Seeing Iron Man (2008) in theaters was one of the greatest film experiences in my life. First of all, I'll be honest. I was not that hyped to see it. Funny how the movies you get dragged to often end up being the best ones? Robert Downey Jr. was glorious, bald Jeff Bridges was glorious ("TONY STARK BUILT THIS IN A CAVE....WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!"), and just everything....everything was glorious. As you can tell, I've been very much looking forward to the sequel, which I finally had the pleasure of seeing today.
Overall, IM2 is great for a lot of the same reasons that made the first installment great. Robert Downey Jr.'s still in it, for starters, and I am a firm believer that any movie with him in it becomes infinitely better merely by his presence. He IS Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. has brought to life one of the most complex and believable comic book characters by his portrayal of Tony Stark. So, there's that. The writing is quick and smart, just like in the 1st one. And although I'm not often won over by big explosions, the action in this one...just whoa. Actually, I think the action scenes in the sequel surpass the ones in the original. But I digress.
A few new things added a lot to the film, too, such as the presence of another amazingly special actor, Sam Rockwell. How is it that Jon Favreau is so deeply in-tuned to every man that I'd possibly want in a movie? Sam Rockwell, like RDJ, brings so much to the table, and in all honesty he would've made an amazing Tony Stark as well. He's perfect as Justin Hammer, and the fact that someone as equally charming and talented as Robert Downey Jr. is taking up more of the run-time is such a great thing, because no offense to the other actors in the film, but these 2 are miles ahead of them.
Now, as you can tell by my title, I wasn't completely left bathing in orgasmic afterglow after this film. It wasn't as good as the first, but to be fair I didn't expect it to be. Personally, I thought Rourke was a problem. I think he overacted, and I think his portrayal was cliched. It wasn't enough to make me feel passionately about it, but it irked me.
Another problem I had with this one was the fact that it felt like a setup. Like a giant moving of puzzle pieces to set up future Marvel films. A lot was going on in this film. Almost too much. Pepper and Tony didn't nearly have enough screen time together for me to really care that they were making out, and I wish they did have enough screen-time because that's one of the things that really made the first film perfect- the focus on the characters. So much time was spent setting up other stuff and introducing other characters, it really sometimes felt like a waste. For instance: Tony Stark. He's a character we're invested in. Justin Hammer. He's an interesting, charismatic villain. I'll give Paltrow credit, I think she's very charming and likable as Pepper Potts. Why waste time giving Rourke so much unnecessary screen time? We get it. He's vengeful. He's smart. He wants his bird. Now can we move on please?
Even though I had minor issues with IM2, I can't deny that it was smart and satisfying, just like the film that came before it.
4.5/5 stars
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