Iron Man 2

Previously, Marvel sequels were fine. “Rise of the Silver Surfer” was okay and “Spider-Man 2” was quite well done. I didn’t know what to expect with “Iron Man 2” and half way through the experience, I still was unsure as to how I felt about the film. Once the climax began however, I was impressed. As with any film, it has a few problems but I can overlook them in this case because they did not sacrifice story for action. New characters were handled well, particularly War Machine. The intensity and pacing of the story of “Iron Man 2” can be a little fast upon first viewing but once the climax begins, it was worth it. I liked a few little jokes and reverences that they made in the film too.

Once again, Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. He slipped right back into the Howard Hughes type persona of Iron Man and he was fun to watch. He probably drew upon his own life experiences for some of the more serious scenes. I liked Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke’s performance as well. This film had a fun but credible villain. While I believe that another actor could have better performed Ivan, Rourke's appearance was enough to impress me. I enjoy watching Don Cheadle in any movie he is in including this one. I felt though that things would have been a bit better with Terrence Howard reprising his role because I love continuity. After that scene in the first “Iron Man” when Rhodes takes a moment to consider wearing Tony’s old suit, I was pumped for him to become War Machine. There was established chemistry between Downey and Howard from the first film and I feel that Howard is a little cooler than Cheadle. It is too bad that Jon Favreau and Marvel couldn’t work things out with Howard. There was chemistry between Cheadle and Downey but it was just not the same. Putting that all aside, the first lines between those two actors in "Iron Man 2" seem to address the casting change and that is pretty funny. Jon Favreau had a lot more to do in this film as Happy and I hope that it was all in fun. If I were in charge of making a sequel like this, I would probably do the same thing but only for the fun of it. I won’t be happy (no pun intended) if Favreau increased his own character’s role only because he could as director. Future Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell once again deceived me into thinking that this was the first movie I saw him in but in fact, I saw and enjoyed him in both "The Green Mile" and "Frost/Nixon" previous to this film. He is so talented at playing different characters. He is a great supporting actor.

There were some little things I noticed about the film that made the experience of seeing it a little extra special. If Tony Stark is a modern day type of Howard Hughes, who could his father be modeled after? Considering that Howard Stark was active between the 1930’s & 70's and was always looking ahead to the future, he became modeled after Walt Disney in quite a humorous way for me. The whole World's Fair atmosphere makes it work. The footage shot of Howard Stark is patterned so much after Disney’s presentation of his “Florida Project” that it made me laugh because it was impressive. Howard Stark’s mustache, hair and his suit was quite reflective of Disney. The way the film looks and the music sounds are also very close to the Disney footage not to mention the set that Howard Stark walks through. Another Disney nod is the song "Make Way For Tomorrow Today". It resembles "It's a Small World After All" and "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" because it is written by one of same songwriters, Oscar-winner Richard Sherman. These little jokes are a great achievement in creating a period look and feel that is believable enough that you smile. These Disney nods were planned before Disney bought Marvel and so the coincidence adds more humor. You see a few more connections between Walt Disney and Howard Stark in "Captain America" but the character leans more towards Howard Hughes in that film. I like how when Iron Man & War Machine are fighting and it concludes with War Machine using the kitchen sink to hit Iron Man. I also like the scene when Hammer unveils his drones because the Marines’ Hymn is used. You can liken it unto the scene from “Rocky” when Apollo enters the stadium to the same music. In both films, you get a laugh as the climax approaches. Another little laugh comes from the fight between Happy and a guard at the Hammer facility. Happy is losing the fight and so he tries biting the guard’s ear. No doubt this is a reference to when Tyson was losing to Holyfield. The drama of Tony slowly dying is a good story. The first film was the origin of Iron Man and so we need something else to balance the entertainment in this sequel. I could understand his mental breakdown and lack of judgement due to his life coming to an end. I also like the problem of Iron Man being replaced or ceasing to exist. I like the little conflicts that the story has such as between Tony & Hammer, Tony & Rhodes and Tony & Pepper (Tony seems to clash with everyone and that is funny). As a kid, I watched the cartoons of Genndy Tartakovsky on Cartoon Network. To know that he was involved in the pre-production stage of this film is nice and after this movie, he found even more success with the animated "Hotel Transylvania" franchise.

Just like in the first film, the special effects in “Iron Man 2” were really good and they were nominated at the Oscars. The film has a good deal of intensity but the climax makes the film a success. I like the original film better but this film is not bad. I was having fun and enjoyed the conflicts & drama in the story. The movie also contributes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe by including a few references. I hoped that Marvel would continue to make fun movies and I got my wish, After "The Avengers" was released, "Iron Man 3" had even more expectations to live up to. Sadly, that fact alone hurt the success of "Iron Man 3".

4 Stars out of 5