Back to Back good Comic Sequels?: A Review of Iron Man 2

Now that the dust has settled from the most anticipated opening weekend in quite sometime, I will let you know what I thought of the Marvel sequel, Iron Man 2. I was pumped to get tickets to see it at midnight Thursday night (you the man Woody). The last comic book sequel I saw was The Dark Knight so this one had a lot to live up to…

This one fell short, way short. The story picks up right where it left off after Tony Stark has just announced that he is Iron Man. We are introduced to the main villain, Ivan Vanko (played by Mickey Rourke), right away and his connection to Stark seems promising. You have heard me on my soapbox before about how movies must have a good story and not just great effects. One of the most frustrating things about this one was that it started off with so much potential that was later unreached.

The plot’s central conflict centers around the relationship between the fathers of Vanko and Stark. The two were both friends who worked together to create technology that helped change the world… then Stark had Vanko deported. That’s all we know. There are no flashbacks of the two working together, nothing of toddlers Tony and Ivan growing up as friends, nothing about how the father’s argued over the use of their innovations, nothing. All we know is he was sent back to Russia, and for that, Ivan wants to kill Tony (I can’t say I’ve lived in post-Cold War Russia, but this seems like one heck of a grudge).

Tony’s character has gone off the deep end. Part of what makes the first movie great is the way he balances the line between a cocky genius and an arrogant narcissist. This one leaves the balancing behind. His persona is over-the-top and much of what he does (getting hammered in the suit) doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of what we know about his character. Another deviation from the film’s predecessor is the lack of discussion of the technology that we see at work. When lithium dioxide instantaneously cures Tony’s blood toxicity levels (did anyone else notice it went from 19% to 87% in like half an hour and he didn’t seem to concerned?) or when he constructs a particle collider balanced by a Captain America shield (great Avengers promo) that creates a completely new element, the audience is just supposed to accept what they’ve seen without any explanation. And while we are one the subject, his dad’s life work was hidden in a model city that he knew his son would be able to render digitally on a wall and then virtually dismantle until he discovered a new element that could be created in a matter of hours? I don’t buy it.

While I am being pretty harsh, their were some good parts. Mickey Rourke is great. I’m not sure if he actually got into Vanko’s character or if he played his own crazy self with a Russian accent. Regardless it worked and he is a great comic villain. Scarlett Johansen was forgettable, but replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle was a great move. I am usually not a fan of changing characters in the middle of a franchise, especially comic films (neither is Joey see here). But Cheadle is great (although some of his character’s part in the overall plot don’t make a whole lot of sense either). Don’t even get me started on the crazy magic that transformed Pepper Potts went from a supportive personal assistant to a demanding CEO right before our very eyes.

This film fell into the trap that many sequels do of leeching off of the hype generated by its predecessor. The plot struggled and the character development didn’t seem to sync, but the most troubling part was that it had so much potential! It was an ok movie at best, and I had to be tough on it because I know everyone is going to blindly say that they liked it. Just be glad I didn’t go all PoliSci major on you and rant about the atrocity that was the Congressional hearing in the film’s onset!


1.5 out of 5 Stars


Let me hear how wrong I am about this one (or if you secretly agree, but don’t want to tell your friends). E-mail us at clawandnussreviews@gmail.com. And for those of you who are western enthusiasts, don’t worry, the detour is over…for now.


-Nuss