May 11, 2010 09:55 AM
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In the world of superheroes, all the Batmans, Supermans, Spidermans, Hulks and X-Men are constantly saving mankind from the cataclysmic forces of evil but in the world of movies, they have a far stronger nemesis to battle. Here, our Superheroes have to battle themselves. Meaning, The sequel has to outperform its predecessor. Mankind doesn't accept distinction as the Superhero's strength. It simply warrants comparison in order to find similarities. "Oh the 'Dark Knight' was better than 'Batman Begins' and so too was 'Spiderman II' than 'Spiderman I' as was 'Incredible Hulk' than 'Hulk' but 'Superman II' was not as good as 'Superman' nor was any of the 'X-Men' better than their original" etc etc.... While 'Spiderman' excelled with Sam Raimi and cute boy Tobey, 'Batman' had the darkness of Christopher Nolan and composure of Bale. But none of the superheroes have one critical factor that IronMan does....... ROBERT F DOWNEY JR.!! Jon Favreau has re-written the IronMan that Marvel created and Downey Jr. is solely responsible for the mayhem. This loose cannon character continues to be arrogant and foolhardy but at the same time, ultra cool at what he does. When it is his time to battle, he is an indefatigable Power Suit that can unleash more weapons from his arsenal than perhaps the US Army. With a shrapnel in his heart, Tony Stark is the flirtatious, hard-drinking, often careless billionaire who has no agenda against evil save the anxiety to obliterate them with his machinery. This IronMan needs no introduction and therefore, there isn't any discovery element to the sequel. Rather, there is an omnipresent threat of IronMan's technology coming into wrong hands; which it does. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the Russian physicist son of Anton Vanko (who partnered with Tony Stark's father before they had a fall out over a new technology) seeks revenge for his family's ruin and as Whiplash, he boldly and brutally interrupts the Monaco GP, challenging Stark for an impromptu duel. But Little did he know about that briefcase.... Stark's competitor, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) subsequently plans the escape of Vanko from prison to give him a playground where he could create an army that would overpower IronMan and make billions for Hammer Industries. Lt. Col. Rhodey (Don Cheadle) on the other hand is frustrated with Stark's carelessness but is bound by his friendship with him. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) still tries to balance Tony Stark's life, this time in a professional manner. We are also introduced to Marvel's Black Widow played by Scarlett Johansson who plays Natalie Rushman, after looking at whom Stark's reaction is, "I want one!". She is employed by Nick Fury's (Samuel Jackson) S.H.I.E.L.D. that insists on Iron Man becoming stronger for his adversaries while they plan an elusive saga of their own.
With so much happening, one could get disengaged from the multiple characters and sub-plots but when your seat vibrates with the motion of the incoming Iron Man flying into the screen for the climax, all you can do is whistle loud. Hammer's droid army (with a pre-programmed War Machine for Lt. Cl. Rhodey) attack IronMan all throughout the Stark Expo and the final showdown includes the bad-ass Whiplash at his formidable best. With AC/DC rocking in the background, the metal clanging is intense and exhilarating but one does wish for more of Whiplash especially with Rourke's excellent portrayal of the cunning Ivan Vanko.
That said, Jon Favreau's sequel to IronMan is by no means a weak film. Performances are excellent, screenplay is absorbing and the action is explosive. It is clear that Favreau and Downey Jr. were simply enjoying themselves filming every scene. Downey's mischief, bravado, recklessness and ineptitude at being composed is altogether great fun to watch. He is as much fun outside his suit as he is inside it and that; is essentially Favreau's strength with this franchise. One cannot watch a full length film on Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker but Tony Stark??! Hell Yeah! While the newer characters and metal clanging may have displeased some fans of the 'Strictly Part 1' superhero movies, it does please comic book fans who get some introduction to the vast world of Marvel Comics with Whiplash , Black Widow, War Machine.
These fans will be mighty pleased with the explosive action and characters while the rest who complaint have surely enjoyed Robert Downey Jr's entertainment. In the end, Stark's courtroom quote sums up the IronMan franchise's core strength and distinction: "I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one". - 8.887 on a scale of 1-10.
P.S. - Marvel fans: Stay put till after the credits.
