[It doesn't take much for me to enjoy a superhero movie. Have them fly around blowing stuff up and I'm happy. Even better, dress a cool chick in a skin-tight outfit, have her kick some serious bad guy butt and I'm yours. A. on the other hand actually grew up reading comic books, so his review of Iron Man 2 is a lot more critical than mine. Still, here's my take...]I finally watched the first movie last weekend and it was so good that I couldn't wait to catch Iron Man 2 the following day.
You know how some characters that moonlight as superheroes go through great lengths to keep their alter-ego a secret? Yeah, not billionaire playboy Tony Stark. He is loving the spotlight, feeding his ego with over-the-top expos and stunts to show off his power. When the U.S. government wishes to confiscate his suit for military use, he goes on to say that instead of criminalizing him, they should be thanking him for the longest stretch of peace the world has seen; that there is no one in the world with the ability to do what he does...until someone drops in and attempts to push him off his pedestal.
Robert Downey Jr. as the semi-pompous/impulsive Stark is entertaining to watch; you don't always know what move he'll pull next. There are moments when he starts getting slightly annoying - actually, the whole drunken battle against his buddy Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle) seems a bit pointless - but you can tell that deep inside he just wants to do what's right. After years of promoting and developing weapons of destruction for Stark Industries, he wants to undo the damage his inventions caused.
I did feel that the first film could have used a stronger female counterpart as Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, organized and motivated as she was, needed more oomph. Enter Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), an undercover superhero sent in to work for Stark Industries by the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcements and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.). She proves to be quite the asset later on and looks damn good doing so. Her fight sequence (too orchestrated perhaps) made me want to yell out, "You go, girl!" It also made me want to run out of the theater and karate chop some strangers, but that's neither here nor there.
In the end, I enjoyed the movie even though the final battle was a bit too quick and easy for some. Yes, there are several acts of genius that seem completely impossible regardless of how smart these characters are supposed to be, but it's a superhero movie. Some suspension of reality is necessary in order to buy into any of it and I just take it for what it is.
Also, I think I've developed a slight crush on RDJ and Scarlett Johansson.
Iron Man 2: 3.5/5 Toasties
Image: realmovienews.com
I would beg to differ only in that Gwyneth Paltrow could be any movie without any role at all and make it a better movie :) I could watch her just breathing for hours and hours and hours...
ReplyDelete:)
I could and would also enjoy watching you do some karate chop moves while exiting a theater or just walking down a street.
I got to see Ironman 1 first... (and I know there is no, "1" there...)
Thanks for the review. I haven't seen the first one yet.
ReplyDelete"It also made me want to run out of the theater and karate chop some strangers..."
ReplyDeleteLOL. I have to admit, that's kind of how it made me feel too.
It was great to see both view points. Hubby is a comic fanatic too, so Im wondering if his view will be like A's or if he'll suspend disbelief enough to treat it as it is, just a story. Then again the only tearing apart he usually does is in regards to the story-line.
ReplyDeleteI honestly am not much of an action flick girl, but you know what I liked A LOT? Kill Bills! Those were great! Talk about a kick butt girly!
ReplyDeleteYup! I loved each one myself! It definitely made me want to kick some butt, too.
ReplyDeleteScarJo's action sequence wasn't too orchestrated. It was too animated. What was an awesome stunt scene became underwhelming because of how obvious the computerized graphics were.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't nearly as impressed with this movie as I was with the first one. I agree with what you said about needing more from the ladies, but Iron Man 2 needed more from the villain. He's in two fight scenes? One of which he spends most of the time in front of a computer before he shows up to get immediately beaten in person. Weak.