Iron Man 2
3.25 flamers
2010, Paramount Pictures Directed by John Favreau. Based on the comic by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes. PG-13. Starring: Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltro, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle,
Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell.
Helm: Do you only see movies based on comic books now?
Mathew: Dude. There has been no intention on my part to only see movies based on comic books. It just so happens that all of the best movies recently have been based on comic books. That should tell you something.
Helm: It does. But let us get to the review.
Mathew: This movie was good. Not quite as good as Iron Man 1, but still pretty darn good. It would have been hard for this one to be as good as the first one.
Helm: I agree.
Mathew: What, that's it? You agree? Dude, where's the biting analysis and insightful critique?
Helm: I liked seeing the flying man fight the man with the whips.
Mathew: Nice.
Okay, fine, I'll do it. Iron Man 2 is full of good, popcorn chompin' action and awesome special effects. But, it's not as witty or as tight as the first film. There are a couple of sort of weak plot points and a couple of places where the filmmakers seem to have sacrificed plot and character development in favor of action.
Helm: Action is good.
Mathew: Also, I thought the villain in this film wasn't quite as good as in the first film. I mean, Sam Rockwell's performance was really strong, but his character, Justin Hammer, felt more cartoony than Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane, which made him seem less...I don't know...villainous.
Helm: The villain was not Justin Hammer. T'was Ivan Vanko. And he was appropriately villainous. Even, occasionally, unbelievably so.
Mathew: Okay, sure. Vanko was cool. In fact, I'm beginning to think that the most badass characters in films these days are all physicists. Vanko, Stark, Simon Campos from Flash Forward... there's a bunch of them. Okay, Simon Campos is still kind of small and awkward, but he kills people. So, badass physicists. Which is weird, because in real life, all the physicists I know are kind of wimpy--like Stephen Hawking. That dude's in a wheel chair. He couldn't punch his way out of a paper sack. I mean, I don't know him personally. But I know of him. And he, like all the other real life physicists, is kind of wimpy. Oh, except my friend Jim, but he's not a working physicist. He's like in educational testing or something. I mean, he's not a superhero or supervillain, but he plays soccer.
Helm: And your friend Jim is being discussed at length during this review because?
Mathew: Fine. I digress. Iron Man 2. It's pretty cool.
Helm: Go see it instead of Letters to Juliet.
Three and a half Flaming swords!!
Three Flaming Swords!!
Mathew: Dude, you haven't even seen Letters to Juliet.
Helm: Correct.