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    Iron Man 2

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    "Iron Man 2" isn't quite as good as the first instalment but there are still plenty of good moments throughout.

    Having revealed his identity as Iron Man to the world, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has made himself into a celebrity, but also a target. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeks revenge against the Stark family and business rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) seeks to steal Stark’s armour technology to sell to the military. While Starks’ friends Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard) have his best interests at heart, even they have to admit his decision-making skills seem questionable, particularly when he hires Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) as his new assistant.

    What the movie is missing is a solid villain: a credible threat to Tony Stark. In the film we get two antagonists, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash and Justin Hammer, but neither of them feels like much of a threat. His drinking and irresponsible shenanigans are more likely to get him killed than these two. Although Whiplash has a cool look and some interesting weapons, at least a thousand times better than the one he had in the animated “Iron Man Adventures”, his character is flat. He never has any motivations beyond simple revenge and few lines of dialogue. It feels like the movie doesn't really know what to do with him. The character is absent for long stretches of the film and his conclusion is just a way to move him out of the story quickly once his big fight is over. Justin Hammer on the other hand is more interesting because he is not a physical villain; he's an intellectual one that wants (basically) to steal Stark's secrets. The thing is, he’s a comic relief threat. There are far more scenes that display him as totally incompetent. You never believe this man could have the upper hand, even on Stark’s worst drunken binge.

    Thankfully the other characters introduced are interesting and we get some good character development for the ones we’ve already met. We get a lot of Tony Stark and we get a lot of interactions between him and his associates. The actors have good chemistry so you believe the strained friendships on display. You like the heroes; it’s the villains that are weak. I found Scarlett Johansson’s character particularly interesting.

    The action sequences are well done with convincing special effects and we get a good variety of them. Flying battles, to hand-to-hand combat, some cool additions to the Iron Man hall of armours are things to look forward to. The battles are often sprinkled with humour so even if you aren’t really invested in Iron Man beating his opponents (although I was) they're quite entertaining and don't feel repetitive. When the movie isn't throwing explosions at you there's some good drama with the U. S. government being at odds with our hero and the other side characters trying to keep him in check while he spirals completely out of control. The last thing I expected out of this superhero film is to comment on how the emotions were more interesting than the actual action, but here I am. It’s not that the action is bad; it’s just that you can see how it could have been better. I think follow-up appearances on Justin Hammer, where he buckles down and really starts to tear things up with some successful androids could make me like him in this movie a lot more.

    In some ways “Iron Man 2” is a disappointment. There are so many good dramatic and comedic scenes that it's a downer to have villains who are ultimately pretty forgettable. There are also admittedly some sequences where the movie feels more like a trailer for "The Avengers" and the newly introduced characters completely steal the show. While those characters are fun, you do something start to think," Isn't this supposed to be the Iron Man movie? " I’ve put forward a lot of criticism, but this is still a good film with some good humour, action and drama. It’s just not the 5 star picture the first “Iron Man” was. There’s plenty to like in “Iron Man 2”, even if it is flawed. (On Blu-ray, March 26, 2013)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  15.2.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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