Iron Man 2 (2010) with Trailer

After the surprise success of the first Iron Man movie, came the obvious and apparent sequel. As with many sequels, the diminishing returns are unfortunately evident. Carrying on from the previous film where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) has just announced to the world that he is, in fact, Iron Man. A playboy millionaire with a superhero alter-ego. What is very much a refreshing change from the norm of many superheroes characters, is the fact that he doesn't have to hide who he his. No conflict of personalities or change of persona. Or, that is what Stark is trying to portray to the public. Deep down, what he is hiding is a slow and painful death resulting in his antics as Iron Man. The suit that keeps him alive is slowly poisoning him.

Following the rigid format of a typical comic book film, where there is a superhero there must be a villain (or villains).This comes in the form of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke playing a role not to dissimilar to his previous film The Wrestler except with less words and less grunting). A quick intro of Ivan shows how he feels his father (an ex-employee of Stark industries) has been deprived and bereaved of his accomplishments. He feels Stark's father has claimed these as his own. As well as Ivan, there is the (obvious) rival company run by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who wishes to develop his own army of Iron Men for financial gain. When Ivan fails at his attempt on Stark's life, Hammer see this as an opportunity to team up with Ivan to develop his technology to advance his own. With Stark hiding his own battle with health and continual conflict with the government over his reluctant co-operation over the Iron Man technology, everything begins to mount up as a climatic battle ensues when Hammer's super Military Drones (controlled by Ivan) to go up against Stark in a battle of man against machines.

What is considerably lacking in this film is the shortage of tension or any real sense of danger. This big screen comic book action adventure just doesn't fulfil your desired expectations. There's a sense of impression that no one is really in peril. It's just the way the film flows. Robert Downey Jr's performance is very relaxed and comes across as if there is no trouble or menace that cannot be overcome with a witty quip/one liner. The final battle fX between the drones and Iron Man are spectacular and eye boggling at times but the same can't be said for the Monte Carlo racing scene. It doesn't capture sense of speed or excitement, with the race cars looking very obvious like CGI instead of the real thing.

Another problem I encountered was the pace in which the lines were delivered by characters in the film. Particularly the exchanges between Stark (Downey) and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). The dialogue between the two of them goes at a hundred miles an hour at times and can be very annoying to decipher. Stark comes across like a man high on drugs. Uttering words like they are going out of fashion. The performance to me seem a little lackadaisical and not as genuine as it could (or should) have been.

Humour is scattered around throughout the film and allows the film to live in it's own universe which is probably what I found a little deviating and creates little or no suspense. If you can live with Downey's performance then you'll tolerate the whole flaw the film has created for itself. I feel they haven't allowed enough development in characterisation. Even with his apparent battle and struggle with his impending death, you never feel like he was ever in any danger of dying. If you can't make the hero look like he has any weaknesses then there is no jeopardy or endangerment. The other problem is the villain isn't villainous enough. No matter how menacing you make Rourke look, he never seems to be an even match for Downey's Iron Man.

With this also being a link to the forthcoming Avengers film (a super group of superheroes!) the film is continually referring to characters and plot points towards a bigger picture. It's not a major problem as long as you know your Avengers back story or group dynamics but for others it may look a bit out of place within the film and some of you may wonder what the hell is going on. Who is Nick Fury? Why are they going on about this Avenger initiative and how does it progress the plot? It doesn't really have any bearing except to allow some tentative link for a couple of films to crossover to allow for the up and coming Avengers movie. It's not a massive negative and fan boys would probably love it but for Joe public it may seem a bit disjointed.

A lackluster and laid back sequel which disappoints as well as annoys in places (the middle segment of the narrative almost put me to sleep). A decent enough fX to please the brain dead but the film's overall emphasis on fun and witty one liners doesn't allow any real danger to exist. A failure to expand and develop with a heavy reliant on fX and humour to pass off as progress is a sad state of affairs. A sequel which like many sequel's pales in comparison to the original, which should come as no surprise then. Vapid, hollow and regurgitates old grounds.

Acting 3/5

Technical Merit 3/5

Narrative 2.5/5

Entertainment 3/5

11.5/20