My thoughts about Iron Man 2 (Part 1 of 3)
Opening Sequence (death of Anton Vanko/ introduction of Ivan Vanko):
A great scene, loved the additional dialogue added to the lines from the original film. Rourke isn’t an actor I usually enjoy but I do think he gave a good performance in this role. I could have, however, really done without the “Superman II” scream when his father died. The parallel in the creation of the arc reactor between him and Stark in the first film was a nice touch.
Stark Expo 2010 : Preferred the take from the trailer “You complete me”. The Ironettes were hot. Thought Tony’s speech was a little over the top even for him (or RDJ). The archival film of Howard Stark had a very authentic 1970’s feel and worked well in the film. Personally, the entire sub-plot of the Palladium poisoning I could have done without. While personal health issues are a big part of the Iron Man history and mythos from the books, the way it was utilized and ultimately solved in the film was entirely too convenient and not believable. Olivia Munn is hot, but I hoped she would have had a slightly more significant cameo. Maria Hill or another character from the comics would have been my choice rather than generic reporter # 2. Nice and subtle Stan Lee cameo as Larry King. Kate Mara, who is also hot, and again I wish she could have been a more important character rather than a throw-away US Marshall. She came off very naturally in her one scene with RDJ. Don’t know where they came up with the idea that Tony doesn’t like to be handed things, but I guess it establishes some of his “Howard Hughes-like” eccentricities. It also sort of would have explained why Pepper was initially going to throw the helmet out of the back of the plane.
Senate Armed Services Committee : Again, Tony comes off a little too over-the-top and flippant. More RDJ than Tony Stark IMO, but I have to accept that movie Tony is a different character than the Tony from the comics. Justin Hammer as played by Sam Rockwell was excellent, but should have been a little more menacing. The line about not being able to leave doors open as “we are not Canada” got a laugh out of me. Don Cheadle did a respectable, if not spectacular job, as Rhodey. Just for the sake of continuity, I would have preferred to have seen Terrance Howard in the role. I think it would have added to the conflict between him and Tony having the same actor given their onscreen relationship established in the first film. The idea of the US government and other nations trying to acquire Stark Technology or develop its own armors has been central to the comics and it was interesting to see on film. The failed attempts on video were hilarious and reminded me of a similar scene from Robocop.
Stark Garage : Strange to see Tony Stark essentially accepting the fact that he is dying; giving away his art collection, appointing Pepper as CEO. It seems a little out of character given his evolution in the first film.
Boxing Ring : Scarlet Johansson would not have been my first choice for the Black Widow. Heck, she likely would not have been on my list of potential candidates at all. Having said this, I think she did alright with what she was given in terms of dialogue and action. Her entrance into the ring was smoking hot. Tony’s reaction to her was priceless. Her takedown of Happy was brilliant and had me on the floor almost as fast as Happy. I want one too. Establishing Happy as a former boxer was a nice nod to the comics.
Monaco: Lifting both the setting of Monaco and Tony as a race car driver right from the comics, it was nice to see Leslie Bibb reprise her role as Christine Everhart. Did I mention she’s hot? They also establish that about a year has passed since the first Iron Man film. Tony replacing his team driver is just another indication that in his own mind, he won’t be around much longer, so why not take risks and do whatever he wants to do while he still can. Whiplash comes off much better than I had expected; very believable and menacing. Some great special effects and crashes during this part of the movie. There was scene from Iron Man 1 that didn't make the final cut of the film where Rhodes rams the Iron Monger with the Audi R8. Nice to see they were able to work something similar into this film. The Mark V “suitcase” armor looked great and was a realistic approach to the briefcase armor in the comics.
More to follow.
Yeah, except the guy that did that at my cinema was saying:
Spoiler:
