Iron Man does a lot right. It carries across into the sequel what made the first film so brilliant and that is the characters and truly razor sharp dialogue. Everyone in the film puts in a great performance. Sam Rockwell delivers some hilarious scenes whilst portraying Justin Hammer, a geekier uncool Tony stark wannabe. Robert Downey Jr. revises his role as the narcissistic billionaire and believe it or not, actually manages to come across even more self loving and sharp witted than in the original. It’s a performance that continues to steal the show also ties in nicely to the films plot. After all, what else could possibly inflate the billionaire’s already massive ego than revealing he is actually a superhero? Tony Stark loves life, and who can blame him.
The fun is short lived for Stark when he realises that the life support core in his chest is also what is killing him. It’s an element of the story that is kept in the side seat, just as Stark puts it out of his own mind and doesn’t reveal it to Pepper Potts, his newly appointed CEO of Stark Industries. Some of the best scenes during the film that break up the action are between Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. The two slip right into delivering the great chemistry that was established in the last film, however it’s disappointing that their relationship seems very much the same as it was and nothing has changed or been built upon. It’s only at the end of the film when the relationship takes a new direction.
There are a couple of moments where Iron Man 2 asks you to dispend all belief and logic in parts, but that’s fine. Iron man isn’t trying to be the Dark Knight. We aren’t looking for the same psychological deconstruction of society that the Dark Knight tries to deliver. Iron Man is about advanced tech, awesome action set pieces and fun characters. Unfortunately some of these leaps in logic are a little too hard to swallow and simply can’t be ignored. Despite a stellar performance by Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko, the character isn’t utilised as much as he should have been. He seems to disappear half way through the film and we never really get to see much of his journey as he set out for revenge on Stark Industries. As super hero villains go Ivan’s motivations come off feeling pretty generic and not very interesting. It’s a feud that was established due to Stark's deceased father, which makes it hard for us to as the audience to really connect with this rivalry. It seems unfounded right from the very beginning. Given just a bit more screen time and a better back story Ivan Vanko could have been a great antagonist for Stark but as it stands it's hard to see him as a truly dangerous adversary.
The action scenes are jaw dropingly awesome. What may seem like a fairly simple scene where Ivan Vanko takes out only a few a cars at the Grand Prix proves to be one of the highlights of the film due to how it’s masterfully filmed and edited. It’s a very intense scene. Seeing Vanko calmly walk out and just unless hell with his electrified whips is a spectacle to behold. The final action sequence between Stark and an army of droids through the city in the film is also great, especially one bit in particular where he uses a certain secret weapon which I won’t spoil. Needless to say, it’s awesome.
Iron Man 2 doesn’t do much wrong at all as a sequel. The only problem is that it unfortunately doesn’t do much new either. All the good points of the first film remain, which in itself makes Iron Man 2 a perfectly solid and enjoyable experience but more risks should have been taken. Hopefully in the next instalment new avenues will be taken with the characters. Seeing a more in-depth and personal side to Stark, especially his potential alcoholism and the development between him and Pepper Potts during this would be very interesting to see. It’s hard to see where another Iron Man instalment would take us as it ends focusing more on setting up the Avengers film than it does another sequel. Regardless of this there’s a whole multitude of routes for Iron Man to take so it will be interesting to see what happens next.
