Movie Review: “Iron Man 2”

I’m not going to go into as much detail on IM2 as I have on other movies, largely because there’s not as much to say.

Short review: not as good as the first, but not a bad flick at all.

Spoilers (for those waiting for the home release) below the break …

So here we go …

1. The main “literary” plot was a nice evolution from the first movie, i.e., “once you’ve given an irresponsible narcissist such huge power, how long does it take before he starts exercising it irresponsibly.”  Granted, the whole dying subplot added impetus and motivation, but, really, Tony’s behavior through most of the movie (as ably handled by Robert Downey, Jr) was both predictable and appropriate to explore.  And, honestly, despite the softball handling of it by making Senator Stern such a laughable jerk, the question of whether someone with that sort of tech should be allowed to exercise it privately (esp. in the face of the international implications of his activities) is one well-worth examining.  The movie doesn’t really do that, but it at least raises the question.
2. Speaking of Senator Stern (yay, Gary Shandling), the villains this outing are a mixed bunch.  Mickey Roarke’s Whiplash was fabulous, though some of the parallels between him and Stark could have been better examined.  Justin Hammer was — well, I understand the need to differentiate him from last movie’s Obadiah Stane (another cut-throat industrialist), but Hammer here is far too much a clown to feel like a real threat, and the idea of him being a Stark wannabe was handled lamely.
   I am a bit irked by Whiplash being a brilliant physicist, and armorer, and computer hacker, and roboticist, and, oh yeah, death on two feet in hand-to-hand combat.  (That he’s a combo of both Whiplash and the Crimson Dynamo is part of the cause, but it’s weak writing nonetheless.) Of course, I also thought the movie had about 50% too many brilliant computer hacker/programmers.
3. People complained that things were too complicated and less cleanly narrated than the original, and there’s some truth there.  That said, I felt the movie as a whole worked pretty well, despite some weaknesses in the Howard Stark “I really love you, Tony” thread (forgiven by the whole Walt Disney vibe the Howard Stark thread had; still, really, Howard — that was probably the silliest way to leave a “hidden message” about how to perfect the ARC reactor in the world).
4. It’s only the last 5 minutes where things sort of fell apart.  The self-destructing robots that … um … well, they shot off some fireworks, but didn’t really seem to do any damage (or interfere with any traffic).  A clumsy finale to the Tony / Pepper plot.  A rather awkward Fury / Stark discussion.  A mildly funny reveal on the award ceremony, capped by a lame joke by Sen. Stern … and roll credits?  That’s weak, and it’s a prolonged, multi-scene weakness that taints the whole film.
5. Sorry, radiation poisoning doesn’t work that way.
6. Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow was faboo.  Don Cheadle did a fine job as (the new) Rhodey.  Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury remains spot-on.  And it was great seeing Clark Gregg as SHIELD Agent Coulson again.  Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts alternated between some very nice scenes and some very clumsy scenes; her whole, “I can’t take this any more” bit was annoying.  It was nice to see more action for Happy Hogan, even if half of it was comic relief.
7. So how did Rhodey take the armor without an ARC reactor in his own chest? Were there some flat form-factor reactors sitting around Tony’s shop?
8. Yes, I stayed for the final post-credit teaser.  Yes, they had me fooled as to what Marvel character it would be about (southwest US being the red herring).

So, overall, a good movie, though not as good as the first, and marred by a weak ending.  A solid B+.