The summer movie season has begun, so I am wearing my speedo, rubbing that white stuff on my nose and looking for the coolest shades on the planet. You know it is going to be a good summer when the biggest, baddest, most thrilling movie of the decade has delivered a sequel that lives up to the original. Iron Man is back, and he still rocks.
Robert Downey, Jr. is back as Tony Stark - the man who is Iron Man and the head of Stark Industries. Now, everyone knows he's Iron Man (he kind of let the cat out of the bag in the last movie), the government wants to take the suit from him claiming it is a weapon the military should control, his friends are worried about his mental state of being, and Tony is DYING (That's alot of drama to deal with!).
However, Tony's biggest challenge comes from a mysterious Russian scientist, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke with all of his insane, menacing villainy). While the Axis of Evil and Stark Industries' biggest competitor (Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer) are trying to duplicate the Iron Man suit, Ivan is the one who seems to hold special knowledge and plans about how to do it right, and he wants Tony Stark to pay for the sins of his father, Howard Stark (John Slattery).
What did Howard Stark do to the Vanko family?
Will Tony be able to stop the government, the evil Russian, and his own ego?
Is Iron Man about to die?
Iron Man 2 delivers everything you loved about the first one. Director Jon Favreau and writer Justin Theroux still fill the movie with a great sense of humor in all of the right places, enough challenges to Iron Man to make Downey deliver as an actor, and great new characters who all get the right amount of screentime without making you feel like it is all overdone, confusing, and crowded. You even get more Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and that's always a good thing!
While the dialogue is great and the action thrills, Iron Man 2 succeeds because it has one of the best casts of actors you have ever seen assembled.
Jackson is the coolest dude on the planet, and gets to add more mystery to the Iron Man and Avengers story (just in time to get us psyched for Captain America and Thor).
Rockwell is the perfect foil for Tony Stark as he is the complete opposite of our hero. Rockwell shows us Hunter's nerdiness, desperate attempts to gain attention, and weaselly nature, even though he would give anything to be Tony Stark (who wouldn't?).
Then, Scarlett Johansson saves her career as a new Stark Industries employee with some mad fighting skills (and one very tight black leather suit), while Don Cheadle picks up where Terrance Howard left off as Tony's best pal who is torn between his loyalty to his country and his friend.
Yet, Iron Man 2, just like Iron Man before it, is all about Robert Downey, Jr. He amazes at every turn as he continues to make Stark awesomely charming, wildly flamboyant, and intriguingly reflective. My favorite part of Downey's performance is watching him think. When confronted with a problem, Downey shows you Stark as an intelligent man solving a puzzle. We see the wheels turning and the mind in action, which is more fascinating to watch than every Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez and Ashton Kutcher movie combined (there's a reason you do commercials for cameras, boy toy)!
Unfortunately, critics in DC (like me) were not shown the special JJ Abrams trailer that will be running in front of Iron Man 2 in theaters, but make sure you stick around for the credits. Those excited for The Avengers get a special treat.
Iron Man 2 even has the best Stan Lee cameo you have seen in any of the Marvel movies! Can these guys do anything wrong?
4 Waffles (Out of 4)
Iron Man 2 is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language (and a scene of Scarlett Johansson in her bra, which might be too much for boys 13 - 18 and men over 40 to handle).
However, Tony's biggest challenge comes from a mysterious Russian scientist, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke with all of his insane, menacing villainy). While the Axis of Evil and Stark Industries' biggest competitor (Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer) are trying to duplicate the Iron Man suit, Ivan is the one who seems to hold special knowledge and plans about how to do it right, and he wants Tony Stark to pay for the sins of his father, Howard Stark (John Slattery).
What did Howard Stark do to the Vanko family?
Will Tony be able to stop the government, the evil Russian, and his own ego?
Is Iron Man about to die?
Iron Man 2 delivers everything you loved about the first one. Director Jon Favreau and writer Justin Theroux still fill the movie with a great sense of humor in all of the right places, enough challenges to Iron Man to make Downey deliver as an actor, and great new characters who all get the right amount of screentime without making you feel like it is all overdone, confusing, and crowded. You even get more Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and that's always a good thing!
While the dialogue is great and the action thrills, Iron Man 2 succeeds because it has one of the best casts of actors you have ever seen assembled.
Jackson is the coolest dude on the planet, and gets to add more mystery to the Iron Man and Avengers story (just in time to get us psyched for Captain America and Thor).
Rockwell is the perfect foil for Tony Stark as he is the complete opposite of our hero. Rockwell shows us Hunter's nerdiness, desperate attempts to gain attention, and weaselly nature, even though he would give anything to be Tony Stark (who wouldn't?).
Then, Scarlett Johansson saves her career as a new Stark Industries employee with some mad fighting skills (and one very tight black leather suit), while Don Cheadle picks up where Terrance Howard left off as Tony's best pal who is torn between his loyalty to his country and his friend.
Yet, Iron Man 2, just like Iron Man before it, is all about Robert Downey, Jr. He amazes at every turn as he continues to make Stark awesomely charming, wildly flamboyant, and intriguingly reflective. My favorite part of Downey's performance is watching him think. When confronted with a problem, Downey shows you Stark as an intelligent man solving a puzzle. We see the wheels turning and the mind in action, which is more fascinating to watch than every Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez and Ashton Kutcher movie combined (there's a reason you do commercials for cameras, boy toy)! Unfortunately, critics in DC (like me) were not shown the special JJ Abrams trailer that will be running in front of Iron Man 2 in theaters, but make sure you stick around for the credits. Those excited for The Avengers get a special treat.
Iron Man 2 even has the best Stan Lee cameo you have seen in any of the Marvel movies! Can these guys do anything wrong?
4 Waffles (Out of 4)
Iron Man 2 is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language (and a scene of Scarlett Johansson in her bra, which might be too much for boys 13 - 18 and men over 40 to handle).
