Brian Singer, Sam Raimi, Guillermo del Toro and Christopher Nolan have set examples of how a super-hero movie sequel can be equally good, if not better than the first. Conversely, Marvel Entertainment, in their ambition to capitalize on the multitude of superheroes at their disposal, has set an unhealthy precedent here. Between Iron Man and the sequel, the importance of an individual movie to stand on its own has been diminished. I had compared the first movie to a Cheese Burger: fun, fulfilling and easy. On the same scale, Iron Man 2 is probably just the bun.

My rating --> 2.5 of 5

[X.]

Shariq, put your review up on the WM main website. I am making Fizz's review viral and we do the same with yours once yours is up. Should be interesting for our readers to read both perspectives, even if there is a consensus regarding the film.

I loved both reviews. It is a real honor to have such high quality writers within the group.

[shariqq]

Done, posted.

[sandeep]

What the first movie did well, the second movie stretched to the limit. Too many robots, too much attitude by Robert Downey, and too predictable a romance with Gwenyth Paltrow. Mickey Rourke was the surprise entertainer, as well as a bollywood style story and ‘heroic’ instances, make this film entertaining enough, but not a patch on the first one.
3/5