DIRECTOR: Jon FavreauSTARRING: Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke
This was one of those movies that I felt obligated to see. Even though I wasn’t wildly impressed with the first Iron Man it was entertaining enough, so I figured this would be a decent way to spend my Saturday night. Besides, I usually like RDJ and, frankly, I’m always up for a little Scarlett Johansson action. Between the two of them there isn’t much to complain about. The rest of the movie, however, left plenty to complain about.
Iron Man 2 picks up where the first one left off. Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) a.k.a. Iron Man is busy trying to clean up the mess of revealing to the world his superhero alter ego; the government wants to confiscate his Iron Man suit/weapon, and the substance keeping him alive is also slowly poisoning him. Meanwhile, he’s also got the rest of the world struggling to keep up with his incredible technological advances. Unbeknownst to him, however, Ivan Vanko (Rourke) a.k.a. Whiplash is off in Russia cooking up a suit/weapon of his own, harboring a festering wrath for Tony and planning to take him down. Clearly, Tony’s got a lot on his plate — can he pull it all together in time to save himself and the world?!
Forgive my blatant facetiousness there. I guess there was a lot about this movie that bothered me. Yes, RDJ was charming; yes, Scarlett Jo was as foxy as ever; and yes, there were plenty of fight scenes and explosions. So, you ask, how could I be disappointed? Maybe it’s because I fall into the small percentage of the film-watching population that is actually bored by explosions. I’m tired of the action movie clichés; I’m tired of the arrogant hero, the spineless love interest, the morality-free rival, the revenge-driven villain, the noble sidekick… I could go on and on. Haven’t we seen these caricatures enough? Do we really need another film that reinforces the idea that men are worthy of iron suits while women can’t even handle being a CEO for a week? (Sorry, I just converted to feminism.)
I don’t really have a lot more to say. Even though this was only a two-hour movie, which isn’t that bad, I was bored to death halfway through. And, honestly, I’d like to see a little more versatility in RDJ’s roles. We get that he’s witty and charming. What else has he got up his sleeve? Anyway, I think I’ll pass on Iron Man 3. I can get by without it.
FINAL GRADE: C
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