[Review: Movie] Iron Man 2

Iron Man was hands down a fun movie to watch. From Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) working out the hilarious kinks in his suit, to the great clashes between him and the terrorists. Even Tony Stark himself was a witty, kick-ass character that was the comedic relief in one gigantic Starky package. Fast forward to 2010, and Iron Man 2 is. . .good.

Okay, we'll start low and build up to the best parts. So, the largest problem I had with the movie was the overabundance of Avenger hints. And I don't mean subtle, unless you count subtle as almost a quarter of the film. By the end of the movie I was wondering if I was watching Iron Man or the Avengers extended commercial. Be forewarned that a good portion of middle holds these hints and will likely dull non-fans of the comics.

Second on the "Not fun for me" list is the villain, or lack there of. Seriously, there are at least three villains here, two major, one minor, and none of them are really that intimidating. Tony Stark either blows them off or ends up blowing them up. Ivan Vanko, also known as Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) wants to kill Stark for family issues, Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) wants Stark's weapons and armor, and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) simply wants to make Stark look bad. All in all, they're a pretty poor group of villains. Especially considering, Whiplash appears as a complete bad-ass, gets his but kicked, and falls into the background for over half of the movie only to suddenly return at the end.

The plot takes the third and final spot in that, overall, there is no complete and coherent story. [Spoiler] The movie starts out with Tony Stark showing off his gadgets, kicking evil butt, and wooing the ladies. He soon finds out that the power sourced he installed in the first movie is also killing him. The movie follows this story for a while, seemingly gets bored of it, and goes off on a movie long montage of Tony being a jerk to people. [Spoiler] After many a scene that doesn't always seem necessary, Iron Man 2 finally realizes that it had a story at the start, and somewhat finishes it. Oh, and War Machine (Don Cheadle) enters. Seriously, that's how random his appearance/creation is.

Okay, I've revealed these horrid problems that would have killed any other movie, especially non-summer films, but this isn't any summer film - this is Iron Man. And one thing this film gets right (when it happens) is action, and no other movie has the kind of action charm like this one. Even the fist fights are really entertaining, with Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) pulling off some pretty crazy moves that most movies just can't capture.

While War Machine makes somewhat of a cameo in the movie, Iron Man still takes the show with his improved arm lazers and overall abilities that just never fail to entertain. Even some of the witty lines are well done and will get laughs out of most. Unfortunately, that's all I felt this movie had really going for it. Even the final fight, which has great combat sequences, ends up kind of silly and awkward.

In the end, the movie would have fallen flat on its face any other season, but the action and entertaining conversations barely hold the movie from the ground. Even though the Avengers is due out in 2012, I would have appreciated a more subtle approach. Something that only true fans would notice, not that would bug me. The story almost felt as if five people got together, decided on five different pots, and smashed them together for one incoherent film. And lastly, Tony Stark was not that much fun. In the first Iron Man he was the ultimate rich guy with an awsome attitude and a sweet suit to boot. Here he was just obnoxious and felt stiff at times. Still, the movie is a must for action movie junkies and those just itching to see a summer movie.
I don't recommend full price, but matinee sounds just cozy.

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