PG-13, 124m., 2010
Cast & Credits: Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Don Cheadle (Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes/War Machine), Scarlett Johansson (Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer), Mickey Rourke (Ivan Vanko), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), John Slattery (Howard Stark), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), Paul Bettany (Jarvis – voice), Kate Mara (U.S. Marshal), Leslie Bibb (Christine Everhart), Garry Shandling (Senator Stern). Screenplay by Justin Theroux based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Directed by Jon Favreau.
I doubt die-hard fans will walk away disappointed here. Like the original, there are plenty of action sequences as billionaire weapons inventor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), dons his red metallic super suit with the gold face and lighted white eyes making appearances at technology expos, entertaining guests at his birthday bash, and fighting off adversaries with longtime beefs at the same time.
Fans of Marvel Comics’ other superhero series will be pleased at how Iron Man 2 briefly ties into other soon-to-be-made movie franchises. Nick “I got my eye on you” Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the mysterious one-eyed character seen at the end of the first Iron Man film has a somewhat larger role here attempting to see if Stark could be a candidate for his own superhero team called The Avengers. That Marvel series is supposedly planned for 2012. Captain America, also another Marvel adaptation headed to the big screen in 2011, also makes an appearance here, in vague spirit that is. In one scene, Stark uses Captain America’s shield to steady one of his laser inventions.
I have never read, much less even picked up an issue of an Iron Man comic book to know about any of the villains. Mickey Rourke’s muscle-bound tattooed villain Ivan Vanko, who gets the name Whiplash because of his deadly energy whips, however reminded me of Max Cady, the convicted felon Robert De Niro played in the remake Cape Fear (1991). By comparison, Cady’s body also boasted a number of tattoos but with vengeful quotes from The Bible. Perhaps the two were cellmates at one time.
Vanko’s rugged towering appearance alone is menacing enough that it don’t matter if half the time he is speaking with a thick Russian accent, much to the annoyance of flawed military industrialist and Stark rival, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell).
Just as I lack a lot of Iron Man trivial knowledge about the bad guys, I also know nothing about Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), the mysterious redheaded secretary hired by Stark’s newly appointed CEO Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).
I can see the ending coming from a mile away. I knew watching Iron Man 2 that eventually Justin Hammer would get his just desserts. I knew Vanko would be defeated, perhaps even live to fight another day. Given I know nothing about the fate of the character in the comics, for all I know he could return in another installment. Just as I knew a metallic army of weapon carrying drones would be no match for Iron Man and his friend, “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who when donning his own suit of armor goes by the name, War Machine.
Nor was I not surprised to find out that Johannson’s Romanoff is more than just an attractive high-heeled redhead. Safe to say, Romanoff can take care of herself when going up against Hammer’s security force. Indeed, Stark’s husky bodyguard (Jon Favreau) should have listened when she told him to just keep the car running.
Like the original that won me over thanks to the vulnerable performance by the actor inside that walking technological super weapon, I was happy to see Robert Downey Jr display that same kind of vulnerability again here but on an even darker level. It seems Tony Stark is not so “super” after all outside the suit, health wise that is. While showing a promotional film of his late father (John Slattery) talking about the company he founded, Stark takes a moment behind the curtain to check his blood cell count that’s getting dangerously low due to the mechanical heart which keeps him alive.
He is like a diabetic who is not only required to check their blood sugars daily but must take certain medications to keep them down. The medications, however, are only temporary fixes. The same goes for Stark whose energy supply has to be replenished every few hours. He is a man living on borrowed time. I can’t blame him for not wanting to do everything all at once whether it’s being the life of the party or competing in the Grand Prix. Life is short.
“What’s the point of owning a race car if you can’t drive it,” he says.
With all the toy gizmos Stark owns, one might say unless this poor soul can find a cure soon, he could literally be the person known as “He who dies with most toys wins.”
Were it not for Downey’s emotional, and often times, egotistical (“I have successfully privatized world peace.”) and entertaining roller coaster ride he takes with this character, Iron Man the franchise would be just another visual effects comic book movie where the flying deterrent is just an empty suit, or a computerized remote controlled drone. Of course, the fact Downey is also an admitted fan of the comic book series helps. I’ll be interested to see what life threatening turn the filmmakers take Tony Stark on in the third film. He’s a corporate tin man with a heartbeat, even if it is mechanical.
©5/10/10
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