Ever since the idea behind “Iron Man” was introduced, everyone has had their own take on how this series should go. For years, Marvel Studios has been dominating the box office with one hit after another, and to me no project they have stood behind is more real than this one thanks to the careful direction of Jon Favreau.
Sort of picking up where the last one left off, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has moved from hiding his secret as Iron Man to exposing it quite often. And for the most part, this worked, as people needed to see they were protected and as far as Stark was concerned, he would keep his promise to do exactly that. Problem is, not everyone saw Stark as a hero as his own technology was being questioned and sanctioned for review. Without a rival competitor to Stark Industries, the review was shut down creating a wedge between Stark and the government he vowed to protect. This wedge was helped by new weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) who had his own ideas on protection. Stopping at nothing to upstage Stark at his own expo, Hammer enlists the help of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) to help build his own line of armored suits. But, when his plan gets upstaged by Vanko’s own scheme for revenge against him, Stark is forced to trust a new and unknown resource dubbed S.H.I.E.L.D. leading to a wild conclusion fill of surprises.
If you haven’t bought into Robert Downey Jr. and this role as Iron Man, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for. I can’t think of anyone else that could pull off Tony Stark the way Downey Jr. does each and every time he has to. It’s one thing for the Iron Man ‘suit” to be flying around and what-not. Downey Jr. is obviously not in that, so most of what we get is him as Stark or brief moments of his face within the suit, which are great. He has transformed this character into his own, built with all the edginess and cockiness needed to play such a man as Tony Stark. So why it may not hold up to the Michael Keaton’s or Christopher Reeve’s of this genre, it’s about as close as it gets.
“Iron Man 2” features almost an entirely new cast aside from Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, who once again was great in her role as Pepper Potts. Leading this “new” group of supporters was Don Cheadle, who had the difficult task of stepping into the role of Rhodey, which was previously held by the disgruntled Terrance Howard. He not only made the transition seamless, he added a bit more poise to the role, which was nice to see. Other notable additions were Samuel Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, both of which that left you wanting more once the S.H.I.E.L.D. sub-plot broke. And finally there was Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke, who each were tremendous playing the token villains of the story.
There’s a lot to take from “Iron Man 2” and where it stands in the overall Marvel cinematic universe. I think it was the perfect second installment and one that leads you to upcoming Marvel films through well placed hints before and after the credits roll. The core of this sequel, like the first is the fact nothing seemed too over-the-top, including the amazing 20-minute action sequence toward the end. No special effects or CGI overshadows the story and guess what, it worked. I feel it’s that simple for this genre, which has the tendency to get too caught up with special effects and it looking too flashy. Director Jon Favreau seemed to go out of his way to shoot this film to make it seem a bit grainy and simple, which I think helped the overall look to it.
There’s a reason why this series has become somewhat of the fuel behind a future “The Avengers” film in a couple of years. Without the success of “Iron Man,” there would be no anticipated “Thor” or “Captain America” projects in the pipeline. I just hope it all comes together in the right manner, honoring all the characters many have grown up with on the thin pages of a comic book. I only wish Jon Favreau could direct all the films, as he seems to just “get it” when it comes to filming within this genre. “Iron Man 2” shows his ‘will,’ making it the perfect DVD to buy or grab from your local redbox kiosk.
B+
For more movie reviews by Marcus, click here