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Lacking much of the brains and heart of Iron Man, Iron Man 2 mistakes more for better and chaotic, often headache-inducing over-indulgence for thrilling action set pieces. There is still much to like, but it just isn’t quite as tart, smart or breezy as the first time around. It never betters its predecessor, but it does offer two hours of fun blockbuster entertainment, however thin an endorsement that may be. And, thankfully, there’s no craptacular 3D version of to be found.
Whatever the specific problems with Iron Man 2 are, it is not the cast. Each performer seems game and strikes the correct note, even if one or two seem slightly miscast, they still manage to give it their best shot and seem to be having a good time. Robert Downey Jr. embeds the same sense of manic narcissism and rock star-level theatricality to the role, and goes deeper to showcase the self-destructive alcoholism and neediness hidden beneath the charming playboy veneer. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Pepper Potts and generates the kind of sparks with RDJ that haven’t been seen since His Girl Friday. Should they ever decide to remake that movie (shudder), sign up Paltrow and RDJ immediately because their quick back-and-forth is a pleasure. Don Cheadle, in a needless bit of recasting, doesn’t do anything better or worse than Terrence Howard in the same role. Sam Rockwell, normally so reliable, tended to grate my nerves with his simpering, whiny little-boy-playing-dress-up performance, I’m not sure if the fault is with the performance or the character. The truth is possibly somewhere in-between. And Scarlett Johansson, under-used and not given much to do besides pout and kick-ass, gives it her best. It’s nice to see a girl kick ass and show that she can take down all of the boys in a genre predominantly focused on male-centric action.
The best performance belongs to Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, a composite character of Blacklash and Crimson Dynamo. With his too-tanned skin, covered in tattoos, bad teeth and bleary-eyed-yet-pinpoint-focus, he makes the character seem far too real and dark for the rest of the proceedings. He is also underutilized, completely forgotten after a great set-up, awesome reveal (that outfit can only be described as gladiator BDSM-chic) and the best action sequence in the film. While Rockwell’s character gets a satisfying resolve, Rourke goes out cheaply and appears briefly which speaks to the biggest problem with the film: the script.
Iron Man 2 either has too much story or not enough to fit the run time. Since plot lines and characters are dropped, forgotten, tossed aside or so poorly utilized shows that maybe it’s a combination of both. With so many main characters and storyline vying for attention things are bound to get lost in the shuffle. That the film ends with a ridiculously long, ear-bleeding loud fight sequences between Iron Man and War Machine and hordes of robotic soldiers is a chance at finally firing off the action sequence load the film so sporadically stroked itself off towards.
When the dust finally settled, Iron Man 2 wasn’t awful. It was disappointing, forgettable but entertaining. Sporadically featuring the same tart and sharp wit in the original, but bogging itself down too much with unnecessary filler, Iron Man 2 plays like a stop-gap before the Avengers film.
