Iron Man 2

I was looking forwards to Iron Man 2 upon hearing it was going to be similar to Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle. This by no means meant I went in with an expectation of seeing Downey, Rockwell, Paltrow and Rourke acting in an adaptation of the well respected comic arc, but more with elements of that story rooted within a film that would exceed the success of the first film.

It is safe to say I was not disappointed. Despite what critics are saying about the film being a confused mass of unnecessary stunts, insane amounts of villains and advertisements for 2012’s Avengers movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The plot, similarly to the Demon In A Bottle story explores Tony Stark’s alcoholism as he deals with his publicly known double life. Yet again Downey portrayed the character with that hint of perfection. The humour was brilliant and the chemistry between him and Paltrow is adorable and almost heartbreaking at the same time. However, in terms of acting the performance that sticks in my mind is that of Sam Rockwell.

Justin Hammer, for those who haven’t seen the film, is Tony Stark’s business rival. A weapons developer who continually comes second best to Stark. Thankfully in the movie the character of Hammer isn’t a British OAP running around in his tartan dressing gown. It was decided that for the movie to work Hammer needed to be closer to Stark’s age and they could not have picked a better actor for the role. Rockwell (known for his portrayal of Wild Bill in The Green Mile and his phenomenal acting in 2009’s Moon) bought everything to the performance and once again he shone. He pulled off the bitter hatred, the rivalry, the geekiness and the deviance of the character so well that I’m struggling to find an adjective to quite describe it. In my opinion, he was defiantly the highlight of the film.

Other newcomers to the cast included Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, much like Rockwell she pulled the part off superbly, but the performance did not match his. Don Cheadle took up the mantle of Rhodey after Terrance Howard and Marvel Studio’s reportedly had disputes over the sequel; personally I don’t think he pulled the character off as well as his predecessor though I’m convinced if I watch the film several more times I’ll warm up to him.

Enough about the acting though, I’d like to point something out to any critics out there. A major thing people are complaining about is that the film was like an advert for the Avengers. Yes, in away it was. But I really hate to say it, I think you’ll find it was necessary. Why? Because when it hits May 2012 that film won’t be as painfully long or boring because Tony Stark will be acquainted with the S.H.I.E.L.D related characters of Nick Fury and Black Widow. It was no damn different to Robert Downey Jr cropping up in the pre-credits scene of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk talking about the Avengers Initiative and making a Captain America reference. Again, it was no different to the post -credit scene of Iron Man where Fury and Stark initially meet. So I’d like to ask that when the film will be beneficial to tying in to the 2012 movie why everyone feels the need to complain about the post-credit scene that ties into 2011s Thor movie or the cameo the partially made Captain America shield made? Its not like Tony was asked what the shield was and got a history of Steve Rogers when he used it to make his science fair project level and its not like we got the legend of Thor crammed down our throats. My inner fan girl squealed a little at those two iconic objects making an appearance and anyone who isn’t aware of them wouldn’t have batted an eyelid; so I’d like to give Marvel Studios a big thumbs up for whacking them in there, they give the movie a little bit of an “oh wow its…” factor.

All in all I enjoyed it. As of yet I’m confused as to if I enjoyed it more than the first and I don’t think it’s right a lot of people are slating it on sight; its very different to the first movie, the plot is ten times more complicated. It’s kind of like going from vanilla ice-cream to eating chocolate fudge cake one is fuller and richer and harder to digest. I will say though, for a slice of chocolate fudge cake Iron Man 2 is worth a watch and I’d tell anyone to go see it if they enjoy a good bit of action and some laughs.