Iron Man 2

In creating Iron Man 2, it would seem that returning director Jon Favreau had one goal in mind - to capture everything that worked so well the first time around. In a lot of ways, he's succeeded. Robert Downey Jr. once again brings his cocky self-aware sense of humor that won people over back in 2008. He's great again here. His Tony Stark sees no need for a secret identity (he revealed that he was Iron Man at the end of the first film, and as this one begins, openly revels in the fame his superhero alter ego has brought him), and no need to hide his vices for women and alcohol - something which causes aggravation to his long-time assistant/love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

The witty banter and repartee between Stark and Potts was one of the pleasures of the original film, and while it's still present here, it kind of gets drowned out by everything else going on. Like a lot of recent superhero sequels (Spider-Man 3, and some of the later X-Men films come to mind), there's just too much plot, too many characters, and too much of everything vying for our attention. There are new faces added to the cast (none of whom are quite as developed or as memorable as Stark and Potts), new revelations about Tony's past with his deceased father, a health crisis for Tony to deal with, a rival weapons manufacturer trying to steal his Iron Man technology, smarmy senators who want Tony to hand the technology over to the U.S. government, and even a character named Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who pretty much exists solely to plug future upcoming Marvel films! It's never overbearing, nor does it lessen the charms of the returning characters. But it definitely makes this installment weaker than the last time around. It would seem that in his desire to repeat his previous success, Favreau forgot a very basic rule when it comes to sequels - sometimes less is more.

That's not to take away the things that Iron Man 2 does right. As summer popcorn entertainment, it goes down easy. It's just not very memorable. When the first movie ended, I remember walking out thinking to myself that I couldn't wait to see more. Walking out of this one, I thought it was fun, but not much to shout about. In fact, the movie began to fade from my mind about an hour later. The script by Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder) seems to be a constant juggling act of its many characters, major plotlines, subplots, and action sequences. It tries to stay focused on everything going on within it, but at the same time, it ends up lessening the impact some characters or themes might have had if it had just did not try to cram so much in. A fine example is one of the main villains introduced here, a mad Russian scientist named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who has a grudge with Tony Stark's company. He sees the Iron Man get national media attention, and in rage, he decides to build his own technology, turning himself into a supervillain called Whiplash. You would expect Ivan/Whiplash to be a major character (especially since the trailers have played him up as a serious threat to Tony). But in the movie itself, he almost comes across as an ill-defined minor character.

This is not the fault of the performance Rourke. He's fine enough in the way he gives his steely stare, and gives creepy smiles with his metallic teeth. But the character itself is completely forgettable. After an impressive debut scene, where he confronts Stark on a race track, the character is forced into the background for a majority of the movie, obsessed with getting his hands on better technology and with his pet bird. We learn little about his back story, other than why he has a grudge against Stark, so he never comes across as a genuine threat. Working out slightly better is the other main villain in the sequel, Justin Hammer, a rival arms manufacturer who wants Stark's technology. He's played by Sam Rockwell, with a comic but slimy and smarmy attitude that makes you want to see him fall almost from the moment you see him. He's not as intimidating as Rourke's character, but he gets more screen time, and seems to have more than one dimension to his character.

All this, and I haven't mentioned Stark's new assistant, Natalie (Scarlett Johansson), who is secretly a butt-kicking, spandex-clad agent for a top secret organization. She exists for eye candy (both for Stark, and the audience), and possible sexual tension, which is never quite explored to the extent that it should be, making her character kind of pointless in the end. Stark's old friend from the first film, James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, stepping in for Terrence Howard), gets in on the action as well by donning his own Iron Man-style fighting suit. It's all a lot of build up to a climactic fight, where the two must team up together, that's well-staged, but doesn't last long enough to be memorable. There's a subplot between the two hinting at a possible rivalry which is murky at best, and underdeveloped at worst. Though Cheadle is a fine actor, he never really gets the right chemistry in his scenes with Downey.

Speaking of Downey, he is what makes the film worth watching, warts and all. He's fun, he's acidic with his wit, and his heart always seems to be in the material, whether in or out of the costume. The movie tries to give his character a bit of added drama by revealing that the technology that is keeping him alive is also slowly killing him. But it's dealt with and resolved in such a haphazard manner, you almost wonder why the movie tried to make us care. We love Downey, and we love his portrayal of Stark, so we go with it. He sells the movie, because he is the very heart of it. All the characters competing for screen time, all the overstuffed plots, all the underdeveloped ideas, they all take a back seat when Downey is on his game, which fortunately is most of the time he's on camera. He's just as much fun to watch as he was the first time, if not more so.

Looking back over this review, I keep on thinking of the last superhero movie I saw, Kick-Ass. Much like that film, Iron Man 2 is great in moments, but never comes together as a whole. But, this does not make it a bad movie in the slightest. There is just enough to recommend, but not enough to make it stand out like the original did. If I focused on the negatives in this review, it's only because they stand out more this time around. What does work here really does work, and most people will get their money's worth. Me? Even if I walked away slightly disappointed, I still had fun watching it. I just wish I had more fun thinking back on it.

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