Certificate:
12A
Running
Time: 124 mins
Director:
Jon Favreau
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson
Genre:
Comic book, Superhero, Action
Country: USA
With the world aware of his (not so) secret
identity and the Marvel post-credits appetizer becoming a stable tradition
Favreau and co return with an ambitious movie that looks to tie in the works of
Stark senior (Howard) while forging ahead with Nick Fury’s pet project “The
Avengers Initiative”.
Stark’s ego has been let off
the leash and his presence as Iron Man is so well known he’s a sponsorship deal
away from wearing the Pepsi logo on his helmet or filming an energy drink
commercial in Japan. In a lot of ways it
is more in keeping with the human reality of superhero-dom. How many of us would actually keep it a secret
for more than fifteen minutes? Be
honest! This will only work if you’re honest. If all actors want to be rock-stars then
surely all powerful men want to be superheroes.
Stark has taken this desire to a logical conclusion and as such has
himself firmly in the sights of the U.S military machine[1]
and his competitors[2] (Justin
Hammer).
Justin Theroux’s script actually has several interesting “bigger picture” questions in it,
at least in the early stages, and the U.S. Government’s self issued Patent on
Piece[3]
has arguably caused one of its richer citizens to take it upon himself to act
as an independent contractor. There are very nice parallels to be drawn
here. The writing is clever enough to
draw, not just on Stark’s past, but on the U.S. Russia
RDJ turns in a by-the-book Tony Stark
performance. There are flashes of his
skill but nothing on par with Wonder Boys
(for example)… which would make for a really
interesting concept. Gwyneth has
even less to do, and Don Cheadle (as James Rhodes) does a solid turn at putting
Terrence Howard (Iron Man) in our rear view. Of the
new additions Mickey Rourke offers Tony Stark a different kind of villain. To most other superheroes the mass of Mickey
would present a physical foe but for Iron Man he’s a more cerebral nemesis than
first appearance would infer. Are there
issues with his accent? Oh yes. Does some of the plot holes go un-referenced? Yup.
But what Rourke does is drag the clean, polished, shiny Iron Man down
into the dirt in order to rough-house only to mix it up with a battle of wits
and technological prowess.
Johansson (as Natasha “Rushman”/ Romanoff/
Black Widow) is an inspired piece of casting.
There are stories that Emily Blunt was in line for the role before a
scheduling conflict pushed her out of contention and for my money it’s a moment
of fate. Scar-Jo gives a sensual,
physical, fierce performance. Her Black
Widow is one of the spot-on performances
of the film. Like her return to Daredevil (Issues #157-158) she is powerful, complex and with a powerfully
complex backstory. For the most part
you’ll need to read this from her DD team-ups, her own comic and her adventures
with The Avengers as there’s not much
of her character on display. She’s more
of a catalyst character in this film to push us towards a logical Avengers movie but wow! What a catalyst! Johansson has a grace to her physicality that
turns each fight into a dance. A ballet
of bruises and one that’s so pleasing to witness. Unsurprisingly the stand-out performance of
the piece is Sam Rockwell (as Justin Hammer).
Sam is one of those actors who can bring so much to so little. It’s a bit-part role that he shows off with
incredible style and effortless abundance.
A lot of the latter half of Iron Man 2 lapses into genre
convention. It’s almost as though the
engine has been killed and the car has been allowed to race downhill at its own
speed. There’s an inevitability to
that. After all it is a comic book movie, there is
an antagonist to be bested and there is
a bigger picture to be furthered.
One of the interesting elements, and it’s one that ties into the next
phrase of Marvel’s cinematic universes, is that Iron Man 2 prefaces the forthcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron. As
Stark and Rhodes take on Vanko and his army of “Iron Man inspired” Hammer
Industries fighters it should serve as a warning to Stark about the
possibilities, pitfalls and problems of A.I. within a military context. It doesn’t.
It doesn’t because of his arrogance.
He overestimates his ability to navigate where Vanko fell down and as
such sets into motion an A.I. uprising of epic proportions. The final set piece of Iron Man 2 makes for a wonderful taster and Theroux’s script sets
some strong foundations for Captain America
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