Flicks-a-saurus Rex

Iron Man 2

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett
Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Paul Bettany and Jon Favreau

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.



The summer deluge of “B” average sequels and over the top action flicks has started off with the loud clang of iron being forged. Out of the fire comes a not too shabby, if not anti climatic, return of Iron Man. It is a sequel, one packed with characteristics all “good: sequels must come with, too many top named actors, plots that split and twist into thirty new directions, more action, more stuff blowing up, more flaws in the hero, serious personal troubles that make carrying the responsibility of policing the world too difficult, and on and on and on.
Simplicity is too easy an answer and beyond the grasp of Hollywood writers so instead Iron Man 2 has a plot similar to Pirates of the Caribbean 2, entertaining yes, but elusive! Iron Man 2 wasn’t nearly as crazy as Pirates 2 but it still follows that same BIGGER AND BETTER idea. Hopefully they will grasp that and Iron Man 3 will scale it back a little.



I went into the move with relatively low expectations. Hollywood has broken my heart a few too many times recently and so I wasn’t expecting much. Robert Downey Jr of course was as good as ever. He is a witty actor who knows how to deliver a line with sincerity and realism. He is hilarious, one of the best actors of our time and Iron Man 2 does not hold him back. There are a couple of scenes where he is stomping around in his CGI suit with the face shield up, where he looks kind of stupid, but that happens I guess.



Don Cheadle makes for a great Rhodey, some liked him better than Terrance Howard. For the record I love Don Cheadle and he never disappoints, but I am one for keeping the originals. Like when the first 4 Batman movies came out and the last two had Val Kilmer and then George Clooney for Batman, I was just a kid and I was still way bugged that there couldn’t be any consistency. The same thing bugs me here too. But Cheadel worked just fine and it wasn’t a huge deal because he was in the film about as much as Gwyneth Paltrow, who incidentally was a wreck on screen. It was like she forgot to watch Iron Man before filming and so ignored the lat Pepper Pots and a gave us this new one who was a big spaz. I guess they needed her to contrast the ever so HOT but completely emotionless Scarlett Johanson. I guess when you get so many stars in one movie things just get dull.



Mickey Rourke was just plain scary. It was like The Wrestler with a doctorate in physics. He looked pretty awesome, but let’s face it, we already saw a bigger badder suit in Iron Man 1 with Obadiah Stane’s take on Iron man. I guess they justified Ivan Vanko’s (Mickey Rourke) smaller suit with the 30 other Iron Man suits running around blowing stuff up and Vanko’s wicked but ultimately useless energy whips.

Samuel L. Jackson had a small bit part where he tries to play the fatherly and wise leader. He is mildly entertaining, but there is little need for his part in the movie. It was more of a toss in for the comic book fans and had little need for the plot development. Sam Rockwell was fun to watch. He was the sniveling competitor with Stark industries and had all the classic symptoms of spineless jealousy. He was none the less a fun villain.



Ultimately Iron man 2 is a decent sequel that will thrill the action and comic book fans but will fail to impress any serious film watchers. There is very little depth in the film and it is a bit anti climatic. The film fails to put many of the pieces in place and leaves the audience with a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle about three fourths completed. It’s entertaining, but not that great. 7 out of 10.

Sex/Nudity – 4 out of 10 – There are some sexual innuendos, we see a woman dressing in the back seat of a car, and we see her in a bra. We see a photo of a woman posing in lingerie.

Violence/Gore – 6 out of 10 – There is a lot of stuff blowing up and guns going off and fighting and punching and all the stuff seen in a million other movies. The
violence involves very few people getting hurt or at least little visible injury. A man does kill a couple of people. There is some fit-a-cuff and a little bit of blood and bruises on faces.

Profanity - 5 out of 10 - 2 bleeped out “F” words and a few other mild obscenities and religious exclamations.