Two years ago, Robert Downey Jr. surprised us all. Turning a great performance in the first “Iron Man”, he turned a sub-par comic book hero into a vibrant, interesting movie character that ultimately, greatly boosted the quality of that film. Today, “Iron Man 2″ is out, and I must say: It’s better than the first. Yes, the plot here is a total mess. Yes, this film introduces many new characters and gives only a few of them satisfying conclusions by the film’s end. Yes, the plot-lines are quite messy and often come out of nowhere. And yet, somehow, the film overcomes all these faults and goes on to be quite simply, Hollywood entertainment at its finest.
You’ve most likely seen the first, but I’ll refresh you on the plot: Billionaire arms dealer Tony Stark has invented a suit that can fly, shoot rockets, and looks rather cool to boot, calling himself “Iron Man”. With this suit he fights world crime, and when he releases his identity as Iron Man it results in a wave of publicity. With this sequel, several new plotlines are added, including a Russian inventor who wants revenge on the Stark family, a new assistant to Tony who moonlights as a secret agent, and a plotline where the very device that keeps the Iron Man suit powered is beginning to fatally poison Tony’s blood.
The thing about the “Iron Man” films that I admire so much is that whilst most films these days design the big, flashy action sequences first and work the plot around the action, in “Iron Man” the action feels like a natural extension to the story. The action, although used sparingly, is really quite great: Two scenes in particular stand out, a scene set in a Monaco drag-race and the 30-minute climax. They are inventive, engaging, and best of all make sense within the context of the plot.
The best thing about “Iron Man 2″ is without a doubt, the dialogue. In most blockbusters, the worst aspect is often hearing the characters converse with one another. In this movie you relish it: Fast-paced and witty most of the time, but also menacing and even tender when the plot calls for it. Once again, Robert Downey Jr. is great in this film, perhaps better than he was in the first film due to the improved dialog.
The cast is amazing in this film. Sam Rockwell plays a snotty rival arms dealer to Tony, and probably gets the best dialogue in the film: He’s great. Mickey Rourke plays the villain, Whiplash, and I would think from the trailer that he would be laughably bad in this film, but he’s actually quite great. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Tony Stark’s assistant Pepper Potts, and once again has great chemistry with Downey Jr.
As I stated before, the plot is a total mess. Several storylines swirl about in this film, some more interesting than others, and yet we are so entertained throughout the film that we simply don’t care. At least, that’s the case for me.
Overall, “Iron Man 2″ is a total blast. The action is great and actually (take note, filmmakers of America) makes sense. The dialogue is quite literally a pleasure to even listen to, and the characters are actually quite well-developed throughout. This is what blockbusters should be like, and it gives me some solace that for every “Transformers 2″ or “2012″ we have a film as good as “Iron Man 2″. 3.5 stars out of 4.
By Ryan