Iron Man was a surprise smash two years ago. No one seemed to have any expectations for the original, and upon discovering that it was great, they loved.
Iron Man 2 had expectation, and according to the reviews, it didn’t live up to them.
The Good
I thought the acting was really solid, the story was intelligent, and the effects were excellent.
Robert Downey Jr. continued to play a superb Tony Stark.
Don Cheadle was great as Rhodey. He was the right balance of persistent, level-headed, and bad-ass.
Samuel L. Jackson was perfect as Nick Fury, but he was literally the man that the modern incarnation of the character was based on in both look and tone. The role was made for him.
Mickey Rourke was an excellent villain conglomeration of the comic book versions of Whiplash, Crimson Dynamo, and Titanium Man. I even liked the stuff with his pet bird.
Scarlett Johansson really sold the Black Widow. I didn’t think she could pull it off, but damn it, she did.
This wasn’t really an action movie, it was very character-centered. I think that’s a good thing.
They also introduced Black Widow in a way that she was sexual, and certainly enticing for Stark, but never ventured into the cliche love triangle territory a la Spider-Man 3.
The Not So Good
The action was a little bit too light; especially in the final battle. I would have liked to see Whiplash duke it out longer with Iron Man and War Machine.
The Ugly
Nothing stood out as outrageously bad to me.
The Bottom-line
I haven’t read any reviews of the movie, I’ve just looked at the scores (I don’t read reviews of movies that I intend to review myself until I am done with my review), but I don’t understand the low scores. I didn’t see any obvious or glaring weakness.
I really enjoyed Iron Man 2 and wholeheartedly recommend it.
Spoiler
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Look away if you haven’t seen Iron Man 2 yet. This spoiler is about the last battle of the film.
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Iron Man and War Machine actually “crossed the streams” to defeat Whiplash. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed that, but it made me crack-up.
If you don’t understand the reference, please do yourself a favor and go watch Ghostbusters.
The Geek Whisperer 