Iron Man 2: Review By Yahzee

Two years ago Jon Favreau, a director and actor coming from the independent industry surprised the world his adaptation of one of Marvel most popular heroes. And Robert Downey Jr.'s excellent portrayal of the millionaire playboy turned superhero helped elevate the film to stellar critical and commercial success.

Now Iron Man 2 is not coming as n underdog, now everybody is waiting to see it, and had turned it into one of the most expected films this year. That was a tough challenge for Favreau and his team. Does it deliver? Well... yeah.

The story though it may seem overly complicated, follows a simple path.

After revealing his identity to the world Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is being pressured by the U.S. Senate to turn the Iron Man technology to the government. He refuses of course, because he feels that they want to use it as a weapon instead of a peace keeping force. It doesn't help that he's slowly dying from the metal in his blood, and the thing that keeps him alive is also making his condition worse. With such pressures he tries to act the exact opposite to his situation and show himself as a man proud of himself with real worries. He even opens the Stark Expo, a place to show technology with the power to change the world.

That is until Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of the deported Howard Stark associate, enters the scene. He's hell bent to avenge his father's honor and destroy the Star legacy. After the failed attempt to kill Tony, he's incarcerated but later set free by Stark's rival John Hammer who is trying to get a contract with the U.S. military. He offers Vanko the opportunity to work upon and improve the technology he developed.

Meanwhile Tony's getting worse all the time, and the way he acts to disguise his condition only leads him to be left alone from the people around him, including Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has just been appointed by him as CEO of Star Industries, and James "Rhodey" Rhodes (this time Don Cheadle) who "steals" one of his suits to be used the "right way" by the military. At the same time the public starts to question he is indeed the right guy to trust their safety upon.

When all seems lost, he gets back on his feet with the help of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the undercover agent Natalia Romanova (Scarlett Johanson).

As I said, the story might seem too complicated and some viewers might be distracted by the many subplots, but Tony Stark's journey is once again the center of the film. Robert Downey Jr. is having the funniest time playing his character, including a drunken Iron Man scene, and being the showman everywhere. There's nearly no drama in his personality. And that's also one of the problems with the film.

We know he's Iron Man, and we know he's gonna win in the end, but a little scare goes a long way. In one of the best scenes in the film, an electro-whips armed Whiplash interrupts the race Tony is in the middle of and makes him scared.

The story had all the ingredients to be a darker one but instead, Favreau chose to go for the fun and charm of the first film. You can't blame him, and it's not a bad thing. If it's not broken don't fix it... but it wouldn't have hurt to be a little more risky.

Though I wasn't impressed by Gwyneth Paltrow's performance in the first film, and found her character a little too naive, her confidence has certainly improved this time. He's the little conscience voice of Tony, that he of course won't listen. The character was better written this time and that's only fair for such an actress.

Don Cheadle on the other end makes a perfect replacement for Terrence Howard, it almost makes you forget the character was played by someone else in the first film. Plus, he gets to kick Iron Man's butt and wear the War Machine suit.

Mickey Rourke is hell scary in his performance is Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, a formidable villain for Iron Man, but it's too bad that he was sitting in a room for most of the film and his final battle was a little too short.

I found Sam Rockwell on the other hand, as John Hammer, way too silly, too much a "comic book" or a "cartoon" character. His character tries too hard to be as charming and fun as Stark, but fails miserably. And the fact he had Mickey Rourke in front didn't helped at all.

Scarlett Johanson was terrific and mysterious, and showed she's got what it takes to kick some butt, and be hot at the same time. But I found her character to be a little too hollow. And that leads us to Samuel L. Jackson, who asides from offering Tony a clue to solve his problem, is mostly here because of the Avengers film.

And the director himself, Jon Favreau gets a lot more screen time now repeating his role as Tony's bodyguard Happy Hogan, and mostly acts as a comic relief which he does brilliantly. Maybe people will complain about this as much as criticized Shyamalan's own extended appearance in Lady in the Water, but I'm totally ok. Hey, he could wear the Iron Man suit and I wouldn't care!

And going back to Avengers. I know it's a big thing for fanboys and Marvel, but it really hurt the film to have that story so integrated into this. The first half is brilliant as it is, but after Nick Fury enters, it all seems like and extended bridge scene between movies.

The effects and the action scenes however are great and exciting, and that goes without saying. Iron Man 2 is truly bigger and louder in that department and will leave public who wanted more noise and booms in the first one satisfied.

John Debney took over the role of composer this time, and that's another improvement. Even if his music is a little overpowered by all the explosions and shooting, gives the film that true "epic" feeling that was missing from the first film. Add in a couple of songs from AC/DC and this Iron Man truly rocks.

Did I enjoyed Iron Man 2? Hell yeah. It could have been better? Of course! The film is fun, but had the potential for something deeper. The filmmakers and or studio chose to go the safe path, don't risk it and make it fun. Some people will be disappointed, but the spirit of the first film is still here.

And Robert Downey Jr. proves once again the he is, indeed, Iron Man.