a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z #
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Reviewed on 2010 May 8
I thought my craving the first Iron Man was bad; I was even more psyched after seeing Mickey Rourke cracking those whips in the trailer (more on that later). Once again, on opening day Mr. Shukti and I both caught a matinee. There are some people complaining that this wasn’t as good as the first one. Not in my opinion. It was a great sequel; in fact, the fact some idiot couple brought their stroller-bound kid didn’t even faze me at first, because I couldn’t even hear the tot’s squawks over this movie’s awesomeness. Eventually though I piped up and asked the dopey parents to please take their baby out. The mother did but glared at me the whole time. Too bad. (If you were that couple, I’m sure everyone else who’s been waiting for this thing was just thrilled you thought to bring a noisy kid to add to the dialogue of the movie they’d been waiting for and paid their hard-earned money to see. Get a baby sitter next time, geniuses. To everyone else in the googolplex with me who was getting as irritated as I was: my pleasure, and next time I’ll get management if I have to. Shukti’s got your six.)
Anyway, to the movie. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is riding the wave of his fame as CEO of Stark Industries and Iron Man, starting with a shindig where he’s backed by the Ironettes, or as I call them, the Tony Stark Solid Gold Dancers. All looks great for Tony on the surface and he’s his normal smug but likable self, but when you’re a superhero/multi-millionaire inventor and bon vivant, life is never uncomplicated. Even while the Ironettes are doing their Vegas-y dance for Stark’s fans, in front of a giant digital American flag no less, trouble is brewing. He’s discovered a problem which I won’t give here (people who give unwanted spoilers and people who blab and text in movies are in Dante’s same circle), the government is hounding him for his suit, and a rival named Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell leaving more slime than a snail) is trying to get his technology. And these aren’t even the worst thing. A very angry Muscovite (Rourke, out-Rourkeing himself here) decides to take revenge upon Stark, and the guy is as brilliant as he is crazy.
My only real complaint is the hilarious bit from the trailer where Stark yells “You complete me!” was apparently cropped from the movie. No matter, the 125-minute run time still flew by. I would have liked to have seen more of Ivan Vanko, Rourke’s character, but that’s just because I enjoyed him so much. The chemistry between Downey and Paltrow is as strong as it was in the first Iron Man, and here we also get a vintage glimpse of Stark’s father (John Slattery). Jon Favreau once again successfully wears two hats as director and as Stark’s chauffeur/buddy Happy Hogan, and the metal soundtrack didn’t hurt a bit either.
Four chocolate morsels. Oh yeah.
— Shukti
