Iron Man 2 (2010)

I was not one to rush after movies based on comic books unless I was enthusiastic to do so. The only time I bought this movie was as part of a compilation of movies squeezed into one disc, namely this one, Iron Man 3, Michael Bay's Transformers trilogy, Real Steel, and Pacific Rim.  However having bought them all I decided to watch them, particularly a sequel to the first Iron Man movie, which I could not watch due to capacity despite the print. My review will not be valid enough due to not having watched the first movie along with its sequels.

So we open up with the logo of the studio behind this movie as well as the last one, Paramount. There is a voice-over, not exactly a narration to begin with thankfully. It is also shown that Marvel Studios is behind this, not just Marvel. After that sequence of logos, we see a guy from the last movie who is a father to the main villain, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke). They are all the way in Moscow, Russia, where on television Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has revealed himself to the world as Iron Man. Now I do not recognize this dying old man and I probably would need to find out who he is.

I can understand that this movie slightly deviates from the cliche of "the death of a protagonist's parental figure" by having the antagonist lose their figure. Also, there is no prologue or series of flashbacks that recount events from the last movie, so this gives the audience who has not watched the first movie more reason to purchase and watch it later. I can vouch that the director has learned from previous Marvel movies by ditching the abundant cliches from the Spider-Man movies before it.

So now Ivan engineers his own weapon based on the Iron Man design. I would ask myself how he obtained this sensitive information in the first place, but given his father's last word it would be safe to say that the father pilfered the blueprint. So there is a montage of his scheme to build the weapon and take his vendetta out on Tony Stark. Unsurprisingly by revealing his identity to the world, Stark has provoked tension from all sides including his enemies.

 After the title card we finally see the man of iron himself, and boy is he enjoying the limelight. (This happens six months later.) However, Iron Man's presence is just for the reception; Tony Stark is the real guest of the show, so the suit has to be dismantled for the time being. Stark must have a way with words, swooning the crowd with his exhibition and consort. Like any billionaire he is a philanthropist, not afraid to speak and certainly makes the best of any adverse scenario.

Now we are at the Senate Armed Service Committee in Washington, D.C., where Stark is joined by Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). This is just one scenario where the U.S. government has intervened to confiscate Stark's Iron Man technology. He refutes and the congregation is amused by Stark's retort. In the hall is also an entrepreneur, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). With these two in the conference hall, it is a field day for the journalists and the military. So why is everyone on Stark's neck? He is a billionaire and owns the technology that can fall into the wrong hands, as if it was not evident enough from the beginning. Government politics must be a perpetual bore for anyone who expected to see the Iron Man machine himself.

Anyone would be asking: "Is this what he spent six months working on? That's pretty much a letdown." I do have to admit that with all that blueprint he could have build up something even more overwhelming. But at least the electric whips are a weapon to avoid.

It looks like the palladium core is depleting, and the device that is implanted in his chest is keeping him alive but is simultaneously killing him. That is too much to comprehend. So this is why he won't be using the iron man suit more often in this movie. I smell a bad sign.

I guess there must be something else the actor has to work with. All these CGI holograms must be an overkill. However, it is the constant banter with this woman in the middle, Virginia Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Palthrow) that seems to go on without giving it a break. Together they are just like a married couple, even though they aren't. There is going to be more of Tony Stark on screen with various characters and less of Iron Man and the action with him.

So after 31 minutes we finally watch the action unfold. Before then we had to watch Tony Stark face hurdles with various characters. But why not? If Iron Man was to be present at all times, Stark would be just be a nut in a shell and be just so uninteresting to the viewers. It was worth watching a chemistry brew among the characters, as is required if we are to grow immensely with anyone in this movie. So Ivan has made it all the way to the Monaco Grand Prix. He found a way, as revealed by a quick scene where he has insiders who present him a passport and pamphlets to the event. As I recall his weapon is deadly; it is sharp enough to cut through metal, let alone wood and plastic. It is also visually appeasing to watch the Iron Man suit unfold from a case, thanks to the cutting-edge C.G.I. However, the fight doesn't last long enough to be captivating when the suit is so impervious to the electric whips while the cars are sliced into chunks. Perhaps Ivan intended to cause slow pain on Stark before killing him.

Justin Hammer was grossly impressed by the debacle on the race track and decides to recruit Ivan. Hammer has his own vendetta on Stark. It doesn't make sense, however, that Hammer's contract has been revoked (or is on hold) since the military inclined to Hammer in the committee earlier. Perhaps he wants Ivan to showcase his technological endeavor to secure his contract once again.

53 minutes later, Stark is throwing a party. In the meantime James Rhodes has warned him to turn over the Iron Man suits tot the government, a constant request (or order) which unsurprisingly Tony refutes to comply with. The U.S. government has reprimanded Tony for turning his suit into a toy; ironically that is what he does at this party. He shoots up watermelons and engages in a duel with Rhodes who suits up, somehow. Anyone would ask themselves how Stark neglects security so that anyone including Rhodes himself, could easily have infiltrated his arsenal and stolen the hardware. So despite Stark revealing his identity to the world, he forgets to install high-tech security on his home. Thus the government's intervention. I guess every protagonist is not without any flaws.

There is one thing about this movie that renders it utterly laughable: "I want my bird". Ivan has grown so attached to his cockatoo that we have to endure the overly repeated use of the word "bird". Try to be engaged with this story while bombarded by the repetition of the same word.

Now there is more to Tony Stark that contributed to his waywardness: his father's resentment towards him. If it is not the "death of the protagonist's father" cliche that's rife in every comic book movie, it is his resentment towards him. This is the plot point that defines a hero of this movie with flaws. Exploring a man under the iron suit is just like exploring the nut beneath the shell. As I have mentioned, it's not a real superhero movie if we do not understand the characters; action, explosions and visual extravaganza are insufficient for anyone if characters are left to fade into the abyss.