Iron man 2

When Iron man blasted into theaters, it took me by surprise. I had hoped it would be good because I love Robert Downey Jr, but I did not have any expectations. I was blown away by the film. It was fast, full of wit, well paced and action packed. It was the most summery superhero movie one could ever imagine. It was the perfect opposite to the dark brooding Dark Knight that came out later that summer. However, could they capture that magic again? With huge expectations and a growing number of movie stars involved, could Iron man 2 ever live up to what everyone was hoping for? Marvel Studios has a lot riding on the success of this franchise as it is launching an entire campaign based on the strength of the Iron man movies. It cannot rely on Spiderman or X-Men, so they threw all of their weight behind Iron man. It was a bold move and one that could end up paying huge dividends for the next few years, if it works.

If anyone thought admitting to being Iron Man would change the overall demeanor of Tony Stark(Downey) they would be wrong. The man is still cocky, still an asshole and still totally cool. He is putting on a year long expo to find a better world, he is battling the Senate over his Iron Man suit and as always, battling his own self destructive nature. On top of all of this, he now has to battle Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) a Russian with the tech of Iron Man and a personal vendetta against the Stark family name. Stark's health is also an issue and causes him to spiral out of control causing a confrontation between he and his good buddy Rhoadie(Don Cheadle). Vanko is his bigges problem though, especially after Vanko's grudge is bankrolled by Justin Hammer, a Stark rival on the weapons front who has grand ideas of getting rich and getting in the White House. With Hammer's resources and money, Vanko can afford to have tech just as good as Stark.

This is kind of a broad stroke recap of the action because, well there is a lot of story going on. There is an entire side plot dedicated to setting up this massive Marvel world involving Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. the organization putting together The Avengers Initiative. And a good chunk of the tech geek in me loved watching Stark try and create a new element to keep him alive, but I think that section might actually bore people a little bit. Like so many of these superhero sequels, Iron Man 2 does suffer a little bit from trying to do too much. The middle does sag just a little bit, but whatever shortcomings the movie does have, it makes up for all of them with lively performances, great action, a breezy attitude, a kick ass soundtrack and one knock out climax.

Downey Jr is back in full snarky form and he is having just as much fun this time around. Downey had a hand in hiring the screenwriter and had a hand in helping the script the film and it shows, as the dialog flows out of his mouth just perfectly, He is matched wonderfully by Gwenyth Paltrow, back as his potential love interest and everyone else handles the dialog well. Mickey Rourke is quietly intimidating and while he does not have much in the way of dialog, he makes perfect use of his screen time with just a nod, or a smile, or a tilt of the head. His Russian accent does not waver and he has this great scene in a prison cell with Downey, where the these two redeemed actors quietly feel each other out and have an intense moment. Sam Jackson adds nice levity to the ridiculousness and Johansson is perfectly sexy, naughty and the right hint of dangerous. She has never looked sexier, which is saying something. However, Sam Rockwell kind of takes the cake for me on this movie. From his badly self tanned hands, his awful dancing and his mannerisms, Rockwell recalls every 1990s Gary Oldman villain. He is full of this glee at being in such a massive movie and his energy bounces through his entire body in every scene.

Jon Favreau directs with a steady hand, but never overdoes it. He understands the comic beats in the movie and understands that Iron Man is meant to be summer fun. We should leave the theater feeling like we got our sweet tooth on. The brain candy that is Iron Man 2 does come with some serious moments, but they are always followed by these wonderfully charming moments, like the roof top scene towards the end. We just witnessed chaos and bombs exploding, followed by a heart to heart, but the scene ends in laughs. Favreau deserves kudos for understanding not to let things get too serious because after all, it is a movie about a superhero.

Of course, it is a summer superhero movie, so what about the action? There is not as much of it as one might expect, but the action that does exist is pretty awesome. There is a short action scene towards the beginning that was surprisingly brutal, but the real fun comes when Rhoadie gets to put on a suit and become War Machine. Stark and Rhoadie have this wonderful fight, tearing through Stark's house all set to this mash up of "Another one Bites the Dust" and "It takes Two." That scene features a lot of glass smashing, which is always welcome in an action scene, but it is also brutal to watch these two friends just beat on each other. The trailer for the movie was built around this image of Iron Man and War Machine being surrounded by robots, so, the movie's action adrenaline is going to live and die by the climax.

And what a climax it is! First we get Iron Man being chased by these drones AND Rhoadie, flying through the air, weaving in and out of buildings and structures trying to lose as many as he can. While that is going on, the drones on the ground are firing rockets and causing explosions. Plus, Scarlett Johansson is getting her hand-to-hand combat one with a bunch of dudes. She flips, kicks, spins and punches her way through a handful of bad guys, only enhancing her sex appeal ten-fold. From there we get that epic image of our two heroes surrounded by these drones and it does not disappoint at all. The action is fast and well shot, dizzying us a bit but not too much. We get a lot of gun shots and hand to hand combat, plus this crazy awesome weaponry. By the time we get the eventual climax of the climax, we are so revved up, we cannot wait to see what happens next.

Iron Man 2 does have a lot going on and at times it may seem tough to follow. Marvel is setting up a lot for the future in this movie, while trying to tell a mostly self contained story and it mostly works exactly how they hoped. There are some wonderful nods to fans of the Marvel world and the movie does a great job of getting me excited to see where this entire world heads and I cannot wait to watch it unfold. The suitcase Iron Man suit was a nice touch for the fans and the tag after the credits is pretty exciting for those who are invested in the world of Marvel. Iron Man feels bigger than just a movie, as it represents a whole movement of films and it is not easy to not get crushed under all the pressure, but by adopting a breezy attitude, Iron Man 2 stays afloat and entertains for 140 minutes and when it was all over, my brain was full of all the ice cream and candy it could need for a while.

Final Grade: A