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Iron Man 2 was destined to
be a challenge for
Jon Favreau,
Paramount, and
anyone who had
anything to do with
the first movie. The
origin story is
gone, that’s the
easiest Super-hero
story to do. Now
you’ve got a
character that’s
been developed,
you’ve got to
continue that
development without
straying too far
from what you
created in the first
movie. You’ve got to
do this with your
hero and supporting
cast and you’ve got
to balance that with
making new villains
and upping the
stakes.
Iron Man 2
isn’t better than
Iron
Man,
but it did up the
stakes and the
finished product
ended up being a
great flick.
In
Iron
Man 2,
Tony Stark’s demons
are starting to get
to him. He’s
struggling with the
beginning phases of
alcoholism, he’s got
to deal with other
health concerns, and
he has to do deal
with his own
self-destructive
personality. The
first movie wasn’t a
yellow-brick road
romp, but
Iron
Man 2
touches on the depth
of Tony Stark a
little more and
makes him into a
darker character…
kind of like he’s
supposed to be. The
government wants
control of the Iron
Man Suit so Stark
has to fight the
matter privately and
publicly. Saving the
world and being its
main peacekeeper
also appears to be
eating at him and he
hands over control
of his company to
Pepper Potts(Gwyneth
Paltrow.) Tony’s got
tons of problems,
but all of them come
to a head when
a
new villain sprouts
up. Mickey Rourke’s
character Ivan Vanko
(a.k.a. Whiplash)
holds a longstanding
feud against the
Stark family and he
seeks to destroy
Stark and his
Ironman legacy by
any means necessary.
Iron
Man 2 follows Tony
through his
inner-turmoil and
ends with a big
fantastic finish
against Whiplash.
Outside of Tony
Stark/Ironman, the
characters really
don’t get a lot of
screen time. Pepper
Potts is busy
running Stark
Industries and being
flustered by that.
We see the job
getting the best of
her and it
controlling her, but
other than that we
don’t get to learn a
ton more about her.
Same with Rhody…
(who was played by
Terrence Howard in
Iron
Man,
but is now played by
Don Cheadle in
Iron Man 2)
we see him donning a
suit and fighting as
War Machine. He gets
to fight with and
against Tony on
separate occasions
but he doesn’t get a
ton of dialogue. The
lack of character
development also
follows Natasha
Romanoff (Black
Widow- played by
Scarlett Johanson)
and even Nick Fury
(Samuel L. Jackson.)
This is Iron Man’s
movie, but there’s
little to be known
or found out about
the characters to
those who don’t
already know. It’s
cool because some of
the characters set
up future movies or
just expand on the
Marvel Universe on
screen, but it would
have been cool to
see more of Paltrow
and Cheadle in this
movie. Downey Jr. is
brilliant just like
he is in the first
movie, but it would
have been cool to
expand on Tony
Starks two best
friends.
Iron Man 2 may not be
superior to Iron
Man, but it’s still
a great movie.
Robert Downey Jr. is
terrific again and
the action scenes
are tremendous.
There’s also a fair
amount of humor
again that keeps
everything flowing
and moving how it
should. Add some
good set-up and
cameos from
characters around
the Marvel Universe
and some fun things
aren’t just seen,
they’re introduced
in
Iron
Man 2.
Just
as good as the
movie, this Blu-ray
bundle that
Paramount has
released is
outstanding. There’s
a huge hour-long
look with Jon
Favreau on different
parts of making the
movie. There are
some cool features
on Nick Fury, Black
Widow, and War
Machine. Included in
the bonus features
is a good tribute to
DJ AM Adam Goldstein
from Jon Favreau
too. On the
interactive side of
things there are
some cool menu
systems where you
can access the
S.H.I.E.L.D.
database and look at
text files and some
pictures that set up
Captain America’s
upcoming movie, and
look back at
Hulk
with Edward Norton.
The bonus features
are outstanding, and
packed with the
movie it’s worth the
buy for any fan of
the super-hero
genre. The packaging
includes DVD and
Digital Copy too
which really put it
over the top.
Iron Man 2 did its job. It
progressed all of
the characters and
it told a fast-paced
action story that
ended with some
awesome scenes.
There are very few
movies that come out
that you have to add
to your collection,
but
Iron Man 2
is one of those
movies.
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