Six months after the end of the first movie, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has used his Iron Man armor to bring about a negotiated peace treaty between the major super powers of the world, and his immense popularity with the general public is only furthered when he fulfills his father's dream by opening the "Stark Expo", to showcase all the latest inventions that will benefit the world. Stark is, however, still vilified by the United States government, and Senator Stern (Gary Shandling) in particular, who demands that he hand his armor technology over for military application.
Stark refuses, publicly shaming rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) in the process by highlighting his own failed attempts at recreating the technology. All is not well in Stark's life, however: he has discovered that the palladium in the arc reactor keeping his heart beating has begun to poison his body, slowly killing him, and all attempts to find a substitute element have failed. Slowly going off the rails as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, he appoints his former personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228705/synopsis
Well what can I say about Iron Man 2? I saw this review earlier today and it sums up my thoughts of this movie in one paragraph:
“Coming out of the theater, the thing that stuck the most in my craw is how little action there is in this flick. I don't know, guys, but when I go see a movie called "Iron Man 2", I expect a whole lot of bang for my buck. I could forgive the previous film's relative lack of action because, as the first episode of the franchise, it had to set up everything about Tony Stark and how he became Iron Man. But now that the origin story is out of the way, shouldn't this be the big thrill-a-minute payoff?”
http://www.montrealfilmjournal.com/review.asp?R=R0001359
I couldn’t have said it better myself! I, like so many others, was excited for the next installment of the Iron Man franchise that took us all by surprise 2 years ago when we all sat there in the theater in amazement at what we were watching. Not since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was I surprised at how a movie can come out of nowhere and surprise audiences all over the world.
Flash forward 2 years and now you add hype and pressure to this successful franchise and geeks across the world are drooling at the fact that Downey, Jr. is once again donning the Iron Man suit and Gwyneth Paltrow tries desperately to keep him (and his ego) in check. Add Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel Jackson and Mickey Rourke and you’ve got some big names coming into the mix.
Let me start with what was good about this movie: SOME good action. I’m not saying this movie is void of action, and there are moments where the action is well done. Robert Downey, Jr, once again shows why he is a great actor. In my opinion he doesn’t miss a beat from the first movie. His egocentric dialogue is so well done I found myself wanting the scenes to continue on because it was so enjoyable. I wasn’t big on Scarlett Johannson's character but her fight scene towards the end was like Jason Bourne on steroids! That 5 minute action sequence was the best action in the entire movie. The dialogue was well written in the movie and there was good humor throughout.
Where the movie fell short: The middle hour or so of the movie was, at least to me, kind of boring. I just kept wanting some sort of action or fight scene or something to spice it up. There were too many plot points going on in the movie and it was choppy and didn’t flow well. Gwyneth Paltrow's character Pepper Potts was a little annoying compared to the first Iron Man. I was disappointed to see Tony Stark and Pepper Potts finally kiss. I thought the tension between those two actually added to their characters. Sam Jackson's acting was not good. Once you see the movie you’ll know what I mean. When the movie FINALLY got to the major fight scene it never really had the “wow factor” and just kind of fell short. The last battle between Iron Man and his side kick - War Machine vs. Ivan - the Russian - was over before you knew it. After they won the battle I was thinking, “that’s it?” Those two words sum up my Iron Man 2 experience: “That’s it?” Yes, folks…that’s it.
Rating of whether I would see the movie again:
1 = Definitely not!
2 = Probably not.
3 = Maybe.
4 = Probably.
5 = Absolutely!
Would I see the movie again in the theaters? 2
Will I rent it on DVD and watch it at home? 3 (If I don’t end up buying it)
Would I buy the movie? 3.5 (Mainly because I own the first one and I don’t want to break up a set. But we’ll see.)
(Iron Man 2 is rated PG-13 and features strong violent content and imagery (gunplay and shootings, brawling, fisticuffs, hand-to-hand and martial-arts combat, fiery and explosive mayhem, vehicular mayhem, and violence against women), suggestive language and references (slang and innuendo), scattered strong profanity, brief drug content (use of drugs and antidotes, including an injection), brief bloody imagery, derogatory language and slurs, and brief glimpses of nude art (statues). Running time: 124 minutes.)
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