I had already bought my ticket for the midnight showing of Iron Man 2 earlier in the day, so I thought I was safe in my decision to show up fourty-five minutes early for good seats. But, for a movie as highly anticipated as this one, an extra fifteen minutes wouldn't have hurt. The theater was packed at 11:15. Luckily, some kind moviegoers opened up some seats, so I wasn’t forced to melt my eyeballs out of their sockets in the first row.
So, was Iron Man 2 worth ten bucks and two hours of lost sleep?
Obviously.
Tony Stark is still obnoxiously cool and makes it look sickeningly awesome to be a filthy rich genius. Rhodey and Tony still argue like they're brothers. The armor is still sleek and shiny. All the goods you loved from 2008's Iron Man are still there, but this time none of them are as subtle.
Iron Man 2 brought back all of the charm from the first one, and then amplified it. The sequel seemed to go the same direction that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did, only the movie didn't turn out obnoxious and painfully over-the-top. There was more humorous sexual innuendo and salty language in this one, which I found a little strange considering how many little kids will be watching, but I will admit it is probably the type of humor that will go right over their heads.
The most obvious improvement over the first Iron Man is the amount of action. The only complaint people seemed to have about the first one was that there wasn’t enough ass whooping done by Iron Man. Tony spends a lot more time in the suit in Iron Man 2, and as a result, more things break and explode.
Robert Downey Jr. steps up the devil-may-care confidence and swagger that we saw in the first one and it’s just as entertaining. There isn’t much else to say about him other than the obvious: he’s good.
So, was Iron Man 2 worth ten bucks and two hours of lost sleep?
Obviously.
Tony Stark is still obnoxiously cool and makes it look sickeningly awesome to be a filthy rich genius. Rhodey and Tony still argue like they're brothers. The armor is still sleek and shiny. All the goods you loved from 2008's Iron Man are still there, but this time none of them are as subtle.
Iron Man 2 brought back all of the charm from the first one, and then amplified it. The sequel seemed to go the same direction that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did, only the movie didn't turn out obnoxious and painfully over-the-top. There was more humorous sexual innuendo and salty language in this one, which I found a little strange considering how many little kids will be watching, but I will admit it is probably the type of humor that will go right over their heads.
The most obvious improvement over the first Iron Man is the amount of action. The only complaint people seemed to have about the first one was that there wasn’t enough ass whooping done by Iron Man. Tony spends a lot more time in the suit in Iron Man 2, and as a result, more things break and explode.
Robert Downey Jr. steps up the devil-may-care confidence and swagger that we saw in the first one and it’s just as entertaining. There isn’t much else to say about him other than the obvious: he’s good.
Mickey Rourke did a decent job filling the super-villain role, but I wasn’t blown away. We all know that in American movies, the hero always beats the villain, but it’s nice to get caught up in story and forget that fact. Rourke definitely gave the bad guy impression, but his character never really seemed like he had a chance of beating Iron Man. Don’t misunderstand me, though; there a few other threads to the story that keep you unsure about the fate of Tony Stark.
Sam Rockwell, who seems to be good in everything, played an entertaining Justin Hammer. He nailed the awkward, tries-too-hard, rival character and it’s enjoyable to watch him fail to be a cool as Tony Stark.
Sam Rockwell, who seems to be good in everything, played an entertaining Justin Hammer. He nailed the awkward, tries-too-hard, rival character and it’s enjoyable to watch him fail to be a cool as Tony Stark.
Alright…I’m not sure I know the science behind this phenomenon (maybe I don’t want to know), but I could swear that every time Scarlet Johansson came on screen, the temperature in the theater rose like five degrees, seriously—and no I don’t think it was just me. But aside from the fact the she is a fox, the acrobatic style of beatdown she put on nameless thugs was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. Mixing her hand-to-hand combat in with the mechanized brawling of Iron Man and War Machine added an enjoyable diversity to the films overall action.
Speaking of War Machine, the movie makes it difficult to decide which suit is more badass, his or Iron Man’s. I know it goes without saying, but big guns are awesome. My one minor gripe has to do with Don Cheadle. He did a great job; I can’t think of anything to complain about as far as his performance went. But, several times when he was onscreen, I couldn’t help but imagine how Terrence Howard would have performed in the same scene. It might just be me, but the switcheroo they pulled for Rhodes was a tiny (and I have to stress “tiny”) bit distracting.
Any Marvel geeks out there should also keep an eye out during the movie for nods to future Avengers. You don’t have to look hard, but you will probably get a kick out of them when they come up.
So bottom line: Go see Iron Man 2. As if you needed me to tell you.
Has anyone else seen it yet? What did you think? Let me know.
-Andrew
Speaking of War Machine, the movie makes it difficult to decide which suit is more badass, his or Iron Man’s. I know it goes without saying, but big guns are awesome. My one minor gripe has to do with Don Cheadle. He did a great job; I can’t think of anything to complain about as far as his performance went. But, several times when he was onscreen, I couldn’t help but imagine how Terrence Howard would have performed in the same scene. It might just be me, but the switcheroo they pulled for Rhodes was a tiny (and I have to stress “tiny”) bit distracting.
Any Marvel geeks out there should also keep an eye out during the movie for nods to future Avengers. You don’t have to look hard, but you will probably get a kick out of them when they come up.
So bottom line: Go see Iron Man 2. As if you needed me to tell you.
Has anyone else seen it yet? What did you think? Let me know.
-Andrew
RSS Feed